Cottage Cafe by Smoothie Factory: Review and Best Things to Try!

~ poorva

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Roaming in Connaught Place on the weekend is one of my favourite activities ever..Just looking around, absorbing the hustle-bustle, watching families out for shopping, groups of girls giggling, observing people bargaining with a variety of vendors, shopping..and gorging on food at one of the many many restaurants in the place! All this is an integral part of my life.

Smoothie Factory opened up in India last year, with 2 outlets in Delhi. One of them is in Nehru Place and the other in Connaught Place. I decided to check them out after a day’s shopping in CP. With only a rough idea of the location, I started looking for this outlet. It was really hard to locate as I just walked and walked with absolutely no idea where this was! Finally, after asking a number of people, I managed to spot this in the Cottage Emporium building, which is just opposite to McDonald’s in Janpath.

Well, a little frustrated I was, as I was too tired from all the walking, but all the tiredness vanished as I entered the place. It was so colourful! All the interiors were in youthful, zingy hues of orange, yellow and green. 🙂 Certainly designed keeping the young crowd in mind. The seating space is a little less from my perspective, but the outlet is not very large so this can’t be helped. But we did manage to find seats on a weekend. Probably the place is not very popular yet, that’s why.

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Bright interiors make the place lively!

Ambience and Staff: The music was good, the lighting was good too! The view from their glass door is amazing..all green! And a major plus is that, since they are not in a very visible location and not many people know about it, the crowd was a bit less. The place is self-service based. The staff was good; they helped me make a nice choice in waffles so they know their stuff well. The overall vibe of the place was really nice! It is cozy, and an apt place for long conversations, catching up with an old buddy or a date!

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Food: They offer a variety of shakes, smoothies (of course), fresh fruit juices, frozen yoghurt or Froyo, salads, focaccia sandwiches, pasta, waffles and flatbreads. I and my friend had not eaten anything since morning, so we ordered a bit of a lot of things.

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Southwest Paneer Flatbread

The Southwest Paneer Flatbread (Rs. 139) was quite good. It was almost a very thin crust pizza, loaded with a lot of jalapenos and quite a lot of paneer and corn. Thank god, it had a good amount of toppings. The base was a bit chewy, but otherwise it was good.

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Peri Peri Chicken Focaccia Sandwich

Then came the Peri Peri Chicken Focaccia Sandwich (Rs 229). The portion size was quite small..The filling was good however. It was actually quite spicy! But that’s what I loved. It was grilled well, and was quite filling. However, I found it expensive.

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The smoothies were a delight! And healthy too!

We had smoothies to accompany our meal. Their ‘Island Delight’ smoothie (Small: Rs 109) had a significant taste of oranges and banana, and I found it decent. The helping size was also fine. The taste of banana and oranges together felt nice! The ‘Factory Original Smoothie’ (small: 149) completely stole the show. It had strawberries, peaches, pineapple, papaya, banana etc. I completely loved it! It tasted mostly of strawberries and peaches, the flavour was awesome! All in all, the smoothies were the showstoppers. I’m surely going to try more of them.

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Banana and Walnut Waffle

The last thing, and the best thing of the day was their multigrain waffle! I was quite confused by the array of waffles they had..so I ended up asking the staff. They recommended Banana and Walnut Waffle (Rs 119 for Half), with which they suggest caramel sauce. So I decided to go with it. The waffle was crisp on the outside and had a lovely banana flavour inside. It was served hot, and had walnuts sprinkled on top. It was a visual delight! The caramel sauce (I asked for extra!) was complementing it really well. It was the perfect ending to the meal. The waffle is something I’m going to have everytime I visit Smoothie Factory!

Store Location: Get to Janpath flea market in CP, keep walking towards Saravana Bhavan and McDonalds. Across the road is the red building of Cottage Emporium, and inside the complex is where you’ll find Smoothie Factory.

What to Try: Do taste their waffles and smoothie. I also want to try their Froyo, which they offer at Rs. 1.09/gram.

Value for Money: The sandwiches were not, and they could be priced cheaper. The waffle, though, was a steal! So overall, I would say it was satisfactory.

Munchy Quotient: 4/5

Final Word: This would be my go-to place from now, instead of McDonald’s or KFC. Though a bit difficult to locate, you won’t regret if you try the good things on their menu! Do drop in if you want a not-so-crowded place without spending a huge sum, and some good food!

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