Delhi has had its fair share of concept cafés and toeing the line is yet another one called ‘Café Ludus’ at MGF Metropolitan Mall, Saket.
The brainchild of three school friends—Abhimanyu Rai, Gaurav Gupta and Rachit Khanna—who have been passionate about food and nightlife, always wanted to start their own café. So they decided to create a café which is a conglomeration of style, fun, comfort and good food.
Since they are school friends, the theme of ‘back to school’ became the overall guiding subject of décor. Hence, Café Ludus has been designed to encapsulate the nostalgia of school life. One can see a notice wall with board and posters, there is an area with plenty of books stacked and some slung on clothes hangers. The bar reflects a few elements of the laboratory in terms of bottles and tubes, etc.
Abhimanyu Rai, managing director, budding entrepreneur and former consultant with experience in the hospitality business sees Café Ludus as a platform which will set a new standard for cafés in Delhi. He says, “The aim of the Café is to be able to carve a niche among the top eating and partying joints in the city. Cafe Ludus is a dream project for us and we strive to be able to live upto the expectations of our patrons.”
Gaurav Gupta, an actor and film maker and now a director at the café, shared the vision for Ludus and has tried to capture the essence through his understanding of aesthetics. The third musketeer, Rachit Khanna, is a techno buff and that side of him is evident in the technology employed around the café with interesting big TV screens and new-fangled lights.
The interiors at Café Ludus manifest themselves boldly with the soft balance of metal and wood. The outdoor is pretty, with white drapes, lovely plants and wooden bleachers. Comfortable cane sofas with nice cushions to relax, ideal for winter afternoons or a cosy candle lit dinner. The café has just got its liquor licence so one can look forward to pleasant wine soirees.
The food at Café Ludus is actually the best thing to talk about. The menu incorporates flavours from around the world as multi cuisine reignd supreme these days. A decent choice of soups, salads, pizzas, pastas, house burgers, desserts and shakes make an easy selection to choose from. All prepared with great finesse and care, reflecting the talent of chef Amitabh Kumar who has honed his skills at various places he has worked, more prominently Smoke House Deli.
His love for food and cooking is displayed with passion in each dish, through the right combination of simple flavours and textures. His creations are an open book of his deepest desire: to share with others what makes him happy: food. The articulate preparations like the chicken roulade, Cambodian basa, braised lamb and zaatar prawns are already quite popular amongst his guests as he points out most humbly. Chef Amitabh has also taken care of all those guests who want to try a little of everything. Hence, there is a separate section in the menu listing half portions to order. Can you believe, you can have half a soup with half a pizza and many such interesting combos?
If you have space after having those juicy big burgers, dig into the bipolar cheesecake or chocolate lava cake and crème burley. Bipolar cheesecake with fig and pimento is rather bold in flavour. Lighter, sugary hazelnut flan is a safe bet for sure.