Cafe Coffee Day

The best known cup of coffee in town comes from here. You can't miss Coffee Day; if there isn't one in your neighbourhood, there's one near your college/office, there are huge swank outlets in Banjara Hills and cubby-hole-sized coffee stores by the crowded streets of Himayathnagar, if you're not drinking it from your canteen dispenser, you're swigging it at Sangeet. You might as well give in, they're taking over.

Some people have a problem with this over-commercialized fuss over a drink that, in a Hyderabadi's eyes, takes only a distant second place to chai. Think again. A big chunk of the crowd that heads toward office just as the rest of us hit the bed, are addicted to their shot of caffeine before the twilight-zone shift begins. And Coffee Day does brew a mean cup of the dark
fantastic.

The owl-brigade is not the only group that frequents CCD. The college crowd is big, because the rates are more or less affordable, office-goers hang out here at lunch breaks to take in the laid-back air of the place, first-dates meet here because it's neutral ground, and couples because they're not likely to bump into their parents. You're left alone to play your favorites on the jukebox and nurse your mug of coffee for however long you want. All at a price, of course - Rs. 5 per favourite song and around Rs. 25 for the drink.

The range of coffees here, both cold and hot, is impressive. The latte (with cinnamon, if you like it that way), Irish Coffee, Cappuccino and its chocolate-y version, the Mochaccino are the most requested hot coffees. While the Frappe, with chocolate ice-cream blended in, the Tropical Iceberg, which is the classic cold coffee, and the award-winning Kaapi Nirvana are the chilled faves. The Kaapi Nirvana is your regular cold coffee, topped with whipped cream and chocolate rice. Order cookies to go with it and, suddenly, none of your problems in life will seem like such a big deal.

CCD also does a decent job of the teas, of which it has only three, but the Masala Chai is good. The eats here are also very popular, in fact, many people skip coffee altogether and just come here for the grub. For the most part, though, the food here is nothing spectacular. Their ever-changing menus haven't really improved matters, either.

However, the burgers, sandwiches and submarines are generally well appreciated. As is the Choc-O-Bloc pastry, which is a large serving of chocolate cake and ice-cream, topped with chocolate sauce.

CCD also sells its own range of t-shirts, coffee mugs and bags. Their line of pre-packed coffee powders is steeply priced, but there is no dearth of takers, and the filter-coffee has some dedicated drinkers.

An undeniably yuppie establishment, CCD is in-your-face and a bit much to take if you're looking for some quiet. During peak-hours especially, things get rather mad. And one CCD doesn't really differ from another; they're all just plastic structures from the same mould. While the authorities have obviously spent a lot of energy and money getting them to conform to standards, they've lost out on character, something that's uniformly lacking in all CCD outlets. But if an instant pick-me-up and some lounging around is what you're looking for, then you can't do much better than the coffee shop around the corner.