Chaayos, C.P. Delhi

Finally there is a dedicated restaurant chain to teas and tea snacks, the way we have so many coffee chains around. Chaayos has been getting a lot of footage for the past few months because of its myriad chais, healthy breakfast and chai snacks.

The ambience is soothing and the paraphernalia here reminds you of the various chai ingredients and the places where they come from. The servers are very polite and know their tea well.

Here are the teas and snacks I tried :

Achaari Bun Muska – A Bun sandwich with pickle spread. The buns were soft and the sesame dressing was pleasant though the amount of pickle was too less here.

Sab kuch chai : This potion was bursting with flavours though it tasted sans sugar. Tulsi, cinnamon, clove, black pepper lended a heavy flavour of spices.

Pahaadi Chai : Also known as the famous kahwa, this one remotely resembled kahwa. The flavours of honey and green cardomom were less prominent here and the chopped almonds had settled at the bottom. Strands of saffron were there but no taste and whiff of saffron could be made out. This was also sans sugar.

Keema Pao – Two Pao buns enclosing the heavenly keema mixture. The keema was cooked well and had a prominent taste of garam masala and black cardomom. Juillienes of green bell peppers were there but there purpose in the dish was not clear. The buns were not good and were  disintegrating.

Vada Pao : The best of the snacks. The vadas were soft and a bit spicy and were served with a garlic green chutney.

Kulhad chai : A good concoction of our daily chai with cloves, tulsi and cardomom. The amount of sugar was less here. These chais were served in kulhad which lended its earthy flavour. There were strands of saffron here as well.

Butter chicken wrap : It was scrumptious with creamy butter chicken filling. The filling also had aloo bhujia which was not required as the bhujia had gone soggy.

Mutton lazeez wrap : Again a tasty wrap with the filling of mutton keema. It had bhujia as well.

Aam panna chai : Remotely resembled aam panna. It had a very subtle flavour of mangoes and lemon and tasted more like mango juice rather than panna. The sourness of panna was nowhere to be tasted.

Thandi chai : Too sweet. Topped with cinnamon, it was refreshing to drink considering the fact that it was cold.

Mutton Samosa : Small, spicy bits of mutton wrapped in a samosa. The samosas were folded in an unusual way through which you can actually see the filling. Tasty to the core!

Lovely place to throng when you want to have a hot cuppa!