Chai Station - Vegetarian vegan Indian — Restaurant in England

Well we had heard a great deal of great things about this restaurant. The food was apparently full of wonderful flavours a balance of spices and herbs to delight even the most sophisticated of palettes. We had even heard a little about the charismatic host. Nothing came close to the reality. The food was more than magnificent, a really outstanding meal that also brought a much better understanding of the difference between the chilli enhanced mush served in the majority of what we Brits believed to be Indian restaurants, throughout the country, and the authentic dishes served in Chai Station. In addition, and in no small measure, the evening was utterly enhanced by the rapidly developing banter between the absolutely charming and charismatic host and myself. He started by asking our names, and then referred to us by our first names throughout the evening. But it was his second remark which broke the ice. Referring to my wife he asked what such a beautiful woman was doing with me. "She's after a free meal, my lightening response. I won't bore you with the rest, suffice it to say we both enjoyed a lovely evening, and will certainly return. Strongly advise you all to try the place. Go armed with an open mind about the food it's unusual and delightful. As far as Tommy the owner is concerned if charismatic talkative restaurateurs annoy you wear a hearing aid and pretend the...

Very disappointing place!

Ordered platter for starters and Veg biryani for mains. Platter has only two samosas and one each of Cauliflower Pakoda and Cutlet. And this took almost half an hour. Cutlet was good and the others were just Meh! And then came biryani after a 15 mins, which is rice mixed with some curry powder and vegetable gravy. That was anything but biryani. As someone who loves spicy food, I should say, with an overwhelming quantity of curry powder and no whole/fresh spices, and very few vegetables, this is far from anything palatable. And the accompanying raitha was saltless and bland. Sorry mate! This isn't raitha at all. And what's more? The card machine doesn't work. You should display that right out on the door or inform that when a customer walks in and not after they ask for the bill. The cards accepted sticker outside was misleading! No one appreciates searching for a cash machine after eating food.

All in all, far from authentic Indian, bad service and rip off prices with miniscule portions! Don't fall for the ratings. I am very surprised at the ratings and reviews they have got for the...

Overrated restaurant for food taste and quality. The biggest selling point is vegetarian/vegan food but main dishes provided are lack of creativity. You can easily get a can of beans and spices to cook better taste food than here. In addition, the so called specialty drink mango lassi is also from a can. So basically this is a place offering fast cooking food at medium price. To be honest everything is way overpriced when evaluating with its quality. The table is also a bit greasy. You have better options elsewhere. Please also be aware of the fact that this place only accepts cash, while it has the stickers outside showing the shop accepting major cards. I didn't have cash in hand so I walked 10 more mins to get cash to pay them. They also dishonestly charged me £3 for the bread with listed price £1.5, and the entire meal cost me almost £15 to get something way less than what I would expect getting from a take away place. This is a place you should definitely avoid. I still feel very hungry after paying that much. Total rip off. Not even...