instep review
Coffee by day
Latest to land on the cafe laced streets of Zamzama is Cafe Coffee Day – a haven for youngsters with small pockets but huge appetites

By Aamna Haider Isani
 
 
Cafe Coffee Day draws you in. It's the kind of place that provides an immediate lightness – through its huge glass walls and in essence of the ambience inside. While most coffee places in town enclose low lit and cuddlesome spaces, Cafe Coffee Day offers just the opposite. Its three storey space is cheery, bright and vast, and that makes it the perfect daytime retreat. It's not uncommon for one to walk into a lounge full of women shoppers taking a break from the world's most pleasurable pastime (retail therapy) or to hear the loud chatter of teenagers dressed in white, indicating that they are either bunking school or taking detours on their way home. And what exactly makes CCD such a magnet for these two groups? It the competitive prices.
 

At as low as 60 rupees for a cup of regular cappuccino or a hundred rupees for the special Columbian or Irish, CCD prices are extremely compatible - almost as inexpensive as the cup of coffee you can pick up from mobile Espresso vendors here and there. Students and teens who have small pockets but huge appetites may celebrate in joy. Women, who would hate to compromise on their shopping budgets to spend a small fortune on a snack, feel equally delighted. One can pick up a toasted sandwich or a yummy sizzling brownie for a price that won't kill your appetite.

The Cafe Coffee Day franchise comes from India and the outlet in Karachi opens as the next link in a chain of over 377 cafe's which include outlets in Vienna as well. Brought to Pakistan by Amin Hashwani, CCD opened to pubic over a month ago and has managed to build up quite a clientele so far. Split up in three levels, the ground floor you walk into is the perfect lounge for women shoppers who find it too much of an exercise to climb or descend stairs. The first floor calls up younger crowds who swarm in large groups. The basement is multi functional; on regular days it attracts couples looking for a good escape from the noisy traffic outside and on special occasions it is booked for parties in advance. Committee parties are being redirected towards the CCD basement too.

Now for the food. CCD offers a menu of teas and coffees, cold coffees, desserts and sandwiches – everything one requires to snack on. Highly recommended is the Masala Chai which is an exotic concoction of tea brewed with cinnamon and a hint of cardamom.

The Devil's Own Ice Blended Coffee and Sizzling Brownie are two hot, sweet favourites. For the snackers, the Mediterranean Chicken Sandwich and the Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Sandwich are quite yum. The coffee, on the other hand, does not satisfy the caffeine craving. CCD's blend of beans is somewhat weak and die-hard coffee aficionados will probably not give up Espresso to buy a cup at CCD, even if it comes for less than half the price. It doesn't have the kick that comes with good, strong coffee. Having said that, Gen X socialites who have actually created the cafe culture, choose hot spots according to hangout value, not coffee quality. Most of them don't even drink coffee. For them CCD is perfect, for it welcomes endlessly lounged out, even loud teenagers who'll order in abundance without emptying out their wallets. Our verdict is that Cafe Coffee Day will become a great hang out for refreshments by day. It is too bright for the night crawlers, who will probably crawl back to their low lit watering holes.