World Café’s new menu is not so new

Whenever I want to write or race through a book or complete some academic work, or maybe low-key hangout with my friends, I head to a café. Far, near, it doesn’t matter; I’ll go.

My list of demands from a café is quite simple: tables that I can place my computer on so that the centre of my screen aligns with my chest, chairs, accessible power outlets, drinkable coffee, healthy vegan or vegan-customisable food and non-intrusive wait-staff.

The World Café in the lobby of the World Trade Centre inside Brigade Gateway satisfies all these demands but still left me wanting.

As advertised in my demands, the coffee is just that – drinkable – and the cornucopia of coffees on offer is something coffee aficionados may appreciate, but the preparation? Not ‘worldly’ in the slightest. That’s right, the World Café offers 10 kinds of single origin coffees from around the world, but what about their brewing methods? Why should I have to consume “one of the most sought in the world” Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee from an espresso machine? Where’s my syphon or AeroPress, or at the very least, a French press? The spiced iced-coffee was nice (respect to them for having soy, almond, and low-fat milk options). On offer are milkshakes, smoothies, espresso-based drinks, and slushie. The dry fruit shake and the Mexican hot chocolate (dark cocoa and cinnamon) come highly recommended.

On the food front, as a vegan, my options were limited (they almost always are). But, the enthusiastic chef on-hand whipped up a memorable pear, green-bean, broccoli, and walnut salad that was unlike anything I’d eaten before. The acidity of the pear tied the broccoli and the beans together, and the walnuts added some much-needed crunch. Satiated indeed! My non-vegan colleague also praised the comfort café fare on offer but was taken aback by the supposed monthly menu change that didn’t really happen: the food on offer was very similar to what was available when she visited a few months ago.

Since I don’t work in an office nor do I have a co-working membership, cafes are where I go to install myself into a community of people. But, this only comes into play when you spend long periods of time at a café.

In our two hours at The World Café, we saw no more than five other people there to ‘experience’ all it has to offer. But then again, we went there in the afternoon, and saw more customers come in after 4 pm that evening.

Towards the end of our visit, Tapri, the café’s monsoon promotion, bringing famed Indian food-cart fare indoors, opened shop, and the chef endowed our table with piping hot aloo samosas and mint chutney. The samosas were heavenly; suffice it to say I may return. If not for the coffee, simply to try their bhajjis and pakoras.