So I was looking for a good place for some nice breakfast, and I bumbped across this cute little cafe. Just by the name of this place, Chai pe Charcha, you could easily guess that its a breakfast spot, with their speciality in brewing a wide range of teas. So a couple of mornings ago, I visited them, and here's how it went...
Its technically located in Vikhroli, but it would be wiser to know that its more in Powai than in Vikhroli though. Their bright yellow and green furnishings are easy to spot, with their tag line being, 'Hygenic Tea, healthy conversation'. Well it was a total bummer for me, because I ain't a tea person, and being alone I had no one to converse with. You get in the place and you are warmly greeted, not by the staff I am afraid, but by bright and vibrant interiors of the place. Each table has an in-built ludo and snakes-n-ladders board, with a small metal box containg the pins and the dice. This concept was very good, to be honest. Plus, the walls of this cafe are nice and bright, red, yellow, blue and green, with quirky messages and celebs promoting tea drinking. Along with their regular menu, they had something called 'Special Desi Treats' and 'The Great Indian Bhajiya Festival', so it got me excited that I will get so many treats to choose from. The service, was rather dull through out my time here. Adequate, no doubt, but can be improved.
MISAL PAV - Starting with one of the popular items of Maharashtra (of course after vada pav), the misal pav was served in a big metal tray. What I really liked about it was that it contained lots of sprouts and pulses and white peas, just like how I want my misal to be. Not just the oily, spicy 'tari', but with some healthy content as well. Also, it wasn't too spicy, so I throughly enjoyed the warm misal lying in front of me.
MAGGIE BHAJIYA - Now I had to choose something from the Bhajiya Festival menu, and this is what I went for. It does take sometime to get this item ready. First you make the maggie, then you batter it up and fry it. But the results are tasty, without a doubt. Again, served in the large metal tray, a very hefty portion of bhajiyas were laid on my table. Just by looking at them, one could identify them as maggie bhajiyas. Served along with a green chutney, and my favourite, the sweet one too. They turned out to be better than average and here's why. You could hardly taste the maggie which is within it, all you could taste is the super crunchy, fried up batter. So I recommend them to either put in more maggie thus increasing the size of the bhajiyas, and then may be give 3-4 bhajis less. Or to put in a bit less batter and see if its still able to fry. But over all verdict would be that I'd recommend this.
LEMON ICED TEA - Like I said earlier, I am not into teas, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate their chilled versions. Opted for this beverage to go with my breakfast, and it sure did justice to it. Served in a rather unusual shaped glass, the lemon iced tea was very flavourful. The tang of lemon and tea was quite prominent, and I'd expect nothing less from a cafe whose USP is teas. I would have much appreciated if it was a bit more chilled, so that can be taken care of.
CHARCHA SPECIAL BEATED COFFEE - I know that tea and coffee seldom go hand in hand, but the words 'charcha special' made me want to try it even more. Served with a piece of rusk, a regular glass of coffee reached my table, 75% filled. I did not find it to be anything special, honestly. Even without using the sugar, it did not offer you a strong kick that generally coffee does. I think I should have gone with the filter coffee instead.
SAMOSA SANDWICH - This one was again a stodgy meal. I thought it would be in the regular sized brown bread, but it was those big, triangular grill breads which made it filling. Its was a simple preparation. Just take those breads, put some butter and chutney, stuff in a samosa and then grill it. A fancy, and somewhat healthy version of samosa pav. The onion slices in the sandwich made it taste even better. I'd love to put in a cheese slice in it and make it even better.
COLD COFFEE FRAPPE - Nicely presented, with all the chocolate impressions on the inner side of the class making it look more appealing. A decent drink to end your meal with, and a much better one that its 'hotter and beated' cousin.
What impressed me is the fact that it opens up early in the morning, at 7 am. (will have to check if they start serving all the dishes at 7, but I reached here at 9 and all the items from the menu were available) Not being a tea connoisseur, I did not try their USP, but the beated coffee is something you could skip. All the snacks/breakfast items I tried were nice and tasty and filling. If you talk about the pricing, this place does fall under 'totally-value-for-money' category. So check this place out and as always,
Happy Burping!!!
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