EL&N from London recently opened their first cafe in India, in Mumbai's Jio World Plaza so we have one thing less to ache for when planning that London trip mentally (yes, the one we had been planning since Kate and William got married).
For the uninitiated and living on the less trend-driven side of the 'gram, EL&N is an extremely popular cafe that 'takes the cake' for being oh-so-fab with its pink Instagrammable decor and equally enticing food and beverages. So, we made sure to make a stop at this fabulous cafe on our recent trip to Mumbai and here are our thoughts:
The place is stuh-ning. It's all pink and pretty so you obviously need to have an aversion towards pink for you to not like it. For those living in their soft girl era like the writer, and constantly planning their next cute girl dinner and matcha dates, you won't be disappointed. Muted pink and green tones are used for the design elements as well as the walls that are adorned with pink neon signs saying cute stuff like 'I love you a latte', 'Hey sweet thing' and 'From London to Mumbai' to mark the journey the brand has travelled. The highlight for us was the soft pink chandelier with the cafe's branding standing atop of their coffee bar and cake showcase.
Moving to the most important part, the food and drink offerings — they have all the EL&N signatures that the brand has been serving across their outlets in the UK, UAE, Europe and many more locations with a few mindful additions to suit the Indian palate.
The menu has all day brunch options, eggs done in different ways, croissants that look as tempting as they taste, indulgent French toasts, salads and sandwiches, a few savoury Italian delights, burgers and sides as far as the food is concerned. To top it all, the cakes look like angels have made them — pretty and irresistible.
For drinks, you have ALL the coffee, hot chocolate, tea, milkshake, frappe, bubble tea and mocktail options staring back at you from their attractive (and pictorial) menu. However, we had our heart set on the specialty lattes and went ahead to try their Matcha Rose Iced Latte and Rose Spanish Latte. Both of these were lovely to drink with notes of rose that tasted really floral and fresh. We liked how the drinks weren't too sweet or overpowering because of the rose, and maintained their original taste profile of being a matcha coffee respectively.
We also tried the Dutch Baby Pancakes since desserts are pretty much EL&N forte and we didn't wanna go back home with any sense of FOMO. The Dutch skillet pancake was soft, perfectly cooked in maple butter and doughy enough to feel like a comforting hug with mascarpone and fresh berries all coming together beautifully.
The menu is decently priced: our drinks were both priced at INR 375, while the pancakes were for INR 425 which we would say is fab for the quality you get.
Final thoughts, we would say, EL&N stands for 'Eat, Love & Nourish' and we definitely experienced the three of these and a rush of cuteness-induced endorphins post our visit. Definitely consider visiting it once for a nice coffee sesh with your special someone, your girl gang, or even your fam when all things cute and delicious are the memo.
