Cafe Zaffiro Version 2.0

‘Me’ time cravings — have you ever had those? When you’re not in the mood for malling. Or partying. Or coffee and conversations. Just a long afternoon spent alone, at a tiny cafe — feet up on the couch, a great book to soak into, hot mug of tea on the side.

Well, last weekend I rediscovered Cafe Zaffiro. It used to be my favourite cafe in a prime corner spot of Khan Market until it disappeared, almost with a sudden poof. Imagine my joy when I lucked into it, now in a new avatar in Meher Chand Market! A lovely sunny cheer to the place: done up in sunflower yellow, textured blue and leaf green, it has charming mosaic tiles and lamps, and gorgeous photographs of Ladakh on the walls. It’s pretty cosy too: a couple of deep sofas in one corner, and four tables, with super-comfy bucket chairs that I can just snuggle in for hours (three hours — tried and tested!).

I settled in with my tome of a book (though they have their own tiny collection too), and ordered myself some munchies from their Mediterranean menu that also has breakfast platters, pastas, and in-house desserts. The iced tea was rare stuff — made with freshly brewed tea! The hummus was perfectly nutty-garlicky-lemony, but make sure to ask them to not grill the pita bread much. And the Greek Salad is still the Cafe Zaffiro classic: the crunchiest greens and the creamiest homemade feta cheese (although a surprise dollop of mayonnaise wasn’t an addition I was expecting!).

The best part is that they are happy to comply with requests — they didn’t have hot lemon tea on the menu, so they got me a Darjeeling with a lemon wedge on the side. It’s the one thing that keeps me going back there: the service is really personalized and full of smiles — they never forget a face!

It’s my new Sunday ritual. See you there.

Cafe Zaffiro, 24, Meher Chand Market, Lodhi Colony, Ph:9811134085, 9811050712 . Meal for two: Rs. 500.