At Chika Cage in Hyderabad end your meal with a coffee gulab jamun

At Chika Cage in Hyderabad end your meal with a coffee gulab jamun

Chika Cafe in Banjara Hills is grabbing attention for its unusual food and drinks. The first is the coffee gulab jamun and the other is the rose cold brew and rosy coffee. This cafe has enough charm to become a cafe to work from. Apart from being tucked in a quiet lane, the cafe’s stained glass arched windows add life to the place. One wall is dedicated to the coffee of India; it shows the different States where coffee is grown. 

The verandah of this house-turned-cafe doubles as the outside seating area. Here, you won’t have too many staff breathing down your neck asking for your order. However, you do not need to using hand gestures to get the menu or place your order. 

Since I was focused on the coffee gulab jamun, I knew that would be my dessert. I wasn’t too sure of the coffee I wanted to try. The rosy intrigued me and so did the rose cold brew. I wanted to know if the rose flavour would meet and complement the taste and aroma of coffee. The rose cold brew arrived; it was dramatic red at the bottom, a clear white makes the belly of the drink and a dark top layer. I chucked out the extra ice cubes, and then stirred my coffee. The sticky rose syrup at the bottom takes time to dissolve, so I speed it up using a stirrer. When I took a sip, I was surprised by the combination of rose and coffee. The bitterness of the coffee balanced the extreme sweetness of the syrup, making it a bitter drink. 

The menu is quite interesting with a mix of Indian and Continental fare. Avocado on sourdough toast is the in thing at every cafe in Hyderabad. So I ignored that and ordered chicken on toast and dosa with chicken curry.

Chika has done well with its menu with a good mix of small bites and meal options. It pays attention to the quality and flavour of food. So no complaints about the food here.

Dev Raj, the barista at Chika cafe says, “The cafe wants to present Indian speciality coffee. We source the beans directly from the farms owned by the cafe owners and roast the beans here. Our coffee-loving customers can tour the cafe and see the roasting process.” 

After the dosa, coffee and toast, I was ready for the coffee gulab jamun. I liked the coffee’s aftertaste in this desi sweet dunked in coffee and sugar syrup. Otherwise, I found the hot gulab jamun a tad too sweet. Dev Raj informs, “Some customers ask for it to be sweeter than this.” Now that is some sweet tooth!