Café Monique’s brings a slice of France to Delhi

Café Monique in Delhi offers French-style pastries, savory dishes, and refreshing drinks in a serene, European-inspired setting.

As someone who enjoys her coffee and cake in beautiful spaces I have not had much success in Delhi. A city where the finest bakeries operate on delivery model and most cafes run from malls, few places, if any, suit my need. Which is why Café Monique’s opening became an occasion of celebration. It helped that the French style café and patisserie is set in a leafy neighbourhood far from the din of malls and markets and one has to make an effort to visit it.

Founded by entrepreneur Shivan Guptaand his partner Chef Maxime Montay, Café Monique attempts to bring a bit of France to India. The place is christened after Chef Montay’s grandmother, Monique, whose recipes are replicated in the kitchen using French ingredients.

The dairy, he tells me, is imported from France and the chocolates and berries come from Belgium. “The quality of ingredients and the generosity with which we use them makes a big difference and elevates every dish on the menu,” he explains while talking of the pistachios he uses in the signature Le Paris-Brest Pistache, a traditional wheel-shaped choux pastry and La Crème de Pistache, a pistachio spread and how they lend the confections richness.

There is a good balance of savoury and sweet: while quiches, savoury loaves and eggs bring novelty to the menu, choux, pastries, and tarts offer comfort. We try the chorizo loaf with indulgent bits of sausages in a buttery brioche, as well as the ham and baguette sandwich, which is textured and yet not hard to chew. The eggs benedict has just the right amount of hollandaise and good quality ham. It is however the Croque Monsieur that steals my heart. A quintessentially French sandwich made with grated Gruyère, ham and a rich, cheesy Mornay sauce, it transports me to France.

“Chef Montay has worked hard to bring to our guests preparations and flavours that you would not find in India,” says Gupta, “be it the hot sandwiches, croque monsieur and mademoiselle, or the signature buckwheat crepes, our savoury dishes are big crowd pullers,” he adds. The homestyle crepes, he says, can be made with a filling of mushrooms and onion, chicken and cheese, or salmon and dill while the oafs cocotte (egg casserole) comes with options of mushrooms, peppers, or ricotta and is served with toasted home made baguette.

They serve fragrant coffee in double walled cups and exceptional hot chocolate that is perfect for evenings. For summer what works best are the refreshing coolers, which include a blue pea-lavender and rose-hibiscus.

It is impossible to not indulge your sweet tooth at Café Monique: we try the L’Aubéry, an entremet that celebrates seasonal mango and passion fruit. It maybe hard to imagine how mango, passion fruit and chocolate can come together but together they dance on your palate. All cakes, confections and choux are made fresh through the day and the savoury preparations are made to order.