Ever thought of an all vegetarian pizza place that rocks your socks off? After spending treacherous hours in the lanes of the Village and then Shahpur Jat in search for some good old cafes that run to give something different, I got tired. Each weekend passed away as if it were the same as the last one. And then there was a vow to go where no Delhite had gone before (on a weekend. Just on a whim. On one hungover Saturday afternoon). Cheese Chaplin is where I went looking at the not so hip streets of Lado Sarai, dotted with art galleries that no one visits, there are no signs of chic coffee shops or designer draped designers here. But there is Cheese Chaplin and thank god for that.
Cheese Chaplin is essentially a cheese store and stocks some of the best cheese to be found in Delhi. A purple sign is all you need to look for and walk down to the basement to be greeted by Mr Vikas and a whole lot of olives, pasta, capers and of course ,cheese. Before you get your greedy hands on the pizza menu, get Mr Vikas to help you sample few cheeses. We had the smoked cheddar and scamorza, fresh buffalo mozzarella and gouda. Their mozzarella is really fresh and very gentle on the taste buds. While the smoked scamorza is sharp. They have a build your own cheese platter which also makes for a great gifting idea. The idea is to get a taste of various flavours and textures. If only they had wine to go with, we’d be here for the whole weekend. The company has been around for 19 years now and specializes in gourmet cheese. Apart from the above they also make ricotta, bocconcini and mascarpone among others.
This one surely calls for a cheat day, or call it a cheese day if you will because after all this cheese there’s one thing you need to do. Get yourself to order some pizza. The Chaplin special is a thin crust pizza with cheddar and parmesan. Topped with olives, basil and onion, it is simply amazing. Also worth trying is the Hot n Spicy Cheese pizza, which adds a nice zing to the otherwise savoury taste. The pizzas are on your table (there are only two of those) in just 10 minutes and you can smell the freshness of the cheese before they arrive. They have a mild rustic/smoky flavour from the woodfire ovens which makes you want to gobble down more and more. The pizzas aren’t the largest and very light while you’re eating. It takes a moment for your stomach to register all the fresh cheese and the weight of it.
But before any of that happens and before this cheese day gets over, you need to have their baked cheesecake and the tiramisu in a glass. The cheesecake is soft and one which does not leave your mouth dry and sticky. It is fresh as everything else that you had before and so is the tiramisu. Trust me, none of the things here are exquisite or fancy. It is just the humbleness of the staff and the care to give you everything fresh and simple which makes the place the gem that it is. So go find out for yourself if ever you can find the place itself.
Where : F-351, Lado Sarai, Mehrauli New Delhi.
Cost for two : Rs 500
Nearest Metro Station : Qutub Minar
