Chaayos, Galleria Market, Gurgaon: Its Chai Time

Brain child of 2 IITians (Raghav and Nitin), Chaayos, ‘experimenting with Chai’, is a place that can take you back to college days for some, or visiting grandparents where ‘Chai’, not Tea, with nomenclature of “my dadi’s chai” or ’‘mummy wali kadak chai” was served.

With the mushrooming of more than a dozen Indian and MNC chains brewing coffee in every corner of the country, Chaayos endeavours to continue the tradition of ‘chai’ served “Your Way” – with 25 varieties of Tea that can be customised in over 400 ways.

Chaayos is a quick, on the go, neat place with modern café seating, where ambience befits the youngistan to the upwards of any age, offering a place to know more about teas. On the counter there is a display of tea leaves and peep into their multi tea brewing pots where ‘Your Chai’ gets ready in front of you.

There is a wide range of Chai available with the traditional ‘Desi chai’ (Rs.41 for a cup) with options of upto 12 add-ons, to Classic teas like Darjeeling First Flush (Rs. 68), Green Tea/English Breakfast/Earl Grey (Rs. 51). The chai is a very individual flavour. For me the desi chai is which is well brewed with milk and manages that fine balance between the masalas, tea, milk and sugar. Either some of the dhabas make it well or Chaayos was the place where I can go for my daily dose.

On the specialty range, we loved the “Hari Mirch Chai” (green chili) that was strangely nice with a mild chilly flavor at the back of throat. Aam Papad chai was a first time for me and with its tanginess took the taste buds to a tantalizing high. Rose cardamom tea with rose water and Moroccan Mint are the other teas that must be tried.

Chaayos also offers a variety of cold beverages, with some ‘home made’ Iced teas besides the “Un-Chai” range.

Food at Chaayos, is a carefully picked, some very age old, nostalgic and unique menu from the street foods of India. The Pav’s are not the best but overall makes for a decent Keema Pav. Vada Pav misses the red powder but retains its tanginess. Anda Pav is a boiled and light batter fried egg. However my favourite was Mediterranean-Napoli (with mushroom and cheese). The unique Maggi sandwich is a must try, though you can ask for the sides of the bread to removed as they tend to dry up the invention.

On the sweeter side, the Nutella in Multigrain was pretty good and even though there are brownies, were sufficient for my daily sweet quota.

Service is quick and pricing impresses for a place like Galleria that is known for high rentals. With three outlets, in Gurgaon (Delhi/NCR) at the moment, they are looking at adding a few more outlets soon. My only observation is that for in-house diners they should not pack the sandwiches in paper napkin that makes it cumbersome to eat.

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 4.0 I Tea: 4.5 |Service: 3.5 I Ambience: 3.0 I Overall: 3.5

Meal for Two: Rs250 | Credit Card: Yes | Alcohol: No | Home Delivery: Not Yet | Chaayos Hangover Brunch: Weekends (Sat: All Outlets. Sun: Galleria)

Address: SF-113, 1^st Floor, Above Khan Chacha, Galleria Market, Gurgaon | Phone: 9650064464, & Also at: Ground Floor , Building No. 5B, DLF Cyber City II, Gurgaon | Phone: 9650063631. And: Amenities Block, Unitech Infospace, Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon. Phone: 9650063631

– Samar Sodhi