Kunzum Travel Café

Welcome to South Delhi, and the very first thing you get to hear about the place is, ‘it’s so expensive, every inch of it, that you would rather prefer buying a piece of the moon or investing in the NYSE than look for a property for yourself’. A little exaggerated though, but the truth is not much different.

Now imagine this. In the heart of one of South Delhi’s most exclusive posh localities sits a café where you can go, bum around, exchange travel stories, make travel plans, read travelogues and travel books, post your own travelogues and travel pictures, write books, have amazing coffee with some cookies, use Wi-Fi, and at the end of it, pay zilch! Sounds utopian, eh? Well, welcome to Kunzum Travel Café.

Situated at T-49, GF, Hauz Khas Village, Kunzum provides a perfect refuge for a loner who’s seeking some solace from the daily rush of life, or a group who’s looking for a place to get together without the annoyance of a mechanically-humble executive who keeps asking you at regular intervals with a fake smile whether you would like to order something or not. It’s a place where travellers meet, exchange travelogues, make travel plans, or just sit around, doing almost nothing. Even if you are not much of a traveller (like the 99% of us), and you don’t even have any of those Ruskin-Bond-stories to share, you are still qualified to avail this amazing hospitality.

Paintings on Sale @ Kunzum

A 'let's decide about the next venture' gathering.

Books to read and on sale.

A not-so-very-attractive view from the outside.

The ambience: 

Kunzum was launched as a Picture-Gallery. But the owner, Travel-Photographer Mr. Amit Jain, didn’t want this to be yet another gallery, and thus decided to transform it into a café, which evidently made it one of the most colourful and scenic cafés around. Elevated a few feet above from the ground (which should have technically made it an upper-ground floor) the place doesn’t look even fractionally as attractive from the outside as it is from the inside. It’s not very roomy; can hardly accommodate more than 15 people at a time, which is, in a way, good only. They don’t play music, but that again is good. Because to compensate for that, Kunzum offers you an amplifier where you can plug ’n play your own i-Pod (for as long as it’s bearable). When you are done yapping, reading, writing, sipping, nibbling, ogling and escaping from the routine and are comfortably walking out, you’ll find a modest black box, which will humbly ask you to ‘Pay whatever you feel like’ for all these services, like a noble host from the long-lost medieval ages.

Rating: 9/10 (For the fact that they have accommodated a whole new world in a mere gallery)

Coffee and the Cookies.

The food: 

Dining etiquettes say, ‘when the food is for free, you should stop being critical’. There’s not much to eat at Kunzum anyway, only a cup of coffee and a few cookies at a time. But it’s good, and free (unless, of course, your conscience tells you otherwise).

Rating: 8/10

Wall of Travel.

Overall: 

Kunzum is one such place which is often conceptualized, discussed, debated and finalized as a prospective business plan among the exuberant MBA students bitten by the entrepreneurship bug. However, none of these plans ever get to see the light of day. Thus, this is one brave attempt, and a much-awaited one. It’s more about the experience, so you better pay a visit and see it for yourself. One of the most recommended ones from us.

Rating: 9/10

Spice Market

Located at Select Citywalk, Saket, this restaurant is, least said, a let down. Partly why we don’t even have a picture of it! The only saving grace of the place is the decor. Looks like this will be a quick, short and not-so-sweet piece. Anyway, let’s get the ordeal over with. Here it goes.

The ambience:

‘Nicely done up place’ is probably the first thought that will hit you once you step into this place. Tastefully decorated with ethnic looking furniture and jars, it gives out the feel of a desi dhaba. So far, so good. And the chairs are rather comfortable. This is, honestly, the only place where Spice Market scores.

Rating: 7/10

The food:

Well, once a person discovers a floating fly in the soup, it’s a little difficult to remain impartial, no matter how fine the crockery is. The soup was taken away, as expected, and a fresh bowl of soup was brought in. But it looked like the fly had been thrown out and the bowl brought put back on the table.

As far as the taste goes, there is nothing exceptional. You eat it, and you forget it! Simple. Same thing for the quantity. One portion of one dish can suffice for one person, unless of course, you’re one of those who believe in eating like a fledgling. And though I agree that most restaurants take the liberty of adding colour to the food, this food looks more like it was cooked in Technicolour!

In short, sucks. Though, to give the devil his due, the soup was nice (forgetting the fly).

Rating: 3/10

The pricing:

At this point, I am talking to those who don’t shy away from spending a few extra bucks for good food. Taking those kind of people into consideration, this place is exorbitant. A meal for two can easily run into INR 1700+.

Rating: 2/10

Overall:

Miss it. If you are looking for the right ambience and decor, there are plenty of other places out there but if you’re looking for food, this is definitely not one. In fact, it was rather deserted at 8 in the evening on a weekend. Need I say more?

Rating: 4/10

Uber Lounge

The front facade

The DJ console

The seating and lighting

Located at the M Block market in G.K. II, the Uber Lounge doesn’t come across as much from the outside. But as they say, don’t judge a book by the cover. Likewise, don’t judge a lounge by the facade. Step inside and you instinctively like what you see. The decor is relatively plain and the place is quiet. Filled with people sipping on their coffee/ hot chocolate and engrossed in conversations.

If you want a little peppy music, a comfy place to snuggle into and dim lights, step into the deck below. The first thing you notice is the DJ console and the songs. Very much like a stereotypical lounge, minus the alcohol. But the variations of coffee, hot chocolate and sumptuous dishes more than makeup for it. Best part, it’s not too expensive!

The ambience:

Whether you’re looking at a quiet date with that special someone, or a catching up session with friends, it scores on both counts. The upper floor serves as a great touch point for business discussions. The basement is ideal for a relaxing evening, accompanied by great coffee.

While the upper floor has more conventional seating, the basement has long cushioned seats you can sprawl out on. One of them actually looks like a bed with a table embedded in the center. There is enough leg room, even for the ones above the average height and the seating area is really comfortable. There is free Wi-Fi (at least, at the time of writing this, it was free) and the staff is helpful but non intrusive.

Rating: 7/10

The food:

The spread is elaborate. Both in the beverage and the food section. As for the quality, it’s impressive. What it lacks on a little, though, is quantity. If you have a normal appetite or have gotten together for a pre-dinner snack, it’s good. If you’re really hungry, however, it may not suffice.

The scoring points are the soups and the hot chocolate. And the French fries. Order the French fries. In terms of the pricing, it’s not exorbitant, given the location. In fact, 300 bucks a head should give you a decent variety. And the best part is that the waiting time for the food isn’t painfully long.

Rating: 8/10

Overall:

Definitely worth a visit. Or two. And the rush isn’t too much so it isn’t that difficult to get your own little corner where you can be at peace with yourself, or with company. Either ways, if you’re headed to that side of town, take a little detour.

Rating: 7.5/10

Mafia Queens of Mumbai - S. Hussain Zaidi

The cover for the book

His first book, Black Friday, didn’t create ripples. It created waves. When it was later adapted into a film, the response was thunderous, to say the least. Despite the tremendous delay in the release of the film, people waited with a bated breath. In a nutshell, Black Friday delivered quite a punch.

His second book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai (ISBN 9789380283777), delivers twice the punch. For years, we have been used to hearing stories of dreaded gangsters and their exploits. Some of these ganglords have been admired, respected and idolised. So, what’s different about this book, you may ask.

The difference is that this book, unlike most others, steers away from the yang to focus on the yin. It brings to the fore, the role that women have played, at different points of time, in the murky Mumbai underworld. It features stories of Jenabai Daruwali, a woman who held sway over a man as dreaded as Haji Mastan, and brokered a peace treaty between different powerhouses in the world of crime.

While a drug peddler brings to mind an image of a gun toting man, unkempt and often stinking, this book introduces Jyoti Adiramlingam and Mahalaxmi Papamani, drug baronesses of Mumbai. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the wives of dons and it talks about the better halves of the dons have been instrumental to the growth of the syndicates.

The entire book lives up to every word written by Vishal Bhardwaj in the foreword. It’s intriguing. It’s thrilling. And you will have to try very hard to put the book down halfway through. The blend of fact and fiction is impeccable.

On the flip side, however, a couple of stories stretch a little longer than needed. Could have been a little crisper. That said, the book is definitely worth a read. Partly because of the novelty of the subject and partly because of the way it’s been written. Our advice, read it in peace over the weekend.

Rating: 8/10