Barista (Banjara Hills)

Sometimes you just want a simple, cold coffee, and a couple of moments of peace and quiet during your normally bustling routine. And for those times, this Barista outlet, located in the Lumbini Jewel mall, is not the place.

For, unfortunately, the Barista here defaults on one of the staples of coffee shops all over - a feeling of tranquility. In fact, one of the essentials, especially of Baristas across the city, is the fact that they are great places to chill out at. This version of Barista actually makes for a very hemmed-in feeling that takes all the fun out of lolling around over the coffee.

While the product line, prices, and even the sometimes over-trained, smiling hostesses, who insist upon throwing at you all the possible permutations and combinations of the ice, coffee, milk and sugar that you can have, remain largely the same, it is the lack of elbowroom that eventually gets to you.

That, and the fact that the store seems to have no source of natural light - which suprisingly actually accounts for that feeling of tranquility at many of the coffee places (yes, even in Hyderabad, which is actually located too close to the Equator for comfort anyway).

Nevertheless, the coffee remains unchanged, and if you are not going to compromise that cup of joe's, Barista delivers. Though we would recommend trying out the ice cream place across for a cold, sweet dessert.