Pipeline Cafe: Munchers Review

BY:SHIVANGI SINGHA

College is an integral part of everyone’s life. More than the lectures we tend to remember our crashing pads and the places we used to hang out with friends in between classes. The smart restaurateurs in New Delhi saw this market and started to dwell on it a few years back. This market needs a cool hangout place, nothing too fancy. A place where the students can come between classes and chit chat, a place where they can talk about the drama society or a place where the all the couples can go for a quick date. The most important factor that needs to be taken care of while catering to this market is the pricing. The food has too be of premium quality but the prices need to be minimal and very competitive.

A whole food hub has recently emerged in New Delhi , The Hudson Lane near North Campus, Delhi University and Satyaniketan, near the south campus of Delhi Unversity. These two markets and full of budget friendly restaurants or also know as cafés within the locals.

Here you will find cost cutting interms of décor and cutlery, but amazing food and even better prices, just how the college kids like it.

Recently I was wandering in the lanes of Satyaniketan and wanted to try out something new. I was too tired of the baked nachos from BYD or the tandoori momos from Q’Ds.

I was intrigued by this one particular café , The Pipeline Café as the whole Name was written using metallic pipes. I decided to give this new venture a try and hopped onto the second floor.

The Ambiance

The Café is located on the second floor, so you will have to climb a flight of stairs as no lift facility is available.

Outside the entrance they have a  fancy glow sign.They have seating for about 20 people with both the options of couches and chairs available. There is a huge wooden clock on one side and a cute little black board where all the customers have scribbled their experiences on the other. They also have a very good view of the Venky college and you can sit by the couches and  enjoy the pretty view of the bustling street.

 

The servers were very warm and courteous and I have to mention that the service was very fast. All the food items were sent to the table well with 5-7 mins.

The Food

Thirst Quenchers

All satyaniketan cafés are known for their shakes and I decided on trying two chocolate bombs out of their menu :

** Fererro Rocher Shake: The shake came in a glass bottle similar to the glass milk bottles of the tom and Jerry era. It was thick and fudgy, I could taste the hazelnut flavor and the best part was that tiny crushed pieces of the chocolate were coming in my mouth!

**Kitkat Shake: The Kitkat shake came in a similar bottle, the base of the shake tasted almost the same, the only difference was that I could taste a hint of the milk chocolate of Kitkat , also there were pieces of broken chocolate on top of the shake that I happily munched on!

Next I tried some of their mocktails. I had their:

 

**Virgin Sangria: This came in a stout mason jar and the presentation was wonderful. There were leaves and pineapple slices tucked into the opening of the jar. Taste wise this was a winner. The cranberry juiced along with apple juice and diced fruits blended together beautifully. This drink Is highly recommended if you are a cranberry fan

 

**Virgin Mojito: This usual drink came to the table with half the jar filled with crushed ice, there was more ice than the mojito itself.

The Nibblers

For starters I actually ended up having quite a few dishes.

**Drums of Heaven: The Drums of heaven were served piping hot. They had a crunchy exterior and a very juicy succulent interior. The sauce that they were tossed in was mildly spicy but delicious.

**Baked Nachos with Chicken: You cannot finish a meal in Satyaniketan without having a plate of baked nachos. These were pretty ordinary, cornito nachos coverd in mozerella cheese and boiled chicken shreds on top. It was nothing great, but if you crave for nachos this baby will do justice to it.

**Thai Spring Rolls: These are available in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions. These can also be called paper spring rolls as the exterior is so crispy and crunchy that when you bite into it you’ll hear the sound of the crunch. The filling was mildly spiced and the rolls went spectacularly well with the honey chilli dip.

**Stir Fried potato with cottage cheese: This was by far the best dish on the table. It was something that I have never tried before. These are fried potato slices with stir fried cottage cheese stuffed between them. The slices are then slathered with a spicy sauce that will just blow your mind away. In every bite I could taste the softness of the cottage cheese, the crunchiness of the fried potato and the spices of the sauce.

**Chicken Dim-sum: The dim-sums were served in the traditional jute basket and came with two dips. One was mild while the other one was  extra spicy. The dimsum in itself tasted great. The filling was very succulent and juicy and I could actually see the chicken juices flowing on my plate. I bet you, you will not be able to just have one, atleast I could not!

The mains

As I had already stuffed myself so much with the starters that I just had two dishes from the main course.

First I had the

**Chinese Sizzler: This is a new concept that is really catching up fast. On a sizzler bed, I was served noodles with the schezwan sauce and all the veggies on top. The sizzler gives it a very nice smokey flavor but the schezwan sauce should only be tried by people who love spicy food.

 

Next I had the

** Barbeque pizza: Up until this dish, my experience with pipeline café had been extremely good. But this dish flushed all the good reviews down the drain. They went wrong with the most basic dish, they went wrong with pizza!

The first problem that I faced was that unlike the other dishes, The pizza took a lot of time to be served. When it came to the table, I was surprised to see that they had used the usual tomato ketchup rather than pizza sauce. In my first bite itself, I was let down. The crust was too hard, the pizza had been over cooked. There was minimal amount of cheese on top and the chicken completely lacked the bbq flavor. Do skip their pizzas if you plan to visit them. They are simply not worth it.

 

Sweet Nothings

For dessert I tried their famous

**Crispy Fried Brownie with vanilla ice-cream:  This dessert is their take on brownie with vanilla ice-cream. They make a mush out of the brownie , coat it with batter and then deep fry it. It looked beautiful with the raspberry compote but lacked the oomph factor in taste. It was not chocolaty enough for me.

 

**banoffee pie: All the confidence that this place had lost was all regained by their banoffee pie. It was amazing. A well prepared base with not too sweet in house toffee and fluffy whipped cream. Also the little price that they charge for this will make you love it even more !

Munchurs Rating –

• Taste- 4/5
• Variety – 4/5
• Ambience- 3/5
• Value for Money- 4.5/5
• Satiety Value -4/5

 

Concluding Thoughts:

You should visit pipeline café for their starters , specially the dimsums. Their shakes are also a must try, but the best part about this place has to be the pricing. You are bound to walk out of this place with a full tummy and minimal loss of notes from your wallet.

Happy munching!

What: Pipeline Cafe

Where: Satyaniketan, opposite Venkateshwara College, New Delhi

Cost for 2: Rs. 650/-