I first heard about the Meraaki Kitchen in Jaipur during this year’s Jaipur Literature Festival where they set up a pop-up cafe. Running short of time, I chose to skip it completely at JLF. The rush at their set up in JLF was another reason to reserve it for the visit at a later date

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It wasn’t before this weekend that I heard about the launch of Meraaki Kitchen in Jaipur. I chose to visit Meraaki Kitchen for dinner, a day before Valentine’s day.

Jaipur is witnessing a mushrooming of cafes during the span of the last few years. While some people feel that it’s a good thing to have many options, my opinion differs. Most of these new cafes offer a similar menu at a similar price, playing their success largely on the ambiance & interiors. While I do admit that interiors make a lot of difference, but it’s never a strong reason to revisit. With the new cafe’s opening every fortnight, one is spoiled for choice, if an interior is what attracts one to a food joint. In my opinion, most of the new cafe’s fail miserably on food. Ultimately, it’s the food and overall experience that really counts. This is one reason why I have become extremely selective in choosing a new cafe or food joint.

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The striking thing about the Meraaki Kitchen is space! It’s not the usual restaurant tucked inside a concrete structure. The restaurant is spread over a large area which is imminent the moment one enters Meraaki Kitchen.

The look is contemporary with very interesting art installations adorning the walls.

Also Read: The Feast Cafe, Jaipur/ Best Bakery in Town

Contemporary, slick and warm interiors dominate the main dining area of Meraaki Kitchen.

Meraaki Kitchen serves vegetarian fusion food and includes Thai, Burmese, Lebanese & Indian cuisine and therefore Merraki Kitchen Jaipur’s Menu lists many unique preparations.

Many regular sounding items are prepared & served with a twist! So a Pizza becomes Naaniza. Dahi Papadi weds Wasabi to become Wasabi Dahi Papadi and Sev Puri gets Mexican with Sev Puri Tacos!

We started with an appetizer.

This is what we convinced ourselves to order.

Pav Bhaaji Fondue!

KhaoSuey

We ended up ordering this great looking dessert – Melting Chocolate Ball served with hot caramel sauce. It tasted heavenly! I’m more than sure that chocoholics will find it hard to resist!

Here is a short video of Melting Chocolate Ball as the hot caramel sauce is being poured over.

This turns out to be awesome. Here’s another picture after the hot caramel sauce is poured over the chocolate ball and it breaks up to reveal vanilla ice cream and brownie.

As we were having dinner, Meraaki Kitchen owners Shivika Kothari and Neha Deepak Shah walked in to check with us if everything was in order and whether we were enjoying the food and experience at Meraaki Kitchen. How great! Neha Deepak Shah is the winner of Master Chef India. And it shows… on the food and choice of dishes.

The restaurant has a big open to air sit out which is a great place to chill and enjoy food during the perfect weather.

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A lot of thought & effort has gone into the interiors. And it shows!

Looking for a perfect place for a selfie?

The zen of good food!

Jaipur lacks choice among good fine dining restaurants and finding one among the growing list of cafes is difficult. Currently, there is no vegetarian fine dining restaurant in the city. Meraaki Kitchen menu serving world cuisine surely plugs this gap with beautiful inviting interiors to go with good food.

Also Read: The Feast Cafe, Jaipur/ Best Bakery in Town

We were delighted with the overall experience at Meraaki Kitchen. The food was great despite being not exceptional. The service and ambiance were perfect. I do hope that the team at Meraaki Kitchen keeps innovating to come up with an array of new fusion vegetarian platters, to make sure every visit is exciting. I do feel Meraaki Kitchen is one of the best restaurants in Jaipur.

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Read Jaipur Food Guide