My mother-in-law wanted to get a couple of her fancy watches attended to, possibly just needing their batteries changed. So, naturally, we offered to take her to South City Mall, where there was a watch shop that could hopefully sort them out.
And since we were going to be out anyway, the obvious next question was — where are we having lunch?
My original master plan was quite straightforward. Leave home around 11 in the morning, beat the Sunday-and-Puja-shopping crowds, get the watch business done and then go for lunch.
Simple.
Which, of course, meant there was absolutely no chance of it happening that way.
We got delayed and eventually left home only a little after noon. We first headed to my in-laws' place, picked them up and, by then, the carefully constructed sequence of events had already fallen apart.
So we changed the order of the plan.
Pet Puja first. Watches later.
As usual, my wife had already discovered a new place to eat. She put the details into the navigation and off we went towards Ballygunge Place.
Our destination was Drip Culture Cafe & Bakery.
One immediate relief was the presence of valet parking. With two senior citizens in tow, not having to worry about finding a parking spot was a very welcome start to the afternoon.
And then we walked in.
Drip Culture was quite a pleasure to the eyes. The interiors were warm, spacious and nicely done. Sober without being boring, sophisticated without trying too hard and stylish while still being practical.
But what really caught my attention was the table.
We were shown to a large table for four and, honestly, it felt luxurious.
Nowadays, so many cafés seem to be designed around the principle that a table should barely have enough room for two people and their phones. If you order anything more than a couple of plates, you immediately start playing Tetris with the crockery.
Here, we actually had space.
A large table. Four comfortable chairs. Room to put things down.
What a concept!
The menu arrived next. It was a decent-sized menu without being one of those encyclopaedic affairs where you need half an hour just to decide which section to read.
I like being decisive, and I also knew that with four of us ordering, the decision-making process could easily become an extended family conference. So I quickly settled on a Brownie Loaded Shake and a Pizza Volcano.
My wife went for a Strawberry Ice Matcha Latte, my mother-in-law chose a Raspberry Crème Brûlée, while my father-in-law went through the usual process of considering practically everything before finally settling on a Strawberry Cheesecake Shake.
We also ordered Bratwurst, Chicken Liver Pâté and Penne in Pink Sauce with Chicken.
And then we waited.
Which gave me a chance to properly look around.
There was a lot of staff.
In fact, there seemed to be almost one person for every table. I was quite surprised at how well staffed the place was. Someone always seemed to be around, but thankfully without that feeling of being watched.
As we chatted, the drinks began arriving one after another.
And these weren't tiny café glasses pretending to be drinks.
They were properly sized drinks in actual glassware, each served in different shapes of generous proportions. My kind of café.
Then the food started arriving, beginning with the Pizza Volcano.
Now, this was something I hadn't seen before.
The pizza had eggs on it, with the yolks almost perfectly poached. It looked quite spectacular when it arrived and, more importantly, tasted just as good as it looked.
It disappeared rather quickly.
The Chicken Liver Pâté was another revelation. As far as I can remember, this was possibly the best I've had in a very long time. Rich, smooth and absolutely delicious.
The Bratwurst was tasty, while the Penne in Pink Sauce with Chicken was equally satisfying.
Everything was beautifully presented, but more importantly, the food actually lived up to the presentation. That isn't always the case.
And then there was the service.
Exemplary.
Attentive without being intrusive, quick without making us feel rushed and genuinely pleasant throughout.
By the time we had finished eating, we were very definitely skipping dessert. Which, considering what we had already consumed, was probably a sensible decision.
We asked for the bill.
But before leaving, curiosity got the better of me.
I asked if I could have a look upstairs.
One of the young ladies immediately offered to show me around and escorted me through the building.
And that's when I realised just how ambitious this entire operation was.
The first and second floors housed Hungry Sardar, serving Indian and Chinese cuisine.
The third floor was the kitchen and bakery.
And then the fourth floor housed Yaara – Shisha Lounge.
So this wasn't simply a café occupying a little corner of a building. This was a full-fledged food and hospitality project spread across multiple floors, with three distinct offerings.
Quite an ambitious undertaking.
But after experiencing Drip Culture and getting a glimpse of the rest of the building, I could understand the vision. If the other outlets maintain the same attention to detail, food and service that we experienced at the café, I wouldn't be surprised if this place does rather well.
Eventually, we made our way back downstairs.
The valet brought our car around and we were on our way to South City Mall, mission number two of the afternoon: the watches.
By now, of course, the Sunday-Puja-shopping madness had properly awakened.
Getting to the back of South City, where the entrance to the multi-level parking is located, seemed to take forever.
And then we discovered why.
The parking was full.
Completely full.
So much for my brilliant morning strategy of beating the crowds.
The Puja shopping season had clearly arrived.
I suggested that we abandon South City and head to Acropolis Mall instead. I figured it would hopefully be a little less maddening.
So we backtracked all the way there.
Eventually, after another round of parking, walking and navigating the mall, we managed to get the watch business somewhat sorted.
And by then, it was evening.
Just like that, another Sunday had disappeared.
What had started as a simple plan to get a couple of watches' batteries changed had turned into a lunch at a new café, an unexpected tour of a multi-storey food project, some seriously good food, a parking adventure at South City, a detour to Acropolis and, of course, another new place added to our ever-growing list of Kolkata eateries.
Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
And once again, the watches were almost incidental.
The food, as usual, was the main event.
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