Eating out is just more than enjoying the food; it is an experience, and the challenge in the hands of today’s restauranteurs is choosing a theme for their restaurants or cafes, which offers an enjoyable experience to the guest. Somewhere the choice of the theme or how the interior of the restaurant has been done is a reflection of the owner’s taste. Pooja Moirangthem, co- owner of What A Comic Show, a café at SDA Market, opposite IIT Delhi, echoes similar viewpoint. Pooja, a former travel and hospitality industry professional, decided to come up with the café along with her husband, Bhupen Chingtham, when motherhood happened to her. Pooja says, “I wanted to start something, where I could apply my travel and hospitality skills, and also something that would reflect my interest. I should myself like the place first, only then can I make it an enjoyable experience for others.”

Thus, What A Comic Show, was born two years ago, and no prizes for guessing, it recreates the good-old world of comics and superheroes for its guests. Over the years our comic superheroes have also changed, from good-old Phantom, Mandrake, Chacha Chaudhary to Doraemon, Hannah Montana to name a few. Pooja and Bhupen, who would be in their mid or late 30s bring back to fore the yesteryear superheroes that most of the present generation have grown up with. The walls of the restaurant adorn posters of the yesteryear superheroes, and not only that, comics are also available for guests to read.

They offer world cuisine, with little bit of fancy, spicy and sexy from different parts of the world. Some of the dishes are nachos with salsa dip and cheese, Falapeno pepper garlic cheesy bread, juicy meatballs with peri peri sauce, jumbo dumplings, teriyaki chicken, varieties of burgers, sandwiches, pastas and salads.

My culinary journey started with an Oreo shake, followed by dimsums, chicken steak, a platter comprising fish finger and nuggets, sesame chicken, prawn Thai red curry and bred with tuna to name a few. It was enough to feed an army. It is difficult to critique world cuisine because, honestly, no one can actually vouch for the original taste. To any foodie, these dishes should be tasty enough, and they are good to get five-star rating. From the shake to the bread with tuna, every dish tasted great to my palate. Apparently, my friend had come all the way from West Delhi to eat their dimsums, and honestly they are so good that you may just choose to comeback only for them.

Pooja says that they make their dimsums fresh. Also Pooja and Bhupen, who belong to Manipur, have made an effort to incorporate a little bit of North East into their menu with pork bamboo shoot.

Good food, should be made and served with honesty, and I find both Pooja and Bhupen doing that.