"Coffee by day, cocktails by night" is a phrase you see on a lot of cafe menus in Delhi. At Plum Coffee and Cocktails in Connaught Place, it is not a slogan — it is literally how the day is structured. The same room, the same tables, the same N-86 Outer Circle address, running on two different energies twelve hours apart. Here is what that actually looks like if you spend a full day at Plum.
What does "coffee by day, cocktails by night" mean at Plum?
It means the venue holds a dual identity under one roof. From the 12:00 PM opening, Plum operates as a cafe: the coffee menu leads, the kitchen sends out pan-Asian and global plates, and the room stays bright and casual — a working lunch, a catch-up, a slow afternoon table. As the evening moves in, the bar takes the lead: the cocktail list comes to the front, the lights do their thing, and the same space turns into one of Connaught Place's late-night rooms, closing at 1:00 AM every day.
Nothing about the menu or the room has to be "converted". The kitchen serves continuously, so a table booked at 2:00 PM and one booked at 10:00 PM eat from the same menu and drink from the same list — only the mood changes.
What can you drink at Plum in the afternoon?
The daytime half of the identity is the coffee programme. Specialty coffee runs all day, alongside the rest of the non-alcoholic list, which makes Plum a legitimate cafe stop rather than a bar that happens to open early. A 2:00 PM visit looks like this:
- Coffee, ordered the way you would order it at any serious cafe in the city.
- Pan-Asian small plates from the kitchen, which never closes between opening and the 1:00 AM close.
- Sushi, a Plum signature, if the table wants something lighter than a main.
The afternoon is also when the room is easiest to get into. Between lunch and the evening rush, walk-ins usually find a table without a wait.
When does the bar take over?
There is no formal switchover — the bar is available whenever the kitchen is — but the character of the room shifts as dinner builds between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. That is when the cocktail list becomes the main event. The dinner booking window in our reservation system runs from 6:00 PM to 11:30 PM, and the bar keeps pouring until the 1:00 AM close.
A practical note: if you want the full evening arc — dinner plates followed by cocktails — book a table around 8:00 PM to 8:30 PM. If you want only the night half, book for 10:30 PM and let the small plates carry the table.
What goes with the drinks?
The menu is built around sharing, which is what keeps the coffee-to-cocktail day coherent. Pan-Asian and global flavours, sushi, and small plates designed to be ordered progressively. The kitchen's brief is variety without heaviness: something green, something fried, something raw, something warm, and a main only if the table insists.
A meal for two costs approximately ₹2,000, which is the honest planning number for shared plates plus a round of drinks. The full menu, with the kitchen's current line-up, is linked from our Connaught Place outlet page through the digital menu.
Why the decor matters to the story
The third identity at Plum — beyond cafe and bar — is the room itself. The interiors are dressed with decor, crockery and furniture from Bent Chair, and the pieces around your table are part of the experience: Plum is as much a design store as a restaurant. It is the detail people photograph, and it is why the room photographs well at 3:00 PM in daylight and at 11:00 PM under the evening lights.
Can you work or linger over coffee?
Yes. The daytime room is quiet enough for a long coffee, and the kitchen keeps serving so an afternoon table never has to end just because the coffee is finished. The one planning note: the lunch booking window in the reservation system starts at 1:30 PM, so a table between 12:00 PM and 1:30 PM is best taken as a walk-in or arranged by phone at +91 93197 23976.
The one-room, two-moods summary
Plum Coffee and Cocktails runs a real double life: a specialty coffee and pan-Asian cafe from 12:00 PM, a cocktail bar until 1:00 AM, all under the same Bent Chair-dressed roof on the Outer Circle of Connaught Place. Coffee in the afternoon, sushi at sunset, cocktails before midnight — no change of venue needed.
Try both halves in one day. Book a table at our Connaught Place outlet or call +91 93197 23976.
