This week You! peeks into the rustic interiors of an eatery that has recently opened up in Islamabad...
interior
This week You! peeks into the rustic interiors of an eatery that has recently opened up in Islamabad...
The fact is that a simple meal seems much more appetizing when paired with appealing interiors. A great interior design for a restaurant is as important as the quality of the food or beverages they serve. And when we talk about interior decoration; the furniture, luxurious finishes, and alluring lighting can make all the difference. These days, many restaurant owners are being creative with their dining environment, as they understand that people want an eye-catching ambiance where they can enjoy a good meal. One such restaurant is ‘Social Cafe’ which follows a raw theme for the interior and offers great continental fusion food.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Yasir Nazir, brother of fashion designer Sobia Nazir, who opted to hire the services of interior designer Ifran Naveed from Architects Inc. to design the space. “I was born and raised in Islamabad, and have spent all my life here, and even though there are many cafes and restaurants, I wanted to set up an eating place that was different from the rest where one can eat, drink and socialize, which is also the tagline. Hence, the name ‘Social cafe’. That was the core concept behind this whole place and Irfan has done a great job,” shares Yasir.
The interesting interior design and decor make this place stand out from the rest of the bistros. It is extremely vibrant and welcoming. The minute you enter the joint you feel revitalised. About the theme of the eatery, Nazir says, “The best source of entertainment for a regular Pakistani is good food. And if that food is served in a beautiful setting, it cannot get any better than that. So, we have gone for a very raw setting for the indoors - brick walls with hand painted graffiti. However, the roof top has more of a contemporary setting.”
The bistro can accommodate around 90 people. “Our logo is black and orange, I really liked the contrast of these two colours but instead of using black, we went with white and orange for some walls. Brick walls are left in their original colour, and for the roof top we went with a shade of orange and black,” informs Nazir.
One look at the cafe and you can tell that the owner and interior designer have incorporated a bit of everything in the design to achieve the desired look. “As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a raw theme and for that we had to mix up things, so, there is marble work, wood work, floor tiles, brick walls etc, and that worked really well. I didn’t want to go with traditional paintings, they wouldn’t have complemented the theme of the cafe, so an artist was brought in who painted graffiti on the walls and that is what sets our bistro apart from any other cafe. The graffiti walls are our best feature,” he explains.
The cafe is quite spacious and well decorated with sofas and chairs. The outdoor furniture is in black and brown tones, while chairs for the indoors are in hues of orange and black, just like the bistro’s logo. “We purchased our outdoor/rooftop furniture from Baahir.com - they have set a standard in outdoor seating and their pieces are just perfect for our setting. For the indoors, we basically imported 
the chairs from Dubai, and our sofas and tables have been provided by the interior designer. Not to forget our crockery which has been custom-made from ‘Clayworks’, they are a Lahore-based setup who made plates and dishes on order. Since our theme had orange in it, I wanted our crockery to complement it as well,” states Nazir.
Now coming to the best part - its menu. The food at Social cafe is delicious and the menu contains some fusion recipes that are a must try. “I wanted to experiment with new flavours and step away from Moroccan Chicken and similar dishes that are served at quite a few places these days. Our most selling dishes to date are #Social_Chicken, it has a tangy spicy sauce but the spiciness is balanced with mashed potatoes on the side. Besides that, Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimps is very popular and consists of chicken cubes, shrimps, black beans, white rice paired with mango salsa.
Another area where we are different compared to others is drinks, while we might not have unique flavours but we spend a lot of time on the presentation. Especially our Oreo Shake which looks like a plant in a pot,” apprises Nazir.
Regarding his future plans, Nazir says, “At the moment, we are focusing to make our cafe amongst the well-known restaurants of Islamabad.”
Impressed yet? Well, we think it’s time for you to go and check out what this new eating joint is all about.
