Before I get into the “what”, let me get into the “why”. For those of you interested, I had the i-LASIK eye correction procedure done this past Friday so now I can type this for you without my glass bottle thick spectacles. And I feel like a brand new person. AND food looks prettier and yummier. So it’s all for the better!
Anyhow, this past Saturday, we had to go for my follow-up session with the surgeon at her Connaught Place clinic. We were done by 10 and were trying to think of a breakfast place. But AK was uninspired by Sarvana Bhawan (another “dosa joint” as he calls it). And “American Diner” and the various cafes around Khan Market were too cliched for us. So AK remembered Keventers, which he’s been craving forever.
So now here are a few facts, some startling: 1) Keventers is an institution and apparently been in operation since 1917; 2) It still functions out of a whole in the wall, right next to Wengers, in A block Connaught Place; 3) I have hung out in CP to shop, eat or kill time at my uncle’s bookstore a gazillion times, but have never ever been to Keventers! (Now you know what I mean about the startling facts!)
What makes it worse is that my Mom knows CP like her own backyard – since it was the ONLY cool place to hang out while they were growing up. Her father ran a bookstore but (since she had no real interest in books) she spent her free hours roaming around this sprawling market – exploring all its nooks, crannies, eateries, shopping finds in hole-in-the-wall locations. So she knows and talks about ALL the epic eateries which existed until around 2000. And YET, I haven’t expl0red even half of them 🙁
This is what I mean by hole-in-the-wall:
He doesn’t even have a signage (which he claims is being re-done!). Here’s their FB page for a picture with signage! Even though I’ve known about it forever, I’ve NEVER noticed it!
Here’s the limited, but delicious menu:
Their specials are: plain cow’s milk, milkshakes, ice-cream shakes, sugar free shakes and bunch of vegetarian snacks! Everything is made from scratch, including the ice cream. And the shakes are served out of old fashioned milk bottles (which I’ve been looking for to serve iced tea & coffee at home. So anyone who has any idea where I can get a hold of them, do let me know).
There’s coffee for AK and butterscotch for me. So the shakes that our generation has grown up with at fast food joints like McD and Nirulas are known for the ice-creamy richness, lots of crushed ice and a host of flavours induced using sugary flavoured syrups. But this ice-cream-less shake rests on pure chilled creamy full-cream cow’s milk, a delicate hint of flavour and just the right amount of sugar which doesn’t overpower the flavour and the pure goodness of milk. Compared to Nirulas 21 flavours, this menu list falls short, but the delicious richness kicks Nirulas ass! (Excuse my language, but I need to convey how happy I am with my find!). I usually stay away from shakes because they’re too cloyingly sweet for my taste but I couldn’t find fault with this!
I wanted both for myself!!
AK has a crazy penchant for Indian style “patties” and hogged on 2 of the potato patties from there too! Unfortunately, it was too early in the morning else a bottle of milkshake and a Chicken Patty from Wengers next door would have been un-toppable! (So I should save it for another post, but I can’t help sharing – my boss sends a WHOLE box of 20-25 Wengers chicken patties to his brother in Chandigarh every chance he gets!)
On our way back to the abandoned looking ANHC (All New Honda City – as AK calls his car), I couldn’t help regretting that I hadn’t figured out a way to steal a few of those bottles for myself 🙁