Hyderabad’s Katha Crafthouse is betting big on the all-day, all-night crowd

As a teenager devouring fashion magazines, I would copy and underline the phrase ‘day-to-night dressing’, burning into my consciousness the art of throwing on a jacket or taking it off, putting on a pair of heels and that darker lipstick to transition from work to night out. Katha Crafthouse, Hyderabad’s newest cafe-bar, gives physical form to that very idea.

The 8,500 sq ft space in the city’s tony Jubilee Hills neighbourhood is divided into three levels and four zones and transitions from relaxed cafe to low-pressure club. “It’s split between how someone exists in the AM and switches towards the PM,” says founder Aditya Jaiswal. “How someone can come to a place in the morning, have their first cup of coffee, wrap up some work calls, and still stay back and have a drink with their friends.”

While Hyderabad has its share of cafes, restaurants, and clubs, Katha Crafthouse is the first to bring all three together.

“Hyderabad has become such a tourist-forward city that we see people coming to the cafe with their luggage,” says Jaiswal. “It reminds me how every year a couple of friends and I meet up in a city for the day and from the moment we land are often shuttling between cafe, lunch space and bar trying to find something that will give us the feeling and amenities of being on holiday before flying out.”

At Crafthouse, that could mean just moving from room to room.

And if that means serving boozy milkshakes at 10 am, Crafthouse plans to deliver. Take their Boys to the Yard, a biscuit-rimmed vodka, raspberry, vanilla, cream cheese, and white chocolate with whipped cream concoction, or a Blonde Munde with blonde whiskey and peanut butter, espresso, and choco whipped cream for instance. “The aim is not to get them wasted in the morning; it’s about what we can do with coffee.”

Katha Crafthouse lives in a blue Brutalist-inspired building designed by Hyderabad-based Studio Mana, which has also designed Katha’s Financial District outpost. The space is marked by concrete walls, built-in seating, a floor of parking paver blocks, lots of green, a smattering of Hyderabadi rocks, and soft sunlight from windows and skylights during the day. As the sun dips, the hue shifts and the lights dim, the menu changes, the volume of the music rises, and the matcha and milkshakes turn into on-tap and crafted cocktails.

Crafthouse is divided into four zones, beginning with the Dripstation at ground level. It’s a coffee counter for quick, takeaway coffee and has a staircase that doubles as outdoor seating. Tucked away in a corner on the same level is a retail space, Capsul, showcasing streetwear brands like Pleasures and Almost Gods.

A level above is the main bar, the heart of the operation. The coffee and cocktail station greet you as you enter; the bar counter in front transitions to the coffee station behind. Their six cocktails on tap feature three sweet, two spicy, and one savoury drink. Boss’ Favourite, a grapefruit, coconut and tequila mix, is a version of their paloma, and the carbonated jalapeno, lime, coriander drink Hot Girl Summer is a twist on the picante. The savoury pick is their version of a boozy pani puri—gin, lime, jamun, tabasco, nitro, and spice blend accompanying a chilli- and pineapple-filled pani puri.

On the next level is another outdoor skylit space, the Yard, designated as the high-energy zone that can pivot to match any occasion, whether a family do, a girls’ night out, or a rave. (While I was there, it was more a low-key sports bar, with a large-screen TV airing an IPL match.)

No zone seats more than 60, so the spaces feel intimate even when there’s enough room between tables for privacy.

Jaiswal founded the specialty coffee brand Katha Coffee and Bakehouse in 2023 in Banjara Hills, with Pravishta Nadella creating an indie cafe with cultural capital thanks to a listening room (with vinyl curation by Mumbai’s Revolver Room), design pop-ups, and a photo gallery. Over the years this expanded to three Bakehouse outlets in Hyderabad and one in Mumbai.

With Crafthouse, Jaiswal has created an F&B experience that serves up something old and something new, sourced from both memory and the world. There’s the birthday cake from your childhood opening the cocktail menu as the Black Forest Martini, a version of the espresso martini, served strong, sweet, and foamy, as well as the Not Appy Fizz with gin and green apple caramel. Curated by Vivek S Nair, the 24 cocktails on the menu, plus non-alcoholic options, also include variation on classics like the whisky sour and negroni.

The AM food menu spotlights cheese and house-baked breads. Think sandos, toasts, pizza, and pancakes. The PM menu leans towards heartier, more familiar flavours, spanning butter chicken and makhani burrata.

There’s a lot of satisfying food on the menu with chef Vikash Vumudu leading the kitchen. Special shoutout to their sourdough naan that accompanies the hummus and cauliflower—the fried pickled cauliflower and sumac onion are an inspired combination. But it is one of the places where you can find a light-as-air crusted honey and smoked sausage pizza alongside a cheesy Dirty Patatas and a fried chicken with fat, fluffy pancakes on the menu. 

But there are misses. Like F#ck Kaya, which, substitutes the creamy, custardy coconut jam from the Singapore and Malaysian version with apricot jam. It might be paying homage to the Hyderabadi Qubani ka meetha but feels in the realm of bread-butter-jam.

The PM menu feels more complete than the AM menu, which is heavy on breakfast and cafe bites—there are a lot of eggs—and light on lunch mains. On the PM menu, the chana koliwada, a crispy cocktail snack, is mushy and dry, and the Spot Prawn Toast (prawn pâté in fried bread) gives you a mouthful of oily bread.

Where Crafthouse really shines is when it steps away from the familiar, like with their brew Passion with Coffee. A caffeinated passionfruit drink, it delivers heft and surprise with clarified espresso and Earl Grey tea, the viscosity of the clarified milk lingering on my tongue. Then there are the croissant rusks, a delicate variation perfect for scooping up the accompanying sweet, nutty, creamy charred zucchini ribbons laid out on a bed of whipped feta.

There’s a lot to like at Katha Crafthouse, but, as with truly successful day-to-night dressing, it works best when it transcends the traditional demands of work and party to become a unique third entity. For now, Katha Crafthouse puts its bets on ease, comfort, and nostalgia, but that doesn’t equal seduction, a requirement for the best evening spaces, especially in the face of rather sobering prices. But as the place takes its final form—there’s another zone in the offing—its soaring concept will hopefully stick the landing.

Meal for two with cocktails: ₹5,500

Address: Katha Crafthouse, Road No 45, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

Reservations: Book online here; call +91 8977742811 (walk in for day; book ahead for evening)