Novelty’s the kind of outlet that could survive an apocalypse. It’s doggedly refused all overtures of fancy interiors, menu upgrades and modernisation, and has remained largely unchanged for the almost seventy years since it opened doors in the bylanes of Jangpura. It’s a nondescript little affair, with a white board announcing its name – at first glance, you’d be fooled into thinking it’s a grocery store.Past the sliding door, you’re confronted with the sight of a long granite counter, and a bunch of bar stools neatly in place. There’s a small whiteboard with a ‘Thought For The Day’ scribbled on it, and at the very end of the counter’s a small window, through which hot grilled sandwiches are bundled out with astonishing frequency.
Novelty remains a novelty (forgive that ghastly turn of phrase) because of its simplicity. No ciabatta or prosciutto here – you get one filling per sandwich, but you won’t miss the extravagance of overloaded sandos here. Fillings range from tuna to pork ham to chicken salami to veggies to the humble grilled cheese, and you get to decide what bread you want with it (white, brown or multigrain), and if you want it toasted or not. You get ketchup on the side, with a generous serving of homemade coriander and mint chutney, ladled directly from a small metal bucket onto your plate. Each sandwich’s heavily doused with mayonnaise, and you’re supposed to wash down the whole affair with a bottle of their cold coffee, made – you guessed it – in-house too. The whole meal will cost you less than ₹300.
There are a dozen fancy sandwich shops and delis in Delhi now, doing sandos the Italian, French, Vietnamese or Japanese way, but you’d be hard pressed to find some good old Punjabi hospitality the way Novelty does it year after year, with zero dip in consistency.