Café
Wenger’s
A Connaught Place bakery with roots in a Swiss couple's 1920s catering business, known for plum cake, shortbread, lemon tart, patties and pastries.
Triveni Terrace Cafe
A long-running open-air café at the Triveni Kala Sangam arts centre in Mandi House, overlooking a garden amphitheatre and known for its spiced carrot cake.
At a glance
- Type
- Arts centre café
- Area
- Mandi House, Delhi, India
- Price
- $ · Budget
Good to know
- Open-air seating
- Garden amphitheatre views
- Art galleries next door
Why we recommend it
The Terrace Cafe at Triveni Kala Sangam is one of the most pleasant places in central Delhi to sit with a cup of tea, surrounded by artists, students and the sounds of music classes. It has been running for more than four decades, and was once simply called the canteen. The painters M. F. Husain and V. S. Gaitonde were among its regulars.
The café belongs to Triveni Kala Sangam, an arts institution founded in 1950 by Sundari K. Shridharani, a dancer who had performed in Uday Shankar's troupe. The name refers to the confluence of three streams. The centre began in two rooms in Connaught Place and moved in the 1960s to its present four-storey building on Tansen Marg in the Mandi House arts district. Designed by the architect Joseph Stein, it was his first major building in the capital, and it blends brick and concrete with trees and grass and opens out through lattice screens.
The café is a shaded but open seating lounge overlooking the centre's garden amphitheatre, where visitors sit in the winter sun. Sounds from the classes upstairs, a sitar practice or the bells of a dancer's anklets, sometimes drift down. The menu is simple and inexpensive, built around tea, coffee and snacks; the spiced carrot cake is the item regulars recommend most.
Before or after your tea, look around the galleries in the building. Triveni houses several exhibition spaces, including Art Heritage, co-founded in 1977 by the theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi, and the centre runs classes in music, dance, painting and photography.
The café suits solo travellers, artists, writers and anyone who wants a quiet break from sightseeing in a setting with real character. It is open-air, so the cooler months from October to March are the most comfortable time to visit, and winter afternoons in the sun are a particular pleasure. Check opening hours before making a special trip, as they are not widely published.
Mandi House is an arts district, and the café makes a good stop before an exhibition or an evening performance in the area. Connaught Place and India Gate are a short ride away.
Triveni Terrace Cafe FAQs
Where is the Triveni Terrace Cafe?
Inside Triveni Kala Sangam on Tansen Marg, in the Mandi House arts district.
What should I order?
Tea or coffee with the spiced carrot cake, the café's best-known item.
Is it indoors or outdoors?
It is a shaded, open seating area overlooking the garden amphitheatre.
How old is the café?
It has been running for more than four decades.
Who designed the building?
The architect Joseph Stein.
What else is in the building?
Art galleries, including Art Heritage, and classes in music, dance, painting and photography.
When is the best time to visit?
The cooler months, especially winter afternoons when you can sit in the sun.
Is it expensive?
No, it is a simple, inexpensive café.
Who used to go there?
The painters M. F. Husain and V. S. Gaitonde were regulars.