Rediculousness

Location: Small Convenience Stand at the 35, 36C Chowk (round about)

Rating: ***/5

While ordinarily I stick to chai because what passes for coffee in India sends me into diabetic shock, on Saturday night I had to go for a coffee. Mads and I went out earlier in the day and bought a few pirated dvd’s and we had a lazy afternoon watching a couple bad action movies on a 12 inch computer screen. Diner took 2 ½ hours to be delivered because the restaurant neglected to mention to me that they don’t deliver until after 7 when I ordered at 5:30. B the time eight at night rolled around I was exhausted and needed a little pick me up. So a couple of us pushed on the flip-flops and walked to the chowk by our house to buy some chocolate. When we got there, to my surprise they had something that resembled an espresso machine with a steamer so I had to try a coffee.

While it was made with nicely steamed foamy milk for some reason they used instant coffee. I have a personal hatred for instant coffee but when mixed with tons of sugar, foamy milk and an increasingly chilly evening in Chandigrah it felt somehow comforting. The foam was dusted with chocolate, which was more elegance than I would expect from a roadside stand and the barista (I think Starbucks trained him) took great care to ensure that the foam was up over the edge of the styrofoam cup. While I would not classify the drink as coffee, it reminded me of hot chocolate from machines at the ski hill and I will be back if only for the few seconds of nostalgic memory and a warm drink to stave of the north Indian nights.