The folks behind this new Jawahar Nagar eatery are firm believers in the culinary adage: bacon makes everything better. In fact, their cheeky business card reads “Pleased to be at your bacon call”.
Double Roti—a 1,400 sq ft outlet which replaced the vacuum left by Bake My Day—has more to offer than just their thick-cut ham which is smoked in-house. I was there to understand why this days-old spot already had a line out the door during office hours! Was it the stripped-down industrial interiors, lack of traditional plates/cutlery, their choice of loud-yet-groovy house music, wooden pizza pans spouting chucklesome food quotes or does the focus loom over its large menu?
Quirk factor
While I slurp on one of their humongous (and delicious) oreo shakes, served in what seems like a
mini flower pot, the foodpreneurs behind the initiative join me. “As far as Kochi is concerned, Double Roti is the knead of the hour,” quips co-founder Japtej Ahluwalia.
“Awful puns aside, ever since we opened outlets in Chennai, Vizag, Bengaluru and Gurgaon, we’ve been on the lookout for cities that have potentially viable food scenes with a large number of passionate gourmands. My business partner Vimal Kumar and I, are confident that Kochi fits the profile,” adds the 30-year-old, who quit his hospitality industry job at ITC Grand Chola and started this dough-centric restaurant chain along with his friend Nikesh Lamba.
Dude food
Though the dish names do come off as ‘trying too hard’—their menu features a
one-kilo meal special called ‘Hey Bhagwan’ and veggie sandwiches like ‘Popeye and the Magic Mushrooms’—the spread seems genuinely delightful. Be it their beef chilli, pickled jalapenos and tangy salsa-topped nachos or their thoroughly appetising thin-crust pizza loaded with copious amounts of bocconcini, cheddar, mozzarella and blue cheese.One of my recommendations from their elevated street eat options would be the Punjabi Maggi, a noodle dish loaded with chunky tandoori chicken bits and butter chicken/mint gravy. The large house-made buns don’t get soggy in spite of the teriyaki-dipped bacon strips placed on two heavy-duty, char-grilled pork patties slathered in a mustard slaw. So, is Double Roti the greatest thing since sliced bread? Nope. But, it definitely raises the bar amongst existing casual dining spots in the city.
Meal for two `1,000
Details: facebook.com/EatDoubleRoti
@godsonlymistake