This coffee shop in Kochi offers coffee, community and comforting food

The Hindu

a day ago

Koffee Junction by Renai is a coffee shop-meets-fine dining kind of place. Located adjacent to Renai Cochin, it is an oasis of green on that very busy stretch of road. Renai Hospitality and Healthcare's Koffee Junction, which opened in December 2024, is an upmarket take on coffee shops albeit more spacious and ample [think half a football field] parking space.
The interiors are done up in pastel shades of salmon pink and teal which contrast the black and white, Ottoman-tile reminiscent floor. Large glass panels make the walls which look out into greenery. It is a welcome change from most coffee shops in the city that are crammed with tables and chairs, where you can eavesdrop simultaneously on conversations on three different tables. This space is also ideal for those working out of cafes.
Rather than just limit the offerings to burgers, sandwiches and pizzas, the team has curated a 'global' menu with cuisines such as continental, Asian, finding representation on it. Essentially designed as a coffee shop, 'You can also get your five course meal: soup, starter to dessert!' says Aneesh K Sankaranarayanan, sous chef in charge of Koffee Junction.
The chef recommends we take that route since it is lunch time. So, first comes chicken chilli coriander soup, a tangy flavour bomb, which whets the appetite and if you have blocked sinuses…it would open those as well. After the soup comes loaded fries covered by a blanket of creamy cheese sauce and spiced mayonnaise, the jalapenos and onions giving the crunch and bite!
Then come fish and chips, 'not crumb fried but batter fried as it is done in the United Kingdom. We wanted to keep it different, and stick to the original,' Aneesh adds. The menu is the work of more than four months of research and trials. 'We wanted something different, our take on the original recipes,' he says.
The Cajun grilled chicken on a bed of stir fried veggies, potato wedges and mushroom sauce is a nod to Mexican cuisine. The flavours on this plate — the mildly spiced veggies and the wedges work well with the Cajun spice. The mushroom sauce brings in the oomph to the dish which otherwise could have been one dimensional.
From the rice bowl menu, the chef picks the Cantonese honey glazed pork rice bowl which does not work. The sweetness of the pork does not complement the blandness of the rice — a dash of spice might have given the dish the much deserved kick of flavour.
Instead of dessert, we sampled red velvet shake and Lotus Biscoff shake. The red velvet shake with bobbing ice cubes is refreshingly light and not too sweet, while the Biscoff shake, which had a dollop of vanilla ice cream, is thick and creamy in a way that makes one wish that it would never finish.
The menu is rather expansive, spanning salads, burgers, wraps, rolls, waffles, smoothie and rice bowls. The coffee menu too is extensive, apart from the expressos and machiatos, there are also manual brews too.
As a wrap to the meal, we sample the French press, made of crushed Arabica beans coffee. The colour and contents of the French press resemble tea, but it is coffee the colour of tea which implies that it is possibly lightly roasted. Anyway, it is one of the best no-milk coffees for the coffee curious who might not have the stomach for the caffeine hit a shot of expresso is.