The Coffee Cup | Restaurant Review

Place: The Coffee Cup
Location: Sainikpuri
Cuisine: Global
Meal: Dinner (with friends, wifey and our lil one)

I’ve been wanting to visit Coffee Cup for ages now for I’ve heard some good things about this place. This never materialized thanks to the distance from the city. But come last Sunday, we were meeting a bunch of friends in the area, and finally, my visit came through. These guys have two setups on either side of the road, and both were packed when we dropped in at about 6:30 PM. We somehow managed to get a table for 6 in the outdoor seating area of, what I am told, the original café. It was sultry this evening, and we requested the staff to move us in as and when there was a table available.

Ambiance-wise, the place was okay. Given that we were sitting outside, we escaped the hustle and noise inside the café. We, as a group, were skeptical about whether safety protocols will be adhered to, not just here but at any place we visit. Thankfully, the staff was wearing masks, and there was a sanitizer on every table. We also had to scan a QR code stuck up on the wall to access the menu.

To start, we ordered a portion of Herbed infused folded bread, Veg. appetizer platter, the White House pizza along with a lot of coffee. The waiter suggested we opt for the Cheesy Garlic Bread instead of the Herbed bread, and we obliged.

Coffee Cup - Cheese Garlic Bread

The Garlic Bread was served in about 10 minutes, even before the coffee. Thanks to the pandemic, the four slices of bread topped with sumptuous amount of cheese, baked to perfection, were served on a disposable plate. Crunchy, with the right amount of cheese, we gulped them in a minute or so. We immediately ordered for another portion, but that never got served.

Coffee Cup - Coffee

In a few moments, our coffees were served. We ordered one Café Frappe, three Devil’s White (frappe with whipped cream and chocolate sauce), a Dangerous Devils (frappe topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chocolate cake), and a Cinnamon Latte. We also asked for a fresh orange juice for our lil one, but they were out of oranges; we got a watermelon juice instead. All the frappes were creamy and chocolaty, and I loved mine (Devil’s White). I was told that the chocolate cake was yummy, and the latte was very good. We were very happy with all our coffees, but I thought the quantity served was less. For about 200 bucks, I’d expect more.

Coffee Cup - White House Pizza

Next came the pizza. With a few olives and a couple of burnt garlic chunks, this pizza was delicious. It was perfectly flavored, super cheesy and the crust was perfect. A few more toppings, especially of that garlic, would have worked wonders.

Coffee Cup - Veg. Appetizer Platter

The appetizer platter was served next with 3 pieces of fried cheese sticks, jalapeno poppers, spring rolls, and few fries (they replaced potato wedges with fries). We asked for a repeat right away as we knew this wouldn’t be sufficient for the table. The spring rolls were very mild and lacked the punch, fries were crispy and good, poppers and cheese sticks were practically the same, fried cheese with a little jalapeno flavor in the poppers. These were good on the first serving, cheesy, just the way I liked it. However, the ones on the repeat order lacked flavor and were very bland.

It was almost an hour and a half since we were sitting outside, and the weather was not helping us enjoy our food. So I paused for a while, went in, and looked for a table myself as the staff was not really bothered about moving us in. After about 15 minutes, and few requests, we conquered a table in a cozy corner on the first floor, right next to a bookshelf.

Our move-in didn’t feel welcomed as the waiter tending to our table was acting out of sorts. Anyways, a while later, we ordered a Four Cheese pizza, a Potato and Cheesy Croquette Sizzler, and a repeat order of frappes. I was told that the pasta here is good, but the sizzler was a little more tempting.

Coffee Cup - Sizzler

We were told that the sizzler would take time to be served, but in about 15 minutes, it was on our table (with barely any sizzle). I was surprised with what was on the plate – 3 potato croquettes, some sautéed vegetables, fries, and two small bowls of mushroom flavored sauce. That’s it? Isn’t there supposed to be some rice or noodles?

Apparently not. I look at the menu on my phone again, it said potato fries or rice. Given that I missed this, and thanks to our waiter who didn’t bother informing us, we ended up with a very dry sizzle-less sizzler. Both the croquettes and sauce were bland and tasteless. None of my friends even wanted to give it a try. The only saving graces were the sautéed vegetables and the fries. Disappointment.

At around the same time, the repeat of Devil’s White frappes landed on our table but without the whipped cream. Curious, we called for the waiter, and he then informed us that they were out of whipped cream, and so they added a scoop of ice cream. Before we could ask him why he didn’t inform us of this earlier, he disappeared.

Coffee Cup - Four Cheese Pizza

In a while, our last order, the four cheese pizza was served. One would expect a good amount of cheese on the pizza, but to our surprise, this was napoleon sauce with a few dollops of mozzarella, cheddar, Emmental, and parmesan. The crust was soggy and all we could taste was the tomato sauce. Another disappointment.

So what started off as a good meal ended up being a mediocre one.  On food front, some of the items were good, but what I realized is that they lacked consistency. The first batch of appetizers had flavor while the second batch were totally bland. Same with the coffee as well. And the mediocre sizzler and four cheese pizza didn’t help. 

Apart from the food, the service once we moved inside was pathetic, and that kinda ruined the overall experience for me at least. It’s a nice place to hangout, yes, so I can understand why it’s so popular, but for me, not worth the hype. They were having an off day maybe? 

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 6: Rs. 3989/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Coffee Cup Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Toofan | Movie Review

Toofan

We’ve seen quite a few sports dramas release in the recent past, and from the first looks of it, Farhan Akhtar and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Toofan looked very similar to Salman Khan’s Sultan. Their last collaboration, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was a sports drama as well, but it was a biography of the great Milkha Singh, which gave it the edge. But this time around, all we get is a boring drama.

Written by Anjum Rajabali, Toofan is a potpourri of Hollywood and Bollywood movies. He basically picked the storyline from the Rocky franchise and put it the mixer with some tadka. Right from the word go, it gives you the feeling that you’ve already seen this somewhere. And the feeling doesn’t end even after a wrenching 2 hour 40 minute drag.

As you’ve seen in the trailer, Aziz Ali is an extortionist, who discovers boxing overnight after watching a few videos of Muhammad Ali on YouTube, and becomes and becomes a state champion after 5 fights (wish life were so easy!). Supporting him through this journey are his doctor cum love interest Ananya Prabhu, and a khadoos coach Nana Prabhu (Wait, are they related?). You know what happens next; add an orphanage, some bigotry, love jihad, ban for 5 years, a daughter, a death, a comeback, an erstwhile opponent who becomes an evil boxing federation official, some melodrama, and a final bout with a maniac on steroids. Did I divulge too much?

It felt like Mehra and Akhtar were bored out of their minds and decided to rehash Bhaag Milkha Bhaag just for the heck of it. The training montage, the background score, the acting, the direction, all the same. Every time I heard “Toofan” in the background, “Zinda” was playing in my head. Okay, maybe this one has a different storyline, but it’s so god damn predictable and stereotypical. The unnecessary and illogical twists don’t help. It’s such lousy writing that they couldn’t even find a good reason to kill one of the characters (stampede on a Railway station, really?). Direction by Mehra is meh, screenplay by Rajabali is mediocre, and some of the dialogues by Vijay Maurya are, how to say this, uncalled for. Enough said.

Akhtar, as you’d expect, puts in all his effort to become a lean boxer, not once but twice. He’s good, but there’s nothing new in his acting. Paresh Rawal looks odd as a boxing coach, but is at home playing a bigoted character. Hussain Dalal is alright, Vijay Raaz and Supriya Pathak are wasted. Mrunal Thakur is probably the only saving grace. With a meaty role as Ananya, she does justice. The kid is good.

Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is decent. The title track, (if you forget its similarities to “Zinda”) is good, Purvaiya is neat. Todun Taak composed by Dub Sharma is groovy. All songs in the movie play in the background but for “Star hai tu” seemed odd on screen as the voices didn’t fit, especially with Akhtar. Cinematography by Jay Oza is neat. The boxing fights are well choreographed but don’t have any oomph factor associated with them. Editing by Meghna Manchanda Sen could have been better. There was no need for this movie to stretch for an eternity.

Is it worth your time and money?: As I said before, Toofan happens to be a potpourri of a dozen or so movies and offers nothing new. Sports dramas are to create an adrenaline rush that makes you root for the protagonist. But here, forget rush, you know the result of the fights even before they start. You may watch it at your leisure given that it’s on Prime, but I’ve given you enough head’s up, so don’t blame me later.

Worth mention: Mrunal Thakur?

Acting: 7.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 6.5/10
Technical Aspects: 7/10

Verdict: 6.5/10