Cafe Le Rendez-Vous - Alliance Française

Cafe Le Rendez-Vous is not just an interesting name, but even the location of the cafe is quite interesting. I had no clue that a cafe existed here till I actually went there just this weekend. And I think it was the surprise of finding a cafe nestled in a lane, and away from the maddening crowd that actually won me over. Apart from the fact that the place is yet to be ‘discovered’ by many in Ahmedabad, so it’s still quite and allows you to have a personal space.

The cafe is located within Alliance Française which has been designed by city’s famous architect Canna Patel. I do not know her personally but I am familiar with her work as she had also worked on the interiors of one of my friend’s house here. She is also one of the founders of TDW - the brilliant furniture store on Satellite Road (right before ISRO if you going towards the highway). I love the furniture there (a lot of it has NID connection as well) and the cafe on the ground floor - Zen Cafe. If you live in Ahmedabad and still haven’t been to Zen, its time to plan a visit soon. Its very good, not just for coffee but also desserts.

Entrance to Alliance Française

The bright seating :)

Having digressed quite a bit, let’s get back to Cafe Le Rendez-Vous. Its an outdoor cafe with lots of greenery d and some interesting green furniture to go with it. Green makes it fresh and inviting, though I think it also attracts mosquitoes sometimes. However, the most striking feature at the cafe is The Wall with cutouts of playful figurines. Its huge and goes all the way to the top of Alliance Française and also makes for a great background for photography.

I came here just for coffee after a long day at work, but I was also told that food here is quite good, especially non-vegetarian. However, I had black coffee with a few other things to tingle my taste buds. I loved the marble cake, which was actually slightly gooey and had a tinge of bitterness. The waffles here also seem to be very popular. I took the one with maple syrup and it was quite decent. However, it was also different from all the waffles I have eaten so far. The waffle was quite small and thin and was hard and crunchy. Maybe that’s how the french prefer their waffles…

My coffee :)

Menu on the board!

I was meeting up with an old friend for coffee and so for us it was all about coffee and conversations. We both decided right in the beginning that eating sweets is a terrible thing to do but ended up eating more than what we even normally do in a day! The place was practically empty while even though we spent more than two hours there and I think we were so loud that the . It was only when we were ready to leave that two more fairly senior NIDians came there. I wonder if this a secret rendezvous place for designers? I think I will visit it more often :)

To reach:

Cafe Le Rendez-Vous

Alliance Française

Himani Tower Lane

Besides Food Corporation of India

Lane opposite Shanti School

Near Shyamal Cross Road

Ahmedabad

Timings:

9am to 3pm and 5pm to 11pm

Sundays: 11am to 4pm