Ee Sala ‘Cuppa’ Namdhe!

A roaring Virat Kohli graces the wall, and the red tinges everywhere remind you of your favourite home team — the Royal Challengers Bangalore. This isn’t a scene from the stadium, but a description of a new café in town, that’s entirely dedicated to namma RCB. And the best part about the café is its name — Ee Sala Cup Namdhe!

Engineer-turned-café owner Prakyath BM always wanted to open a themed café and one fine day, as he drove past Chinnaswamy Stadium, he had a brainwave. “I thought of starting a restaurant related to cricket, but since I’m a hardcore RCB buff, I decided to incorporate the ESCN theme. We opened the café on February 24,” says Prakyath of the food joint located in Jayanagar’s 9th Block.

The restaurant is distinctively designed using cricket gear — helmets have been used as lights and leg pads have been used as the backrests. “We’ve used practicing nets for rooms, and created a pitch where people can sit. We made a dressing room type cabin for the sitting area. We’ve used balls, bats, wicket etc as décor,” reveals Prakyath, whose restaurant will be screening the IPL matches live.

Despite the ‘ESCN’ chant being considered a jinx, Prakyath, who’s been an RCB aficionado since 2008, is confident that this is our year. “They’ve already won our hearts — we just need to win the cup,” adds the Kohli and AB de Villiers fan.