Snack like a cyclist

The Ciclo Cafe in Gurugram is for those who like to stay fit and eat healthy

You don’t need to look at the board above to know that you have arrived at Ciclo Cafe. A gleaming unicycle is stationed at the entrance and one can see, through big glass windows, Bianchi, Mongoose and GT cycles hanging from the walls inside. 

With Prankster and Bikanervala as its neighbours and Starbucks, Mainland China and Mamagoto located close by, Ciclo, India’s first cycling cafe, is the latest addition to the food hub that Sector 29, Gurugram, has become. 

 Ciclo was first started in Chennai in 2015 by Arun Alagappan of TI Cycles of India and Ashish Thadani of TI Absolute Concepts.  “During his travels abroad, Arun came across four cafés  in Europe and one in Japan by Bianchi, one of the world’s oldest bicycle-making companies. He thought of starting something like those in India as well,” says Thadani during a phone chat. 

Being an avid cyclist himself — he recently completed a 1,000 km brevet from Hyderabad —, Thadani immediately got interested in the idea and the duo launched Ciclo Cafe in the busy Kotturpuram area of Chennai, followed by an eatery in Hyderabad and then in Gurugram recently. Two more cafés will be launched in Bengaluru and Coimbatore soon. 

It’s heartening to see that Ciclo Cafe has a ramp to make it accessible to the differently abled. The entrance leads to a warm, sunlit space, with huge bay windows set within walls featuring white-painted bricks and teal embellishments. Long benches are ideal for cycling groups and fitness enthusiasts, who might come in after a morning workout. If you venture further into the café, the pristine white gives way to beige and yellow walls, with cycle tyres and wheels forming part of the decor. Chalk sketches of vintage cycles such as an 1818-Draisine, the 1920 Roadster and the Bone Shaker Michaux 1861 adorn the walls. There is a lifestyle facility located at a level below, with cycles, clothes, accessories and related merchandise on sale. You can also rent a bicycle here, from Rs 350 for four hours. 

Black pepper and chilli rubbed grilled chicken

The menu at this 100-seater is for those who like to eat healthy and tasty. If you are here for breakfast, start with a Peanut Butter Protein smoothie with baby spinach, honey, almond and banana or the Stress Buster smoothie with ashwagandha, banana, dry fig, honey and yoghurt along with a shakshouka, millet upma and batata poha. But I am here for lunch. I opt for the refreshing Pamma Drama with fresh pomegranate and cranberry juice. It goes well with the quinoa, beetroot and orange salad. One wishes, though, that the drink had more of the pomegranate and mint to cut through the overpowering taste of the cranberry. 

I am told that about 60 per cent of the menu remains common across cities. The remainder features dishes that might be novel to that region. So, while delicacies from the north such as rajma-chawal and kadhi- chawal form part of the menu in Chennai, it is delectables from the south and the west that are seen in Gurugram. I order the kuzhi paniyaram, which is  chef’s take on the traditional snack made with rice and lentil batter. The roundels are delightfully crisp on the outside and nice and airy on the inside. Giving the pastas, wraps and the sourdough pizzas a miss, I go to the main course with a flavoursome Dastoor’s mutton dhansak. But the dish that stands out is the barley and cottage cheese construct; it has a risotto-like feel. The bite of the barley rice is perfectly complemented by the creamy paneer, marinated in coriander and served with an orange reduction and a rosemary jus. I wish, though, the serving staff was better acquainted with the components of the dishes.  
 

A meal for two, with one cooler, a salad, a single starter and two mains costs Rs 1,800-plus