Cha Bar: Bookstore + Café
Address: N-81, Block N, Oxford Bookstore, Barakhamba Road, Cannaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
Nearest Metro Station: Rajiv Chowk
Cuisines: Cafe
Opening Hours: 10 AM to 9:30 PM
Cost : Rs. 500 for two.
Cash and Cards accepted.
Contact : 011 3350 3292
Ambiance: Cha bar is located in Oxford Book Store!! Cha Bar is the very innovative cafe. Located inside the Oxford Bookstore, this place is difficult to find for the first timers who are visiting this cafe. The moment you climb the cute red stairway, you enter into a colorful, small beautiful section of the Bookstore cum cafe. This cafe remains crowded due to its reasonable prices. Once you enter this place you cannot help but smile at the array of books arranged by the aide and the lovely sitting place. Actually, the entrance is from Oxford bookshop which you can never imagine. When you enter the bookstore you’ll find very interesting two-wheeler out there and the very next step you take forward you’ll find a beautiful table decorated with flowers. At once, you feel the vibrancy of this place. It is loud but unlike a typical Dilliwala one. The loudness emanates from thousands of chatters & whispers around those tiny tables while one savors different varieties of tea, or cha if you prefer. This feels so good. While the idea of having a tea bar along a great bookstore is a sexy proposition, but we did not find many good books to choose from. And, yes, it is not a place to sit down and read over a cup of tea. Avoid that. Rather catch up with a friend or two at best, talk, chat and deliberate with delicious tasty tidbits along with a variety of tea to choose from.
Menu: Cha Bar is one of those iconic spots in Delhi which entertain you with more than 150 options when it comes to Tea/ Coffee along with snacks which compliment the flavor of the tea you’re having !! Tea is their specialty as the name says “cha”. The menu is prepared with more than merry coffee and tea options. They have a huge tea menu with Cha Bar, CP blend to Cha Hindustani, masala, cardamom, ginger, Bollywood masala and cutting cha, there is a distinct state flavor with Assam tea, Darjeeling tea, Nilgiri tea, Sikkim and Nepal tea. You can go green as well and try from their Green Darjeeling, Green Japanese, and Green Jasmine. The Indian herbal with the magic of herbs and magical incantations of Tulsi, Gulab, Ashwagandha and Anarphar take the experiment height the next mile. As an alternative herbal, one can cover a superb melody of flavors from red berries and lavender to Verbena and Chamomile. Every cup is packed with super fresh flavor. We were totally amazed to see the types of tea they serve. Light meals, finger food, and cakes are washed down with exotic teas at this book-lovers’ cafe. The food is brilliant at the price that it is served. It is insane, almost. The café has In-house library and a variety of teas. Food is delicious & absolute value for money.
What we had: Tried many tea cups but we picked Masala Chai worth INR 35 as it’s our favorite because of its earthiness. We had great expectations from the tea but it turned out to be a damp squib for us. We felt that the quality is going down as the tea was served cold and on complaining it was just reheated and served. Located in a prime location they must work on their quality.
Service: Service standards have taken a beating. Called three times for the bill. Service needs big improvement.
Recommendation: A merry place for book and CHAI-lovers. A place to snuggle with your favorite writings and have a peaceful self -time with little things to bite on your literary journey.
Ratings : 3.5/5
7 Likes
Those little things to bite during your literary journey are awfully cool. In Nairobi, Kenya, a group of writers have an insane library where they meet to read books, exchange ideas and review authors’ works, all the while drowned in loud music and cupfuls of good beer. They call it the world’s loudest library!
Good to know about this.