Day 3: Cafes of the City
To Everything I Love and Loathe About Bhubaneswar
I love food, but unlike most aspects of my life, I don’t have a distinct memory that shaped my fondness for it. As a child, I enjoyed the aloo parathas mom used to make, but as I grew up, my palate evolved into something quite different. While I still love Indian food, I have a strong inclination toward European desserts, baked goods, and coffee. These are easily available in most tier-1 cities in our country, but I prefer Pondicherry and Fort Kochi for the intimate experiences their cafes offer. One could say these are my favorite cities. One day, I hope to learn French baking in Pondicherry and live in Fort Kochi while owning a small, quaint cafe.
To curb my urge to fly to Pondicherry every time I craved good food, I started looking for places in Bhubaneswar that offer great coffee and desserts. Baked goods, especially croissants, are hard to come by in the city, but I’ve found one place that satisfies my cravings. Since college, I’ve been exploring food at every possible spot. Most food outlets in Bhubaneswar follow a restaurant-style format—where you go, focus on the food, pay, and leave. But a few have managed to create that intimate cafe experience that I truly love.
Here, I’ll talk about my top three favorite cafes: Kruti Coffee, Three Chariots Coffee, and The Urban Canteen.
Kruti Coffee
They have multiple outlets in Bhubaneswar, but I recommend visiting the one in Patia if you have to choose. They really know their coffee—both traditional and specialty—and have excellent baristas. They even sell their own beans. What I love most about this place is the ambience. There’s plenty of space with seating that’s not too cramped, and they have charging outlets if you want to work from there. I’ve been to this place so many times that they now know my go-to order. Although the prices are a bit on the higher side, the quality of their coffee justifies it.
What should you try?
I recommend the Iced Vietnamese Coffee, Cappuccino Creme Brulee and Caramel Frappeccino.
Three Chariots Coffee
They are an underrated café, one that doesn’t get talked about enough. What sets them apart is their fusion coffees and matcha offerings. They constantly come up with unique drinks that keep me coming back. They even have a separate menu for people working from the café, offering appropriate portion sizes for one person. If you need some quiet space, they also have a quiet room available for meetings. My favorite part is the availability of art supplies at a nominal cost. For just Rs 80, you can get a canvas and paint supplies and create your artwork while enjoying your coffee. They also host weekly events like readers’ mixers and art workshops. And yes, they do have a great collection of books.
What should you try?
I recommend the Chicken Meatballs and Hummus, Iced Tiramisu Latte, Iced Coconut Latte and Iced Vietnamese Drip.
The Urban Canteen
While this may not be a traditional café in terms of its menu, it certainly offers the ambience of an urban café. The food is unbeatable—unique, tasty, and reasonably priced. You’ll find items here that aren’t available anywhere else. The highlight is their exceptional selection of desserts, all of which exceed the benchmark in taste and presentation. And here’s the best part: this is the place where you can find croissants that are soft, flaky, and buttery—though they may not be available every day.
What should you try?
I recommend the Mutton Keema Pizza, Lotus Stem in Plum Sauce, Murgh Dhaniya Shorba, Coffee Jenacotta and Nutella Tres Leches.
While there are other cafes and restaurants that I love, these three are my top visits. The only reason I love them is that they are doing something unique. I can find the basic cold coffee and brownie with ice cream everywhere but these cafes offer something one level ahead of our everyday food. Although Bhubneswar has a lot to offer in terms of food, a small part of me will miss the city only because of these cafes.