Contributed by Debasish Roy

The Eros Inter-continental coffee shop at Nehru Place, New Delhi gets 10 out of 10 from our food critic, Debasish Roy.

This is a good place to be if you are looking for food and it’s peripherals. The chef knows his business, the conductor of the orchestra who is the captain of the restaurant obviously knows his business and the serving staff know it too, or at least have been informed of their job profiles quite well by the captain.

I had met the branding guru Al Ries in this restaurant some time back with his daughter Laura. Laura was scrumptitious and I could barely stop myself from jumping her near the foundation that flowed in the middle of everything. While it was easy to look lovingly at Laura, this made concentrating on what Al was saying quite difficult. Laura was appreciative of my remarks on branding and management too. She liked me. I liked the carpaccio. I obviously could not take it forward. Laura, not the carpaccio. The carpaccio was fine, it did as it was bid but Laura did the same with my animal instincts. That was downright ugly inside me.

The waiter deftly stood by my table and suggested in that oh-so-gentle tone that I should try some Chablis to cool off my ventricles. I nodded in thanks and accession. He conjured up a bottle and glasses in no time. Laura was drinking too and looking at me over the rim of her glass. Bravo! Another good sign.

The conversation drifted from the excellent wine to Ries’ suggestion that Gautemala should rename itself ‘Gautemaya’ in order to claim credit for 90 per cent of the Mayan ruins on it’s territory, instead of pretender-cum-neighbour Mexico who did such a darn good job of marketing the remaining 10 per cent.

“Nice idea,” said Laura. “That calls for some nice sandwiches.” The sandwiches were finely done with not a thread out of place. Blimey! They looked as if they had been stitched together for taste and shape.

Ten out of ten for all this and the décor. The girl in front of me added to it I am sure.