Enjoy flavours of Yemeni coffee and food at this cafe in Bandra

Lahsah

How much coffee can adequately caffeinate the city's most hipster suburb? Judging by the rate at which the neighbourhood has been spawning artisanal brew-serving cafes, the answer seems to lie just one more coffee shop away. The newest kid on this already well-populated block is Aqueeq, which has taken over the space that formerly housed the erstwhile Bandra landmark, Birdsong Café. Located on Waroda Road, which already boasts several landmark cafes including the trendy Veronica's, Morii, Subko and Mokai, with The Nutcracker and The Method only a coffee bean-throw away, Aqueeq is up against formidable crowd favourites. However, the café has an ace hidden up its sleeve; the coffee beans are sourced from Yemen, one of the oldest coffee regions in the world. The coffee has a distinctive sweet aftertaste, the co-founders say, and its cultivation and export has helped farmers in the war-torn nation to move away from the cultivation of khat, a classified drug, that trends to render the fields barren.

Daal Chawal Palidu

Yemeni connection

It was this rich history associated with Yemeni coffee, and its soaring success in other coffee capitals including Los Angeles, that prompted brothers and screenwriters Abbas and Hussain Dalal to bring these beans to Mumbai. "Our family has roots in Yemen. As we learned about how crucial it is to encourage Yemeni farmers to choose producing coffee over khat, we decided to play an active role in encouraging its export and introducing Indian coffee lovers to Yemeni coffee," says Hussain. The distinctive flavour, he adds, comes from the high altitude at which the beans are grown - the coffee shrubs are reportedly grown on mountainous terraces over 8,000 feet above sea level. We decided to put the claims to test on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The space, although completely overhauled to include Arabian accents and overtones, has still retained its famous picture windows that open to the sleepy Bandra by-lane and some of the street's best-preserved heritage bungalows.

Cold brew

Old meets new

The menu, we were told, is inspired by the brothers' own Bohri roots as well as nostalgic memories of their travels to Yemen. We started with the Bohri thaal classic, daal chawal palidu (Rs 530), a layered rice dish made with tur daal and paired with a besan curry. Fragrant and lightly spiced, this dish was simple but effective, and the very embodiment of the phrase ‘soul food'. Next, we dipped our pita bread triangles into the Yemeni lahsah (Rs 480), which has egg scrambled in fresh tomato sauce. The egg was perfectly cooked and, as with the last dish, delicately spiced to let the ingredients (primarily tomato) shine through. The classic cream kunafa (Rs 350) was a good pick (we appreciated being able to pour the sugar syrup as per our own liking) and the mushroom and cheese borek (Rs 480) was passable but not particularly memorable.

The interiors of the new café

To wash it all down, we tried the Aqueeq cold brew (Rs 410), which pairs the signature Yemeni coffee flavour with lychee and rose. To our great relief, the coffee was not overwhelmingly sweet and the fruity flavours did not compete with but rather brought out the innate sweetness of the coffee. Of course, the café does offer its fair share of the more crowd-pleasing blended coffee drinks, including a trendy Vietnamese shakerato as well as a decent affogato and iced mocha. True to most Bandra eateries, you can expect to find a healthy sprinkling of granola bowls, avocado toasts, pancakes and grilled cheeses that few Bandra cafes would dare to go without.

Kunafa. PICS/ANINDITA PAUL

Keeping it real

All in all, despite the threat of stiff competition from some well-established names, Aqueeq, we feel, manages to hold its own. The coffee is best savoured without any milky flourishes as the intrinsic flavours of the beans are already quite delicate and complex. We'd recommend going back for the Bohri palidu and the lahsah, and giving the tiramisu (R480) a miss.

Aqueeq
AT Ground floor, Jenu Jenai Building, Waroda Road, Ranwar, Bandra West.
TIME 12 noon to 11 pm
CALL 9820093137

A quaint corner in Ranwar village. PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Waroda coffee trail

Once you're in the neighbourhood, you'd be remiss if you didn't check out Aqueeq's neighbours - new and old. Here are our picks for a leisurely (and very highly caffeinated) walk through Ranwar village.

>> Veronica's cold coffee: Unassumingly named, this combination of a double espresso shot with oat milk and date syrup hits all the right spots, while going easy on the sugar and guilt.
COST Rs 300
CALL 9372981697

>> Mokai's tiramisu iced latte: This dessert in a glass is decadent and heady. The latte is blended with mascarpone cheese, and topped with cocoa powder, and ladyfinger biscuits.
COST Rs 350
CALL 9820062166

>> Subko Mary Lodge's banofee flat white: This innovative drink features banana-infused milk, which is topped with salted caramel and a strong espresso shot.
COST Rs 280
CALL 9004700654

>> Morii Cafe's iced jaggery matcha: One of the better matcha lattes served in Bandra, this drink is delicious and refined-sugar-free.
COST Rs 330
CALL 9820823741