Cafe Corner

Cafe Corner, as the name suggests, is literally located in one of the corners of Santacruz East. Far away from the hectic bustle of office goers and college students this cafe gives you the feeling that you have stepped out of Mumbai, and that is a wonderful feeling!
Set against a back drop of a giant doodled wall, the soft comfortable ambience of this cafe gives a relaxed laid back feeling when you enter. The vibrant colours of the vividly Mediterranean decor lay the foundation of a cheerfully optimistic vibe that seeds the cafe. With most cafes doing the cold coffee-hot coffee routine, I have lost the sense of eagerness to brunch at a cafe, cause I am not really the coffee-type of person. That is why, the range of chais that Cafe Corner had to offer put in me a need to experience this place.
I entered the cafe with my better-half who after a long days work had become a tad cranky, partly because of his hunger pangs and partly because of a long work day. So the pressure was on me to calm his nerves. As soon as we placed ourselves at our table, I quickly ordered some coolers to beat the evening heat. A virgin Mojito and Watermelon Basil arrived at our lips shortly and were they cool! This immediately doused the hubby’s cranky sparks which gave me time to get some selfies done.

We followed up with food – one Chicken steak which was a seasoned chicken breast grilled to perfection with brown sauce, served with sauteed vegetables. The juicy poulet consistency was well cooked and at just the right temperature on our plates. The tangy ring of the brown sauce takes you somewhere between barbeque and schezuan variants, not at all spicy but inviting.  The sauteed vegetables included broccoli, red and yellow bell peppers and zucchini and seemed to have been prepared in olive oil.  The Chicken Enchilada were delightfully crispy tortillas with a belly filling of chicken & veggies (to overflowing) topped with a tangy mexican bean gravy. Although the enchilada description on menu sounds like a snack, do not get fooled, it was a tummy filling meal! We followed up our order with cheese garlic bread which freshly complimented the steak well. Good old fashioned fish and chips did not disappoint one bit. Sauteed Mushrooms with caramelized onions was next paired with chicken bruschetta and they brought another dimension to our palates that evening. By this time, my husbands face had transformed into that of a smiling buddha and I knew it was time to quit the food menu.
This however did not signal the end of our evening. We decided to try out the chais which was my main reason for coming to this joint. To sum it up in one word, they were – exquisite! I ordered the Egyptian Mint tea and the Apple hibiscus tea, both of which were coruscatingly delicious. It was exciting to watch the herbs and spices simmer in their teapots. The soothing taste and alluring warmth of the tea flowing down our throats was refreshing. Its been several months since I’ve last tasted this kind of tea and how I wish the cafe was a hop-skip-and-jump distance from my residence for this reason.
As I headed home with my satisfied smiling buddha husband I was already looking for an excuse to come back to Cafe Corner, maybe a little earlier in the evening, someday to re-engage with some invigorating chai and conversation. This place is a definite recommend and next time I’m there I will probably start with the scintillating chai first!