Mehar Chand Market has always been the too-cool-for-school market of Delhi. It is living up to its name and how. It got a makeover just a year ago with fuchsia geometric patterns and eclectic flowers on its walls. Shiny and new, we decided to spend our day working here and give you the low-down on what’s in vogue at Mehar Chand.
10:07 am: Elma’s Brasserie
Elma’s Brasserie
It was a bright morning and the sun was yet to hit Delhi with full force. We sauntered into Elma’s Brasserie and felt like we’d walked into an English dream, with scones & finger sandwiches to charm us over. We were more than a little hungry and the smell of oven-baked fresh bread was glorious. We couldn’t wait to order and led with Elma’s new breakfast pizza: a mix of bacon with eggs and cheese on a pizza base, baked eggs with ham. To balance out the indulgence there was also a fruit yoghurt on the table and the veggie-lovers couldn’t get enough of the mushroom-spinach crêpe. We washed it all down with a comforting pot of Darjeeling tea and hot robust coffee, fresh from their cafetière. We took our time but managed to polish off a breakfast of champions and were ready to perform champion-worthy feats, i.e., get down to work.
11:45 am: bhane.WIP
Bhane. WIP
Work was a menagerie of emails, notes and discussions that day and we wanted to sit in one place to do it all. We settled down in the cozy space on the first floor of team favourite, bhane for a good four hours. For those who don’t know, here’s a lil gem of a discovery – above bhane’s clothes studio is a sanctuary of co-workspace. With one of the city’s finest ice creams. AND pizza. AND coffee.
Lost behind our laptop screens, our hands reached out to bites of marinara pizza almost like a reflex reaction to working nonstop!
As the evening drew nearer we charged up with freshly-brewed coffee and wrapped up the last working sesh of the day. We just had to play a game of jenga before we left and the winner was treated salted caramel ice cream by the rest of us!
4:37 pm: Nappa Dori, CMYK, Altitude Cafe
Nappa Dori
With work done and out of the way, we were ready to hit the shops! We went gaga over all the leather at Nappa Dori. From their earth-toned sturdy trunks to statement laptop bags, we knew exactly what to get our dads the next time a birthday came round.
Our next stop was the city-loves stationery and bookstore, CMYK. A ‘concept bookstore’, it has one of the best collections of notebooks we’ve seen in a long time and we were sold. CMYK also houses some of the best art and interior coffee table books in the city. We could spend hours just browsing through… but we had to get a move on with the rest of the day.
We made a quick stop at the Altitude deli and stocked up on our cheeses and olive oils, some gouda and ciabatta to nibble on in office and focaccia to take home, and we were on our way.
6:09 pm: MI Food Centre
Image: forthereluctantchef.blogspot.com
All that shopping and being around food had us famished. It was not yet dinner time but we did have space for kebabs. We hit up MI Centre for their malai chicken tikka and khamiri roti and got a plate of butter chicken too for good measure. It was truly finger lickin’ good. Without a doubt, this is one of Mehar Chand’s best kept secrets and easy on the pocket too.
7.00pm: Outhouse, Fabindia
Outhouse
Having spent all day together, the DSSC ladies and gents decided to split up for some Diwali shopping. The girls headed to Outhouse for a look at their collection, their trendy designs had them planning outfits for the festivities around the corner. On regrouping,the gents, who had found refuge at Fab India had wide retail therapy smiles, for they had almost bought out their entire collection. The DSSC team is going to be one sharp looking crew when it came to this festive season.
8.30pm: DIVA Spiced
DIVA Spiced
It had been a long Saturday and we could hear the call of food beckoning us yet again, this time from DIVA Spiced. All the walking around Mehar Chand had rid us of all but the memory of Elma’s food, bhane pizza and the malai tikka. We were ready to gorge again. DIVA Spiced, unlike the Italian we know and adore, serves up sumptuous Asian fare.
We had been feeling a tad guilty of eating all day long and were looking forward to trying out some of the healthy options on the menu. We began with a selection of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian rice paper rolls,the tangy prawn, and mango and snow peas salad which were delectable. We went nuts over the edamame and water-chestnut ravioli and the chilli caramel fish. The crispy tofu burger exceeded all over expectations and we vowed to be back for more!
Our second installment of DSSC’s Day Out at Mehar Chand Market was a phenomenal success. Khan Market’s younger cousin has a personality of its own and we like this family! Stay tuned for our low-down on other kids on the block.
If you have ideas on where we should go next, shoot us an email on editor@dssc.co and we’ll document our favourite spots in that neighbourhood!
