Fort Kochi’s Kashi Art Café is one the few places I used to take my out-of-town friends while I was in Kochi. I have spent many weekends wiling away my youth there. So it came as a pleasant surprise when I heard that they had opened Kashi in Koramangala. The Bangalore café is called Dyu Art Café and is tucked away in the quieter street opposite the Kalyana Mantapa on the Ganesh temple road. I got a deja-vu feeling as I entered and seeing the familiar staff. The red oxide flooring, heavy sewing machine tables, hanging flower pots, the iconic mirror and open courtyard with a tree in the middle were all there. The café is a converted naalukettu house showcasing art in the front room and tables along the nallukettu veranda. It is lovely to sit out here especially when it rains. From the menu, I recommend the tomato cheese omelette, tuna cheese melt in homemade bread, banoffee pie and the chocolate cake. The cold coffee is served with milk and sugar syrup separately and if not finished quickly, can turn watery due to the ice cubes.
Kashi used to epitomize tranquility shielding you from the traffic outside. There were always few foreigners reading a book or jotting down their journals while trying to finish a pack of cigarettes. Few even used to share stories of their travels. This is where the similarity ends. At Dyu, Saturday and Sundays are quite busy and I was lucky to get a table after a short wait. Mostly visited by younger patrons, I was surrounded by the constant babble of voices. Don’t be surprised if you get a calligraphically hand-written bill. Interestingly they have mirror shaped as a commode over the wash basin. Are they trying to say something?
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Image Source (1st pic) : Zomato
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