Wow, when your friends say the Indian food in the UK is out of this world, they aren't kidding! Chai St.'s food is so amazing, my husband and I were completely blown away!
While staying in Cardiff, the craving for Indian cuisine hit us pretty hard one evening. We were a little hungry and luckily stumbled across Chai street headed to the pub. We were greeted so warmly and seated immediately. The interior decor is lovely, dark with lots of colorful banners, posters and string lights. It was really cozy, and despite being so busy, had an intimate feel to it due to the low lighting.
The menu is impressive with so many options and amazing things to choose from. The alcohol selection was also really extensive, but maybe that's a UK thing? I can see this place being an exceptional date spot. So many of the food items were things I hadn't heard of before. Indian food in the US is pretty cut and dry; northern or southern. So we hadn't seen "street" food like this before, and it was super exciting to see all the new foods we could try!
We ordered:
Chicken lollypop--An all-time favourite finger food. Spiced middle segment of chicken wings marinated with spices, ginger, garlic and fried.
2x Lamb Paratha Rolls--An Indian wrap in a layered flat bread with green mix salad and chutneys.
Aloo Tikki Chaat--Totally delicious chaat made up of baby crushed Potatoes, perfectly seasoned and rolled with spices
In hindsight I wish we had ordered MORE food to try, since it I was all so good, but we only had so much stomach space. The favorite by far was the Lamb Patatha Rolls: cooked and seasoned so perfectly, you couldn't stop eating them. I also loved how spicy it was, they weren't afraid of their seasonings!
For dessert we ordered:
Gajar ka Halwa--Carrot Halwa, also known as Gajar ka Halwa, is an unusual Indian dessert. It's made with grated Carrots, whole Milk, Dried Fruit and Nuts, and it has a delicious light fudge like texture.
We had heard of Gajar ka Halwa from some Indian friends of ours back home, but we've never tried it since it's very time consuming to make. HOLLLLEEEEE COOOOW this stuff is made of dreams! It's SO good! Flavorful and rich without being heavy. The carrots give it a nice sweetness that's subtle and compliments the fruits and nuts so well. Also the texture is indeed fudgy, it reminded me of a very rich creme brulee pudding. You HAVE to try this when you come here!
In conclusion, we loved everything about this place! Can't recommend the food highly enough! Can you please, please, PLEASE open a Chai St. in the US? :) read more