Sheffield’s thoughtful café serves best Indo-Western cuisine

This Indo-Western lounge café in Sheffield has a warm, welcoming space to bring people together for the greater good

The Chakra Lounge, in Fitzalan Square, focuses on Indo-western fusion foods to bring the best of two worlds together.

Mouth-watering dishes like Punjabi Chilli Cheese Toast, Vegan Hot Dog with Dhal, Indian Pakora Bagel, and Sun-dried Tomatoes and Avocado on freshly-baked Sourdough, along with curry bowls, cakes, great coffee and scrumptious hot chocolates, have made this café an absolute favourite in the city.

The cheeky Nutella Naan Stack, with sauce-smothered naans layered with crumbled lotus, nuts and chocolate sauce, is worth a visit alone! As their stunning Instagram shots show, these delicious creations are impeccably presented with the best service.

There’s much more than just great food on the menu

But it’s their thoughtful creation of unique, delightful vegetarian and vegan dishes that is drawing diners from across Sheffield and beyond.

Founders have successfully blended their personal history and connections with India and the UK to create a vibrant menu that’s full of surprises – as well as a safe space that promotes acceptance and selflessness.

"We centre our core belief around the philosophy and act of 'Seva', a word of Sanskrit origin from ancient India, which translates to ‘selfless service’,” he explains. "This belief is transferred to our customers, or to anyone who walks in through our doors, by offering them service with a big, warm, welcoming heart."

The Sheffield cafe is the third Chakra Lounge, with earlier ventures thriving in Buxton and India.

This Sheffield café makes a big difference with one small act of kindness at a time

Since opening in Sheffield in 2020, they have been involved with providing free school meals for kids over half-term and free meals for NHS staff during the lockdowns. In a community-minded initiative, both the Buxton and Sheffield venues offer a pay-it-forward scheme, where people can pay for coffee for the unfortunate via the website and café.

For every £10 spent on takeaways during lockdown, Sam donated £1 per order to local charities. In November and December 2021, the café raised funds for the RSPCA Christmas Rescue campaign as well as Age UK.

One of its first initiatives was to take steps to help reduce food waste in the UK by teaming up with @toogoodtogo.uk, a free app which connects users with stores and restaurants that have unsold surplus food at the end of the day.

Sam adds: “With initiatives such as 'Pay It Forward', we are always inspired to be incredible and selfless in all that we do within and outside of The Chakra Lounge.”

“We believe that food is, by all means, a conversation of life. And we want to extend that conversation to include the whole community and to give back to society in some way.”

Experience the whole-hearted welcome and great fusion food at the Chakra Lounge at 5 Fitzalan Square, Sheffield S1 2AY. It is open from 9 AM to 5 PM daily.