The Library At NMACC Is The Place To Go When You Need A Break From The City

These are funny times we live in. Reading, they say, is on the decline. The publishing business is losing money. At the same time, the act and especially the community of reading have never been more present than before. BookTok, the internet’s reading community, is alive and thriving. One of the biggest content creators in this corner (I can’t call it little anymore), Jack Edwards, was appointed as contributing literary editor at Esquire UK just last year. Even as I write this, the online reading world has its new dilemma: one of the biggest fanfiction websites, Archive Of Our Own, is down for one of the longest maintenance shutdowns in its history. Maybe reading is not dead after all.

Turns out, the NMACC understands this, and the newest opening here is proof. The Library Cafe is a bar, a cafe and a restaurant all rolled into one, but more than anything, it’s a place for the readers of Mumbai. 

Now look, it’s easy to open a cafe lined with books on all walls and call it a library. In fact, from outside looking in, you might even think that the concept sounds a little… performative. After all, which “cute little book cafe” has walls lined up with special-edition coffee table books, many of which you wouldn’t otherwise be able to find in the city? 

You would be forgiven for thinking all this to be an act of vanity, that is, till you enter the actual reading section of The Library.

Above the bar section of the cafe is a wooden mezzanine, and this is where the actual library resides. More than forty genres of books find their home in the shelves, all provided by Roli Books and curated by Read a Kitaab. But more than anything, I couldn't help but be impressed by the acoustics of the reading area. The area is soundproofed to the hilt, so much so that unless someone shouts below, it's almost impossible to hear the conversations that take place in the main cafe. 

In fact, there’s something very homely about the way the entire place is designed. There's warm, minimal lighting, a wooden fireplace, and plush sofas that you can just plop yourself onto and read away for as long as you want. Architect Ashiesh Shah has designed the place as a respite from the breakneck pace and noise that has become a constant companion to life in Mumbai.

This slowing down does not have to do with books only. Every corner of The Library Cafe has little details and flourishes for those with the curiosity to explore. In one of the paintings, Disney’s Aladdin extends his hands to give a Mughal princess a tour of the skies. Little motifs of books are engraved into the corners of every table. If you look up at the fireplace wall, there is a row of art installations overhead that look like hands holding newspapers but are a part of a larger commentary on the thrill of reading and being engulfed in a new story.

As we take a tour of the cafe, we are told that bringing laptops to the reading section for remote work is not allowed. It's a reading zone, exclusively for reading. Can you borrow the books for a week? Not yet, at least, but you can buy one of the 4500 titles on the shelves any day. 

Remember when I told you about the walls lined with coffee table books? These are from the restaurant section, which forms the bulk of the 70-seater cafe. The tables in this section are lined around a wooden fireplace on one wall and a screening corner with a lectern on the other. Three days a week, the screening corner hosts culinary and literary events which you can attend by booking your tickets on the official NMACC website. Want to host your next book club meeting? You have the best spot right here.

Before you settle into the main dining area, however, make a pit stop at The Edit Room. This is where the coffee programme takes centre stage, with locally sourced single-origin coffee, alongside matcha and an elaborate tea selection by Mumbai-based Dancing Leaf. The circular coffee counter wraps around a small, potted banyan tree, which is another one of my favourite details in this space. 

I visited The Library for dinner, but I couldn't help imagining how beautiful this corner must look during the daytime. Located right by Gate 11 of NMACC, the space receives natural light from the entrance, and I imagine the little banyan tree looks particularly beautiful against it. If you ask me, this is where I'd begin my next visit. 

Now coming to the other important part – the food. Restaurateur Aditi Dugar of Sage & Saffron brings her expertise to the NMACC, crafting an all-day menu that unfolds chapters in a book. The items are deliberately simple so as not to take away from the experience of being in a book cafe. They also have this undertone of experimentation that you realise only when the server places the dish in front of you.

The place also has a separate bread and butter programme, and its four varieties, cafe de bombay, herb-alicious, roasted garlic, and date and salt, are served all day alongside the house-baked bread of the day. I started with the chicken skewers glazed in shoyu and galangal and the cheese chilli crackers (which, thankfully, were just the right amount of spicy for me to keep returning).  

For the mains, I gravitated towards the herb rice bowl, which is the sort of familiar, comforting meal you find yourself craving after a long day. The ghee roast prawns, however, were quite the opposite in temperament. Plated over a bed of pearl couscous, the prawns were a burst of flavour, with the base doing a rather good job of balancing their spice. There are also several salads and yoghurt bowls on the menu for those who prefer their meals on the lighter side.

Last, but not least, is the bar with wooden panelling that gives it the air of a gentleman's study that has now learned to serve drinks. The cocktail list takes its cue from the shelves, with names such as First Edition, Margin Notes and Bookmark. Like the food menu, the cocktail programme plays around with unexpected combinations, including cocktails made of ghee-washed gin and bourbon infused with orange marmalade. There are plenty of options for those who prefer to skip the alcohol, too, with zero-proof drinks, kombuchas and other refreshments on offer.

Since no good reading session should end without a little indulgence, make sure you leave room for dessert. The Matilda cake is every bit as gooey and decadent as its name suggests, with the sort of chocolate richness which makes you reconsider your decision to share. If you're looking for something considerably lighter, the mille-feuille is an interesting alternative. Made with wafers instead of the usual layers of cake, it offers a delicate crunch (albeit messy, if you're into it) without feeling too heavy after a meal.

I keep returning to the question of whether reading is really on the decline. Perhaps the traditional image of a reader, tucked away in a corner with a paperback, is becoming less common. But look at the number of people discussing books online, exchanging recommendations, organising reading clubs and finding entire communities through fictional characters. There is clearly an appetite for reading, even though the ways in which we participate in it have changed.

And perhaps this is where The Library finds its purpose. Mumbai has no shortage of places to eat, drink, work or meet friends. What it has considerably fewer of are spaces where you can spend an afternoon doing absolutely nothing beyond getting lost in a book.

It's quite late by the time I leave the cafe, but when I do, I can't wait to tell my friend (also an avid reader) that there's finally a nice place for us that doesn't reek of the death knell of the practice.