Coimbatore’s Boxed by Butterquenelle has upscale fusion food and a lively vibe

Boxed by Butterquenelle, in Coimbatore’s Avinashi Road, serves unique fusion dishes made from scratch. Inspired by French cuisine, owner Harshini Prakash wants to attract the college crowd.

Quenelle is a French dish made from a mixture of creamed fish or meat, sometimes with breadcrumbs, bound with egg. This mixture is then formed like an egg in a smooth, elongated oval shape. By extension, a quenelle may also be another food made into a similar shape, such as ice cream, sorbet, butter, or mashed potato quenelles. This dish inspired Boxed By Butterquenelle, Harini Prakash’s rustic, turquoise-themed cafe in Avinashi Road.

“I wanted to return to India and introduce new cultures and flavours to the people here. I wanted to serve global street food,” says Harini, who studied in a French culinary school in London and got inspired to melt cultures into a pot and serve it hot. She started a cloud kitchen during the pandemic. With the boxed-up gourmet food’s increasing popularity, the demand for an eatery for their customers escalated as well. “Our food is supposed to be served and enjoyed hot, so we finally decided to introduce an upscale fusion cafe to the city,” she says. So the ‘Boxed’ in Boxed by Butterquenelle is an ode to her initial cloud kitchen days, while the ‘Butterquennelle’ is a testament to her French culinary expertise.

Talking about what makes her stand out in a city blooming with upcoming coffee houses, Harini says, “Our most unique speciality is that we make everything from scratch — sauces, bread, buns, and everything else. That is what brings out the freshness in our dishes.”

The proof of this claim is in their hefty molten cottage cheeseburger. It is made with homemade buns, wafting with the aroma of fresh butter, crispy paneer filled with melty cheese, and overflowing with their spicy in-house sauces. Served with crispy fries, this burger is one of the must-tries at the cafe.

Their burgers seemed popular among the bustling young crowd, mainly from the colleges along Avinashi Road. “There are many cafes in RS Puram and Race Course. But we wanted to cater to the college-going crowd on this part of the city,” says Harini. The vibe is lively, with some college-going customers playing Uno cards with a variety of drinks. The chilli guava and orange mocktail, known as the Hot Lady, was a symphony of tingling flavours. The Caramel Popcorn Milkshake, on the other hand, was a treat of sweet caramel comfort.

“I am a huge foodie. I like to experiment a lot and create fusion cuisines. But at the end of the day, I return to my comfort food,” says Harshini as she serves us a steaming bowl of kung pao chestnut on a bed of jasmine rice infused with butterfly pea tea. Their Indian dhaba-style marinated chicken on Italian pizza is a flavourful fusion dish.

Bustling with many customers on a weekday afternoon, the cafe provides a refreshing workspace for busy students. Vaishnav, a PSG College of Technology student, says, “I love the wide range of food here. Many of us also come to this cafe and work through our assignments or just hang out with our friends.”