Tiny TVs, Pac-Man plates, and the best Vietnamese coffee in Jaipur

To me, Jacob’s Brew House sounded like yet another cafe in Jaipur that’ll have the city’s Instagram junkies and coffee freaks spamming your feed with the mandatory ‘I was here before you’ stories for two weeks straight, before the fad fades and everybody retreats to their go-to spots. I was mistaken.

Squeezed between the newly opened Café Nola, Coffee Sutra, and Tao Asian Kitchen on the buzzing JLN Marg, Jacob’s is a big, bold, banging space conceived as a rustic garage that was chock-full at 3 pm on a random Wednesday I visited.

Launched by the guys behind The Swinton House—one of Jaipur’s most hip drink destinations—Jacob’s is as far apart from Swinton as any coffee house could be from a bar, yet both draw a part of their DNA from architect Samuel Swinton Jacob, who gave Jaipur some of its hallmark design elements. While The Swinton House retains the arches, columns, furnishings, and courtyards from the Indo-Saracenic style popularised by the architect in 1893, Jacob’s Brew House owes merely its name to him. 

The rest is all founder Sagar Nagpal’s doing. After establishing a factory-unit-inspired eatery in Jalandhar and a medical-clinic-lookalike restaurant in Chandigarh, he wanted to give Jaipur something that went beyond the boring-dressed-as-minimalist template. “My brief was simple—I wanted the place to look unlike any other, like somebody’s garage. No pastels, ample funk, and drenched in natural light.”

And so came about Jacob’s Brew House—a cafe themed on an early 2000s garage cum hardware store. The 150-cover space opens into a gallery seating flanked with greens and featuring scooter-esque seats, a hippy painting lit up with trippy LEDs, and a mirror emblazoned with “F*ck normal, I want magic”.

Step inside, and to your right is a wooden wall bedecked with vinyl records, gramophones, posters, cassettes, and radios that set the tone for the maximalist madness about to ensconce you. Digital signboards reading ‘Jacob’s Brew House’ on loop, sage-green ceramic tiles, colourful typewriters scouted from Delhi’s local bazaars, a mock-up jukebox from Ahmedabad, landlines, open ducts overhead, a huge convex mirror, and tiny TV sets screwed into the walls lend the place a loud, lived-in character.

A blazing red telephone booth loaded with board games and books enjoys a lot of attention, with influencers almost elbowing their way inside for that one perfect shot. I am embarrassed to admit my favourite bit is the loo. Designed like a Smeg refrigerator door, it’s called ‘Peezer’ (‘pee’ + ‘freezer’, if you’re wondering). 

There’s also a tiny sit pit that commands your attention. The sofas are swathed in white-yellow stripes and the tables are packed a little too tightly; I’m told it’s a deliberate ploy to encourage guests to mix and indulge in surprise conversations. (It’s also conducive to eavesdropping.) The large glass window on one side gives a clear view of the bleak gallery seating outside, while the open-to-sky ceiling brings the outdoors in. “The sunlight flowing in from all sides sort of pares down all the bright reds, yellows, and greens we’ve used throughout the space. Hence, despite being such bold colours, they are not in your face,” says Nagpal.  

Climb up to the mezzanine, and you’re teleported to the early aughts, courtesy raw circular ducts, swings swapped for seats, free-hanging lamps, and a photobooth ready to roll. On either side are ginormous glass sliding doors that open into booths earmarked for work meetings, conferences, and larger parties. Look down and you’ll notice a white vintage channel gate flanked by fire extinguishers doubling up as decor. Above it is a traffic light that, come dusk, flashes every few minutes. 

And what of the coffee? UAE Barista Champion Sonam Darj Sherpa leads the coffee programme, which, in his words, “is not treated as a routine beverage but as a carefully curated experience at Jacob’s”. Each craft brew that leaves his bar is accompanied by an information card detailing the region, variety, altitude, processing method, and the name of the coffee producer. Also on the tray is sparkling water to help cleanse your palate and approach the coffee with virgin senses. 

What’s touted as the most ambitious creation on the menu, and which rarely makes it to a traditional cafe, is The Jacob’s Sensation—an espresso-based drink with a taste experience of medium-sweet tropical fruits and herbal notes. Yet, what had me at first sip was the traditional Vietnamese coffee as it beat the Vietnamese at my (and most of Jaipur’s) go-to spot for Vietnamese coffee—a tall claim, I’m aware. The Jacob’s Cloud 101 (a house favourite) whipped up with cold brew, apple juice, and coconut foam, is for the experimental lot, and so is the Jacob’s Regional—Rajasthan-inspired coffee that mimics the malai ghewar with saffron-infused cardamom milk and a hint of rose as the base of the drink. 

Among nom noms, the mushroom melt burger stuffed with a double patty was so gooey and heartwarming that I almost didn’t mind it ruining my tee. Its non-vegetarian counterpart, which comes with a lamb patty, smoked cheese, and what everybody can’t seem to shut up about—the bacon jam—is also a crowd favourite. There’s an inviting range of handmade pastas, of which the brown butter ravioli and mushroom truffle gnocchi did the job for me. Nagpal recommends that meat-eaters not miss the Robata-grilled thigh skewers with tare glaze. Going for breakfast? Pick from waffles, pancakes, smoothies, fruit bowls, sandwiches, and eggs done your way. And what you simply cannot ignore is their gorgeous viennoiserie neatly lined with croissants that seem more like embellishments than edibles; choose from raspberry, Rocher, pistachio, Oreo, hazelnut, brownie, and then some. 

All this nosh, yet the special mention goes to the tableware. Plates shaped as Pac-Man, along with knives and forks as pliers and wrenches, are in cahoots with the whole hardware-store design memo.

In this age of cookie-cutter cafes opening at lightning speed amidst Jaipur’s still-evolving coffee landscape, Jacob’s Brew House is shaking up the scene with design that gets you psyched, an inventive coffee programme, and food as it should be–delicious, straightforward, and most likely to make calorie-counting redundant.

Address: Plot No 7, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, opposite Clarks Amer Hotel, Nav Durga Colony, Jai Shree Nagar, Sector 5, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur - 302017

Timings: 8 am to 11 pm

Meal for two: ₹1,500

Phone: +91 72299 66700

Walk-ins only