Review: Café at the Korean Cultural Center

The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) although opened in May 2013, not too many people know about this well-kept secret, hidden away on the first floor of the Center in Lajpat Nagar, near the Moolchand Metro station, in New Delhi.
The Café, like the center, is stylistically modern and spotlessly maintained, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows on two side.It’s quite a pleasant place to while away the afternoon - you’ll often see people lounging here for hours, scribbling notes in their notebooks or typing away at laptop computers.
Though it’s a café and not quite a restaurant, this place serves proper food during lunch as well (note: the café doesn’t do dinner). Their menu is more limited, but the fare on offer is definitely substantial enough for full meals. I got the samgaetang (chicken stew), half a chicken simmered in broth until the chicken becomes deliciously soft and fall-off-the-bone tender, the broth rich and hearty. You must salt the broth, as it is done in Korea as well. Though non-traditional – normally it’s a whole chicken stuffed with rice, ginseng, and dates, a stuffing notably absent here – it remained true to the flavors of the original. The side dishes, though also more limited than usual, made great accompaniments to the samgaetang; you get two kinds of kimchi and cut up egg omelet.
One of the best things about the café is the price. The food here is much cheaper than at most other Korean restaurants, with most mains between Rs250 and Rs500, compared to Rs600 plus elsewhere. And after your meal you can stroll around the art gallery or head upstairs to read up on Korea in the library.
Rating: Food: 3.5; Service: 4; Décor: 4
Price for 2: Rs700