Bunaphile is just a few months old and they already have a new menu. All thanks to the enthusiastic owner who loves whipping up new delicacies in the kitchen. In fact, when we dropped in at the Hindustan Park address, Sonika Dey curated something special and healthy for us in the 1,100 sq ft cafe. A lightly-flavoured quinoa preparation with tossed veggies on the side is light on the stomach and high on fibre. A great way to start the day.
Bunaphile, the 60-seater brightly lit café is Sonika’s sophomore passion project, the first being Krazzy for Waffle, which was born of her craving for a good waffle in the city when she was expecting her first child. Starting a restaurant was a natural extension of her desire to explore her culinary prowess and Bunaphile’s menu is an excellent mix of healthy breakfast options, fresh salads, creamy pasta, flavourful pizzas, sandwiches and burgers. Located at the heritage property where once the renowned writer Nabaneeta Deb Sen resided, the name Bunaphile combines the words – ‘Buna’, meaning the art of making coffee and ‘Phile’ meaning love or obsession, and it reflects Sonika’s passion for gastronomy.
“I love heritage properties and had a dream of coming up with a heritage-themed restaurant or café. Bunaphile is here to cater to the coffee cravings of people in a tranquil old heritage building with soft music playing in the background. This is the perfect place for your work, date, or even family outing. We have two outdoor seating arrangements, one cosy and small and another a little bigger. Both of them have smoking zones. Rich and abundant greenery in the garden area will soothe the eyes and grant you a congenial time to spend,” tells us Sonika who recently held a cake mixing session which was a prelude to her decision to start making cakes and cookies in-house.
Chicken tortilla wrap is now available at the Bunaphile and we recommend it for its freshness. Also, a must-try would be British Paturi with ghee rice, a Kolkata bhekti smothered in a piquant mustard sauce with assorted sauteed veggies on the side. We had to try their Tiramisu cake, which was doing rounds on social media and loved the perfect texture and heavenly flavour of the decadent dish.