Chaiwala - Street Food India — Restaurant in Warsaw

Updated May 2023: I am lowering my rating because my latest experience here was so disappointing. Bread pakoda was soggy and definitely not fresh. Tea was god-awful, the batata wada was not crisp at all. The floor was ridiculously filthy, just felt wrong and unhygienic for a restaurant. I hope they are able to go back to original food quality and service soon.

Original review from 2022: A real blessing for lovers of Indian chat (Indian street food). Opened in October 2021, Chaiwala serves absolutely authentic and mouthwatering Indian chat dishes. The dahi puri is just like what you'd get in a chat stall in Mumbai, and the Sev Puri is excellent too. We also tried the ragda samosa, which had a perfectly crispy samosa in ragda that was the right level of spicy and tangy. The grilled bombay sandwich was excellent, it comes covered with grated cheese and with a side of potato chips. Finally we finished with gulab jamun, which was hot, soft, fresh and not overly sweet. We also packed and took away laddoos to have the next day (because we were too full to eat more!), and they were wonderful. Overall I can't wait to go back and try other items on the menu. A must visit for chat, purely vegetarian (no meat starters are served, and they accomodate Jain...

I don’t usually leave bad reviews, but honestly the customer service here sucked. The guy at the bar seemed to really not care and didn’t properly listen to my order, so I had to pay twice given he only put half of the order in.

Also, I asked for a recommendation as it was my first time, and based on this I ordered the cheese dabeli and ragda samosa… after ordering and paying the guy said it’s a little spicy and I said if it’s very spicy it would be too much but if it’s just a little it’s ok… he said it’s just a little. Then when I started eating the food it was so spicy that it felt like my entire mouth is on fire (and I can usually handle mildly spicy food). The spiciness level was so bad that I had to throw out my food because I wasn’t able to eat any more. There should be some kind of honest indication on the menu about the spiciness levels or at least tell people „this is very spicy”. They need to keep in mind not everyone can handle „ghost pepper” level spicy… perhaps this place caters more to Indians but I’ve seen other reviews by Indians that it’s also too spicy for them.

The prices are also high versus portions and food quality… it honestly didn’t taste good at all (and I’m usually open to all...

Unfortunately I had a very disappointing experience. I recently started work in the area and wanted to grab a quick lunch between jobs. I ordered food via Uber eats unaware of the policy that I couldn’t eat in the restaurant if ordered online. The lady working allowed me to eat, but then brought the phone with her manager for me to speak to while I was eating. It was repeated that policy says I can’t eat in if ordered online, and I should call up. I explained that I didn’t have time, I didn’t know this policy. I said I was disappointed to which she replied ‘but you’re still eating there’ at which point I decided to leave the restaurant and my food. I was already late for my next job at this point and didn’t have time to finish. As I was leaving the lady working tried to block the door, saying it’s a misunderstanding. There is no misunderstanding. The fact is I was unaware of the policy, there was no understanding of the situation and the owner was incredibly rude. Sadly, what I hoped would be my daily lunch place is now somewhere I won’t visit again. I understand policies are in place but there should also be a duty of care to the customer, some understanding and a decent way to...