SOUTHERN AVENUE AND its pockets never fail to surprise us. And you will agree with us more when we tell you about Potboiler Coffee House, the latest bistro in town. A paradise for bibliophiles, the 45-seater café at Purna Das Road, is a gateway to escape into a world of books and delectable coffee.
Filling us up with the idea behind the literary-themed brew bar, foodpreneur Sonali Lakhotia says, “Potboiler is an escape from the regular bustle of the city to a world where coffee meets the literary universe. Books make us all escape to a different zone and my café aims to do the same. One can drop in and get transported to the world of Haruki Murakami, Enid Blyton or whomever they want without anyone disturbing them.”
We enter the 1,300 sq ft conceptbased coffee house on a rainy afternoon and apart from updating our Instagram feed, we also found out that you can not just donate books here for fellow bibliophiles but date t h e m t o o . How? Sonali selects a few books and wraps them with brown paper, giving some hints about the book on the cover and keeps them on the ‘Blind Date’ shelf. “I call it blind date because one gets to pick up a book without knowing much about it. It’s a fun way to get introduced to new authors and people who keep looking for new reads love it already,” says Sonali, informing us that the idea has been brewing in her mind for the last 11 years.
The café follows the bean-to-cup concept and brews French press, Aeropress, Chemex, manual brew and more. The menu, that resembles a notebook, has interesting wordplay with popular titles of books. Sample The Latte of the Rings, To Kill a Macchiato, The MetaMocha-Sis and many more. From the signature drinks, we sampled Call Me By Your Name from Chapter Four. An aromatic concoction of espresso, orange juice, cranberry and condensed milk with a dash of freshly burnt rosemary leaves is highly recommended. Potterheads should try the Butterbeer Latte, a non-alcoholic drink inspired by the love for the fantasy-fiction series.
Sonali who sources beans from Jaipur, Bengaluru and Delhi and is planning to add Nagaland to her list, and wants to introduce patrons to the protean disposition of coffee beans. She says, “We have a misconception that coffee means bitter. The character of the beans is defined by its ambience and it can have fruity notes as well.” Moving on to food, we sampled a fluffy Greek Omelette with quinoa, feta, black olives and parsley. Served with sourdough bread, it makes for a delectable breakfast. The menu also has sandwiches, waffles, tartines, salads and more. From the dessert section, we sampled Madhatter’s Par ty Treat. Layers of blueberry jam, peanut butter and perfectly sliced apples over a tartine bread is a break from other run-of-themill fare.
Meal for two Rs 600 +