The Indian Coffee House has a long history !! In the pre-independence era, Government of India set up the Coffee Board, under the British rule, to promote drinking of coffee and sale of coffee seeds by farmers !! Post independence, the workers formed the co-operative societies in different states of India and renamed the network as INDIAN COFFEE HOUSE !! The first Indian Coffee House was opened in New Delhi on October 27, 1957 !!
Madhya Pradesh state has many branches of the Indian Coffee House and Indore alone has four !! This is a very popular Indian style café serving South-Indian cuisine, snacks, meals, South Indian coffee, and much more, while being very friendly to the pocket !!
Therefore, this is one of the favourite joints to have food, for the students, who are perennially low on budget !! Many people, who grew up drinking coffee here in the college days, swear by it !! It is a dark, bitter brew with milky undertones, served in old-fashioned ceramic cups by waiters clad in grimy White uniform with Red turbans and cummerbunds !! This is an institution in itself !!
Laminate tables and plastic chairs in a particularly unattractive shade of brown have replaced the cane furniture of yore !! The food is decidedly unpretentious — there is coffee (hot and cold, no frappes, mochas or cappuccinos here, thank you), filter coffee, tea, lassi, milkshakes, South Indian meals and snacks, Chinese dishes, Indian dishes (Punjabi/Awadhi), Chicken and Mutton dishes, Thaalis, rice dishes (including pulaao & biryaani), and of course sandwiches, French Toast (Bombay Toast, if you will), paav-bhaaji, chhola-bhatura, chips, cutlets, pakodas, eggs, etc. and some basic ice creams as desserts !!
Indian and Chinese main course dishes, rice dishes, and even salads can be ordered here either in full portions or half portions (remember the student budgets?) !! This is a great option when you are alone or when the two of you don't want to order the same dish, and taste various delicacies !! They have a mini thaali too !!
And the last thing - do not worry too much on the rather funny spellings of certain dishes such as sandwitches (sandwiches), Choumein (Chow Mein), Choupsey (Chop Suey), and the like !!
(Written by the Indore Rocks team, with inputs on the subject from an article in Live Mint)
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