Cafe Lota

Arnav Bhattacharya

1 month ago

5.0

It is completely worth all the publicity it gets! I was here for breakfast, on a nice rainy day. Each of their options, from the Mochar Chops to the Sabudana Popcorn as well as Ragi Dosa were super filling, with adequate serving sizes and amazing taste. This is the kind of place you want to slip into when you've got some spare time on a weekday, rather than getting caught up by Saturday/Sunday wait times..... All kinds of options for every dietary choice and preference, Cafe Lota is impossible to avoid when you're spending time in Delhi. I'm visiting back very soon, for sure!

Rahul Yadav

3 weeks ago

5.0

Café Lota is one of Delhi’s finest hidden gems—tucked within the premises of the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy. The food is exceptional, offering a thoughtful take on regional Indian cuisine, while the service is warm and attentive without being intrusive. The ambience strikes a perfect balance between relaxed and refined, making it ideal for a slow, lazy weekend meal. Whether you're there for brunch or lunch, it feels like a mini escape from the city’s chaos. Highly recommended.

+2

Allan Jacob

2 months ago

5.0

Assamese Thali was amazing, variety of veg, non veg and desserts and starters as well! The chicken was a little bland, but the fish was my favourite. The Kerala chicken masala with Appam was tasty, not too much masala, which was good and it has a tinge of coconut flavour which I loved (maybe cuz am a malayali). The Palak Patta Chaat as a starter was good too. Really loved the taste of the Fried Palak, it went alright with Chaat.

Arpan Vishnoi

2 months ago

5.0

its not food. it's an experience. coming here with expectations is the worst you can do to yourself. just arrive and let the food take you over. Delicuous is an understatement.

Shilpa R

2 months ago

5.0

Had sabudana popcorn and assam veg thali which was very delicious. I visited this place multiple times and never disappointed.

Harshvardhan Bothra

2 months ago

5.0

The Benarasi Tamatar Chaat, Palak Patta Chaat, Kathal Biryani and Paneer Pasanda were amazing. Cheesecake was not worth it.

Vaibhav Gupta

6 days ago

5.0

wonderful place and very good staff. The food variety and quality is excellent. Keep up the good job.

Namit Bhalla

1 month ago

4.0

The food was very light and homely. Also the variety of food frm different states makes it super interesting. Some dishes were outstanding, palak patta chaat, meat samosa, mustard fish, pork curry. Some were disappointing like idli, and black rice kheer. None of the desserts seemed appetising, but highly recommend it for the food. Also offers an amazing ambience in this world of swanky places, it's surrounded by indian culture and heritage. Quiet and experience. No booking, but tables move fast.

pankaj gupta

2 weeks ago

3.0

Review of Cafe Lota We had been hearing about this place for a long time. Always wanted to go, but it’s quite far from where we stay — so it kept getting pushed. Finally, an evening plan with friends got us here. We did try calling ahead to reserve a table, but they said they don’t take reservations. Sometimes it suggests they’re too busy to manage reservations. Other times, it feels more like — take your chances, we’re not too bothered. We still went in with high expectations because honestly, the reviews have been very good. First Impressions We got stuck in traffic and reached a bit late. The entry, through the Crafts Museum, actually builds things up nicely. It feels like you’re going somewhere special. But then… the first look inside was confusing. It’s a big space. Well laid out. Wide aisle. Clean spacing between tables. But something felt off immediately. No one at the entrance. And more importantly — hardly any people inside. A few tables were occupied. Some couples, one semi-formal meeting type group. But overall — it was empty. Proper empty. Maybe 20% occupied at best. It made us pause a bit. Is this normal? Has the place lost its charm? Weather was great, so that wasn’t the issue. Later we were told it’s more of a lunch place — museum crowd, Supreme Court lawyers, client meetings etc. Apparently, it’s packed in the afternoon. But that got us thinking — is this place popular because of where it is, or because of the food? Because if it was the food, evenings shouldn’t look like this. Why We Were Here We were here to spend time with friends, but also to meet someone special — a lady who authored a book that, in many ways, redefined how birding happens in our country. We’ve grown up reading her work. And in some ways, it has shaped our own journeys. There’s a quiet sense of gratitude there — for giving direction, for opening up a world. So yes, this evening wasn’t just about the café. Ambience & Space At first glance, the place is nice. Minimal, open, airy. There’s even a tree inside, which adds character. But once you sit for a while, you start noticing things. Peeling plaster. Damp patches. Chipped bowls. Nothing dramatic, but enough to make you feel the place is a bit… tired. Like it’s seen better days and no one is really paying attention anymore. Service The staff was polite, but honestly — quite lost. Basic F&B service standards were missing: Three menus for five people — we were expected to manage somehow The menu itself is confusing, not very easy to navigate No effort to remember who at the table was vegetarian and who wasn’t No real coordination in serving It felt a bit like — whoever gets a dish just drops it on the table. There was no manager or captain in sight, which probably explains the lack of structure. A few things stood out: Veg starters came and we finished them, while the chicken arrived much later The same thing happened with the mains — four dishes came together and one came later, which is always awkward No concept of changing plates between courses (Kerala chicken on top of sev curd leftovers is not ideal) Cutlery wasn’t really managed or refreshed Maybe they’re just more tuned for busy lunch service where this doesn’t matter as much. Our Order Our group seemed to enjoy the beverages, but the filter coffee, for me, lacked punch. It’s difficult to describe — everything was there, but something still felt missing. For starters, we had the Palak Patta Chaat and Kerala Chicken Masala. The chaat was good — the palak was crisp and the curd wasn’t overly sweet. But three leaves of spinach for a starter felt a bit less. Towards the end, we were mostly just eating the curd. It actually became a bit comical — a Palak Patta Chaat without enough palak. The chicken masala came with an appam/dosa as its base. How do you share a semi-dry chicken on an appam? We were expecting something drier, something easier to share — this wasn’t it. Taste-wise, it was just okay. A bit of a pattern started to emerge — things were “just okay.” If you ask us today, we probably wouldn’t remember the dish clearly. There wasn’t much that stayed. For the mains, we ordered Paneer Pasanda, Kerala Vegetable Stew, Toddy Fish Curry, Idukki Pork, and Assamese Black Chicken. We didn’t try the paneer, but had a spoon of the stew — it felt weak, though the flavours were somewhere in the background. Same with the fish curry — flavours present, but not quite coming through. We shared the pork and the chicken. The Idukki pork had the best curry on the table — good flavour, something that made us go back for a few more bites. But the pork itself felt like it came from an older animal — too fibrous. They had clearly tried to soften it, but there’s only so much you can do. Now coming to the Assamese Black Chicken — black curry with roasted sesame. It came with one tingmo (steamed bun) and momo chutney. The chutney was nice, but how that and tingmo landed up with an Assamese dish is still a bit of a mystery. If this dish was served in a blind tasting, most people would probably call it palak chicken. We kept trying to find even a hint of sesame but couldn’t. It was a dark curry, yes — but why it tasted like palak chicken, only the chef could explain. Overall, it felt like the flavors across dishes had been toned down — possibly to appeal to a wider audience. Final Take It’s a nice place to sit, catch up, and spend time with friends. But if you’re going there expecting memorable food, it might not quite deliver. The overall feeling — the food is okay, but there’s something missing.

+1

Risav Jhunjhunwala

3 months ago

1.0

I’ve been coming here for over 8 years that I’ve been in Noida, the staff at the waiting area are gullible and they allow people to cut corners. You just need to beg them enough, they’ve lost all credibility. People wait in queues and they just allow people to randomly enter if they beg enough, they take numbers personally. I would like to call out Prity and Sonali for this gesture and hope the management takes heed of it. People wait in queues to enjoy the time here but this incident made me realise it’s not worth it anymore.