The city needs a few more tea rooms with some Indian snacks menu. I say Indian snacks as the sandwiches and pastries or cake pops served at coffee houses or cafes are so pathetic that one feels cheated. Desi food is a good way to stay away from junk.
Almost all Indian snacks are prepared fresh on the spot and do not come assembled from a central kitchen in all street food joints and if it is a star hotel you can be assured of the quality. Although I have always been apprehensive of how Indian street food looses steam once prepared in five star hotel kitchens. Of course I had to be proven wrong.
Mister Chai is the new Tea Room that holds promise. It is a buzzing place but still gives you some room to stay in privacy if you want to work on a table or hold a meeting with someone. The Cafeterias and Tea rooms are great places to hold informal meetings and I always feel there should be more of these. But these places need to have good real food options too.
The tea and coffee and the snacks variety at Mister Chai is impressive and enough choice for everyone. The Bombay sandwich, the Vada Pao and Indian style Fish and chips sandwich at Mister Chai was so good and authentic in taste that it can be a place for a foodie date too.
Note that these Indian style sandwiches don't use any synthetic mayonnaise or margarine. Real freshly made food is the best bet when eating out. It is okay if you keep away from the Indian sweets and desserts or find some really good ones like Mishti doi or Sondesh.
Chef Neeraj Tyagi has done a great job with replicating the flavors and making the food so well presented. The detailing and finesse in unmistakable.
The masala chai was nice but I liked the Kashmiri Kehva more.
The Namkeen ka dabba that pairs so aptly with masala chai is a reminder of good old times, rains and chitchat with friends while munching on Indian savories. The Jhal mudi comes in a miniature bucket and hits the spot beautifully.
The innovation in the ubiquitous Samosa is the stuffing of butter chicken and that is selling like hot cakes I hear. I liked it but my favorite will remain the normal alu samosa though in small doses, the crisp outer shell of the samosa at Mister Chai was a surprise I will be honest.
Eat samosa when in doubt and you need to choose between a burger or a sandwich and samosa. You will be saved of crappy mayonnaise and margarine, samosa is lesser devil even if you mind your fats and fried foods.
Oh and Mister Chai serves Bikini sandwiches for the diet conscious. Portion controlled and dainty, flavorful so one gets the satiety as Chef Neeraj informed.
We tasted some of the soft drinks and liked them too.
It was a tasting menu that we experienced and could eat small bites from all these options, else one of these dishes is enough for two people meeting for tea or masala chai.
I think I have found a place to hold informal meetings and meet friends in the evening over chai and that occasional samosa. Or may be just that light jhalmuri that is made with roasted rice flakes and is such a flavor bomb.
They have some quiches, some macaroons too but I wont care about them. I will check the chocolates next time as I saw some really good ones with fruity center or peppermint flavor too, all made of good quality chocolate.
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