Hello Locals!
Local Guides meet-ups have been my favorite thing ever since I joined the community. The past Sunday we met yet again for another wonder heritage walk by @AmbrishVarshney and had a great time together. Just when we all were about to leave near the parking area, @DhawalShah thought of making more out of this meet up by exploring the places to eat around.
What started with hunger pangs, soon became a food crawl! I have spent a lot of evenings in south Delhi’s beautiful upscale street markets and it is always a delight to take people on a café hopping whenever I get an opportunity.
We decided to cover atleast six places with their unique ambience décor and menu in next sixty minutes! To our surprise and delight, we were able to do so! Here’s a virtual tour of all the places we visited. In the end of this article I have also shared a few tips on how to plan for such a impromptu food crawl, whenever hunger pangs strike you next!
We started from Saket and covered the following places.
The Coffee Shop, Saket
This place truly refines internationally influenced coffee shop serving espresso drinks and also serves global light bites. Loved their ambiance and menu pricing.
Juggernaut, Kailash Colony
Its a south Indian fine dining restaurant with a beautiful reception area where they sell some great organic cookies too. They welcome you with chandan teeka on your forehead and the food is delicious too! The only issue is the waiting time. But its worth the wait!
Cafe 27, Kailash Colony
In the evenings, it is the hottest party destination of south Delhi, during the day time, the melancholic music and sunshine throw the rose tinted glasses makes for perfect sunday brunch!
Creme & Crisp, Kailash Colony
Ditch the regular bakeries and get here to see some of craziest inventions with creame and cake! Loved their summer kulfis in neebo, khus and sharbat flavour!
The Fat Jar, Kailash Colony
Oh this makes for such a perfect date place, It’s run by a husband and wife duo who would sit next to you to share their stories and hear yours! Must try their humus and pita.
Binge,Kailash Colony
The upfunk white and pink snacking heaven is also featured in lot of tv shows for its vibrant interiors. The staff welcomes you with a smile and you cant miss their blueberry cheesecake!
How to plan a perfect food crawl
1. Know the place – If you have got three hours to chop a tree, spend 2 hours sharpening the axe – Anonymous. The more time you spend on finding out about the right area & street where you need to plan your crawl, the lesser time you would spend finding places. Also being a host prefer to visit the place before hand so that you know what to expect and to prevent surprises or shocks in terms of price , quality or the café service. Pick places that are unique in their own ways , have a different cruises to offer and preferably sees diverse gentries. For example, we picked a bakery, a wine shop, a casual dining, a upscale food studio and a coffee shop.
2. Choose café’s that are walkable – In haste of choosing the ‘best ones’ we often overlook the distance between the cafes which often leaves the attendees tired. But again it depends on the temperature of the city and interest if the members. Usually walkable joints places in less than half a km to one another make for a great way to have casual conversation and to dine together. Also it saves a lot of travelling, parking or ‘finding that place out’ time
3. Don’t eat too much, taste only – Remember not to full yourself up because you never know what the next place has to offer. Always eat half your appetite and preferably pick items in smaller portions only to taste , or if it’s a bigger group you could order a gaint dish and share. In both the cases, however, filling yourself up to the adam’s apple might not be a good idea. No matter how tasty that snack is J Save some for the next please.
4. Research the local discounts, happy hours – Who doesn’t like discounts. Look for ladies special hour, happy hours, buy-one-get-one, or local credit card offers , buybacks and discounts through various apps. After all money saved is money earned! We were a group of five and we ended up with just INR 200 per person after a detailed food crawl into six places!
6. Know the attendees taste pallet – It is extremely important to know your audience right. Sure, everyone is open to experimentation when they sign up at a food crawl but knowing their broad preferences before shortlisitng the café or the item at menu would only help everyone enjoy the flavor better.
7. Speak to the chef / owner / manager & compliment them – Oh you definitely want to know the story! I had some of the greatest meals while the manager or the chef was sitting right next to my table. Ask them about where this recipe originated from, what’s their favorite from the menu and why do they like hospitality industry so much! Food only becomes better with conversations and compliments!
8. Click – both the food and you! – While you’re at it, might as well click the restaurants ambiance, food and your ownself to post to google maps and let the world know what this place has to offer! Not just food also ask someone to click for you a group photo or if the place is too busy, carry a selfie stick to click one. Happy sharing!
Thank you @DhawalShah @Click_Click @Cheena @Bal for making this food crawl so exciting!
