This is the kind of place where they encourage you to unabashedly reach out for the next piece on the plate. As if to make a point, a large wall art officiously reads ‘Kindly Overeat’. Like we needed someone to tell us that.
At recently-opened Chai Nasta on St Mary’s Road, the menu recreates the nostalgia of family tea-time gatherings. No scones and clotted cream or walnut cakes here; but the food is all about tongue-tingling desi fast food staples. There’s pav bhaji, ragda patties, bhel puri, paneer paratha, chilli paneer, bun maska and marathi poha ...
The challenge is deciding what you really want from that tempting list. To make things tougher, they’ve wickedly added cheese Maggi to it.
When it comes to ordering, pani puri getstop billing, followed by dahi aloo tikki chaat and bread chilla . Till the food arrives, Bebe Rexha and Avicii keep us company. Although their music seems a touch incongruous with the setting; you expect to hear more of Mika Singh and Badshah here.
The interiors are a pleasant mismatch of bright yellow walls and a colonial-style black-and-white floor. There’s a painting of a truck on one of the walls, the others hold posters of lesser-known movies, such as Sikka and Wafadaar ; Rajinikanth stares at us from the latter with his eyebrows dramatically arched.
The tables have kitschy pop art inspired by the 80s. On them, one can spot Amul chocolate, Parle Poppins, Chiclets, Campa and Lipton Tiger Tea, Double Seven – brands that have been sitting in the recesses of the minds of the 80s children.
But when the pani puri comes, like a prima dona, it makes sure you divert all your attention to it. The bite-sized favourites come stuffed with potatoes and with two virulently-green mint-flavoured chutneys. Ah, the satisfaction of biting into those tangy delights! If only the sweet chutney would be a tad sweeter with just a hint more of tamarind, this would have been a perfect 10. Nevertheless, we competitively make our way through the plate, making sure the fellow diner doesn’t get an extra over me.
Next up, the dahi aloo tikki . Despite it being one of their recommended items, it’s lacklustre. Even the mound of sunshine-yellow sev can do little to take away from the distinct taste of boiled potato and sour curd. This dish might be Cinderella in the making, but it’s still awaiting its fairy god mother.
Going by the ‘Mmms’ and many other explicit sounds from diners on the neighbouring table, the pav bhaji would have been a better idea.
“It smells of butter,” says one holding up the pav and looking delighted. If there was a communal table, I would have taken a generous helping off their plates.
I focus on what’s on my table. For me, it’s the winner of this meal — the understated bread chilla . Bread meets besan and it’s a love story that works wonderfully for the palate: shallow-fried, sprinkled with chaat masala and served with a robust garlic chutney .
We wash it down with a kadak masala chai served in a narrow tapering glass. Milky and redolent with the aroma of spices, it rejuvenates you for a post-lunch meeting. Your only worry, however, is how you’ll deal with all the garlic aftertaste.
