Chai Galli — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

After taking a look at the pics and reading the reviews, i finally decided to visit this place. It was 10.30 AM this morning and i had plans of doing a brunch with Chai.

We asked for Vada Pav which was priced at Rs.140 and i was expecting 2 pieces. Interestingly, the waiter informed us that we will get only one piece. As we were 2 of us, ordered for 2 pieces.

What did i get - Bun and Vada were both at room temperature with zero warmth. Asked the waiter why the Vada was not hot and he took it back and microwaved it for us!!

Nutella Pan cake - Received 4 pieces of pan cake fully immersed in Nutella (At least half a bottle of Nutella jar would have been used). Trust me it was looking like a pastry!!

Poha - Taste was ok and it atleast looked freshly prepared. Quantity was very less.

There was a group of 3 people, 2 tables away from us who were also complaining about uncooked Aloo paratha.

After this mixed experience, we immediately decided not to do Chai at this place and go else where.

Provided feedback to the waiter and he admitted that Chef arrives only at 12 Noon (Food seemed to be prepared by some novice and we were the bakra of the day). He could have very well informed us on what we could order to avoid this experience....!!

My 17 KM drive for a good experience, turned to be a night mare and i couldnt resist writing it here.

P.S: We ended up having Iranian dum chai at an adjacent place at Rs.40 for 2 people and that saved my day to an extent.

Customers come for a good experience only and food is secondary. Hope the restaurant owner reads this post and acts accordingly.

Positives Ambience was good and the place was spacious to accommodate decent sized crowd. Located in the main road and easily accessible

Negatives Food was over priced and quantity was not...

Have been here a lot of times mainly for their tea but if with someone, would go on with snacks, etc.

This time it was, Vada pav - That chili and gun powder in the vada pav is always their kick, Spicy, and too good 👍

Tandoori paneer sandwich - Mild spiced but topped well with tandoor masala, bite-sized paneer was good but not the best sandwich 😐

Oregano and chili cheese-based garlic bread is a hit all the time Nachos bhel - Too cheesy but sour and kicky on one end; one crunchy Nachos with a load of the topping would taste great 😋

Paneer burji - All-time favorite in this place since this is neither heavy nor light, perfect spice with slightly sour but good well with the bread 😊

Jam bun maska - oh my wow, jam buttery and just melts along every bite, sweet stuff!! 😍

Paneer tikka fried momo - Was fried too much so was smoky but not spicy; the dip was sweet but the flavors were not evident 😑

Off-street parking would be hard at times since located on one of the busiest roads in Chennai. Service was okay but the prices looked hefty after a sumptuous meal. The ambience is comfy with good...

Good ambience and location. Food was quite decent & surprisingly they had a good range of food options available, despite branding themselves as a chai place. I had always thought they have only finger food - they actually have a good variety of North Indian food items including thalis & combos available. Service is no non-sense, friendly, and they leave you alone after serving.

While I didn't get to try their Tea options, I did enjoy the pakodas & the sandwich that I had ordered.

Only suggestion would be to turn on the air conditioning - it was mid day in the ever-hot Chennai & the AC was either turned off or barely functional. It was very warm inside. The only saving grace was that the tables were spaced out and the dine in area is spacious enough to have decent air...