Lighthouse Cafe – Summer Fest

I was invited last week to the Lighthouse Chocolate summer festival. This month long fest menu showcased over 20 new dishes that features the most exciting devil shakes, frappe and pancakes all infused with Zeba Kohli’s sinful and zesty chocolate touch. I was very excited! Chocolate has always caused my taste buds to run into a frenzy and I couldn’t wait for the day to arrive. I learned that the fest flaunted a three course desert and I began to drool at the thought of it. Zeba Kohli, a well-known chocolatier extraordinaire, known for creating sweet treats had collaborated with the swanky Light House Cafe for this delectable summer fest menu. This luscious menu would boast of a three course dessert meal consisting of a starter, main course and a ‘dessert’. Also, this three course dessert meal would be made using different variations of Zeba’s chocolates. 

I arrived at the Light House Cafe, late Sunday morning, with sky high expectations and a tummy which had already begun to growl. We were greeted by Chef Darshan Parmar, a very courteous and friendly host, who quickly took us through the menu. Inspired by the idea of having dessert to satisfy your taste buds, this meal offered coffee buns filled with dark chocolate for starters, chocolate pizza topped with hazelnut spread and chocolate shaving for main course and dutch pancakes full of chocolate as dessert! 

Light house cafe has unique interiors, and a concept that I had come across for the first time in a cafe. Simply put, it is a house of lights. Deriving its inspiration from the light bulb, the ambiance is characterized by  the use of varied lighting ideas separating the cafe into differently lit spaces. Though unsophisticated in its appearance, the lighting creates a vibrant atmosphere, warm and welcoming, while at the same time extending a trendy glow to the interiors. The history of the cafe is interesting in that it was started by 3 architects, Anvay Kolvankar, Karan Dharod and Nikhil Arora who came together designing everything from tip to toe in under 23 days. These vibrant entrepreneurs focused on being innovative, personalized and pocket friendly, the outcome of which is this unique and seemingly dynamic cafe. 

Within a few moments of our seating, we were greeted by a couple of wine based cocktails. I chose the Mango & Blanc cocktail – a mix of mango, mint, Chemin blanc wine and orange vodka. This is a fruity cocktail with a sultry undertone, refreshing yet revealing. My better half went in for The Original Summer Coke – Mariat and Cointreau flavoured with blueberries, basil and coke, and loaded with chilled berries. This cocktail had a premium french liqueur flavour, hanging in between bitter and sweet, with an appetizing air to it.

These were followed by the three course dessert. First up was the starter coffee buns. This was a dual layered bun, made up of an inner layer of butter and dough, and an outer layer of coffee flavoured butter and dough. Packed within the bun was fantasy dark chocolate which oozed out as I took my first bite into it. This bun can make a chocolate doughnut go red in the face because of its sheer richness.

Next came the main course chocolate pizza topped with hazelnut spread and chocolate shavings. This was a 15″ x 9″ rectangular pizza flatbread, with a layer of hazelnut chocolate and shaving of white chocolate evenly scattered across its face. The flatbread gives a strong bottomline to the rich hazelnut spread, making the pizza a dependable not-so-sweet dessert.

The meal ends with chocolate filled dutch pancakes. There were three variants. The nutella-filled baby pancakes, regular pancakes with whipped cream and alphonso mango and the dark chocolate filled variety. The pancakes were my favourite of the day, soft, squishy, full of delicious chocolate and a definite repeat for the next time I’m here.

I am sure I must have put on some serious sinful calories at end of this extravagant meal. But all the same, it definitely makes for a fabulous chocolate fantasy.