From poha-jalebi to coffee and books, Bhopal’s café culture is growing

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesdh): From roadside vendors' hot jalebi and mouthwatering poha, the city's youth is gradually veering towards coffee and books as Bhopal's café culture is growing.

Many young entrepreneurs have opened cafés in different city areas in the past two years. The 10 Number Market in the city has become home to many small and cozy cafes, and the Arera Colony and MP Nagar also have great cafes. To understand these cafes' hype, culture, and vibe, the Free Press team visited 13 such cafes in the city.

Most cafés follow similar aesthetics like warm white lights, indoor and outdoor plants, and comfortable seating. These cafés serve food and comfort and have complementary boards, card games, and books for readers.

These cafes have a similar policy; they never discriminate among customers based on their order size. You can stay for however long, even just by ordering a coffee. These cafes are preferred mainly by work-from-home employees, couples going out on dates, friends meet-ups, and for alone self-time.

Coffee Therapy is one of the most famous cafés among the employed youth that work from home. The Coffee Therapy chef Nikhil Deoskar said that most people who come to our café are 24- to 28-year-old. Most people come here in trios and friend groups. But we have a few people here that come alone, take a corner seat, and read novels. People often order coffee because, in Bhopal, people still relate café with coffee; for them, café means coffee, and we make our coffee from coffee beans. People love it.

Central Kafe, a café based on a very famous sitcom FRIENDS's Central Perk, is famous because of its cozy replica sofa and big mugs. The cafe owner Kuldeep Parakh said that since post-Covid, this café culture has been more prominent among the youth. They come here for birthday parties, dates, and meet-ups. We also have the sitcom FRIENDS screening here, so people also enjoy that.