Chai Green — Restaurant in Birmingham

I recently visited Chai Green for breakfast, excited to try their Desi Breakfast Thali and Halwa Puris, but unfortunately, my experience was far from what I expected.

Let's start with the environment and decor. The ambiance is quite pleasant—modern, clean, and well-designed. It certainly set the tone for what I hoped would be an enjoyable meal. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end.

Despite the restaurant being relatively quiet, with only a couple of other families dining, the service was slow. There seemed to be no sense of urgency, which was disappointing, especially considering how few people were there. Waiting longer than expected for breakfast, when you're not even in a rush hour, was frustrating.

Now, on to the food, which was the biggest letdown. Everything I ordered was extremely oily, to the point where it became difficult to enjoy. I understand that some dishes in desi cuisine are inherently rich, but this went well beyond that—it was greasy and overdone.

The Desi Breakfast Thali lacked flavor and freshness, and the oiliness of everything overshadowed the individual components. The Halwa Puris were a particular disappointment. They weren’t puris at all but pathuras, which felt misleading. While the pathuras themselves were actually quite good—probably the only saving grace of the meal—they weren’t what was advertised, and that left a bad taste in my mouth, figuratively speaking.

The biggest letdown, though, was the roghni naan. Instead of the soft, fluffy, oven-baked naan I was expecting, it felt more like a glorified, thick fried paratha. It lacked the characteristic texture and flavor of a proper naan, and I couldn’t help but feel that I had been served something completely different from what was promised.

In conclusion, while the decor and environment were nice, the slow service and oily, misleadingly named food left me disappointed. The pathuras were the only saving grace, but even that couldn’t make up for the overall subpar experience. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend Chai Green for breakfast if you're looking for a well-rounded and...

Myself and a friend attended here of a Saturday. The food was very nice, this was evident from the presentation and effort visible in the food that was served to us.

We ordered two curries and starters. The starters came out very quickly and the curries soon followed. The archari ghosh was very nice and the palak chicken was very soft and easy to eat. The fish fritters with the starters were very delicious and the chicken was very soft and tender.

The decor and atmosphere was really nice for a busy weekend. The effort and investment into the business clearly shows. The service was fantastic. We were served by Saibah who was the manager with the owner also providing service. They provided pleasant conversation and were very accepting of our feedback. I raised an issue with regards to having not been addressed when we first walked in and Saibah took this feedback onboard and had apologised for this.

My only one issue is the middle seating bench can be very intrusive to the neighbouring diners as there isn't any privacy in the middle. If you wish to have privacy, sit on the perimeter. This is also the reason why I haven't attached many photos as this would have intruded on the diners either side.

I would definitely recommend attended here and we will no doubt be visiting again. I just hope the standard of food continues to stay as high as it is today...

We entered and waited to be seated. Nobody acknowledged us or told us they'll be with us soon. We waited about 10 mins when it wasn't very busy (9pm) which wasn't a great start.

We ordered a range of dishes, including Chicken manchurin, Chilli Paneer Noodles, loaded fries, lahori fish and chips. The chinese fusion dishes were the best and delicious and fresh with a range of fresh vegetables. I would come again for them.

However, the chaats we ordered weren't anything special and didn't taste authentically pakistani. For £17 for 3, this was quite steep for the portion given (picture attached).

They also stated that they only give bottled water when we asked for a jug of tap water. For a bill of £100, they could have given the water complimentary.

The decor is lovely and welcoming but once leaving, we ordered ice cream to go (2 scoops), and it took 15mins despite 2 reminders, which was a real annoyance at the end of our dining experience. The staff were pleasant enough but if they are busy with take away orders, etc, more people should be employed to take care of customers in the restaurant.

Overall, an interesting experience and especially good for the indo chinese dishes and the loaded fries but not sure I'd recommend when there is so much choice...