Once in a while i have these random urges to be spontaneous and just go out. I suggested going into London and just finding somewhere to eat. I want to say it was a weekday but it may have been a weekend. He obliged, so we spent a good 30 minutes “Googling” for places we could eat and I came across this.
So Roti Chai have two kinds of dining available at the restaurant – street kitchen and dining room. The street food concept being more tapas-style small plates, offering the kind of food you would traditionally find….yeah you guessed it – from street vendors. The dining room is for a more familiar experience, with currys and naans, for me, the more heavier option. The Street Kitchen menu was an all-day one whereas there were lunch and dinner options for the Dining Room. We ended going for the street kitchen, we liked the idea of ordering a few dishes and sharing them.
So fun fact, Roti Chai has a sister restaurant in Canary Wharf. It’s a similar concept in the way it has a “Toddy Shop Bar” which are small plates as well as a restaurant one. The food is slightly different but based of the same concept.
So Roti Chai is in Marylebone and we got there late evening. It was quite busy and we didn’t make a reservation (as it was just Nishant and I), they only take booking for 6 or more for the Street Food menu. We risked it by just turning up. We were waiting for around 25 minutes before we were seated at a table. It’s an interesting layout, with the Street Menu diners sitting upstairs. There are plenty of tables and a few booths for larger parties. It does seem quite cramped, but I guess it was designed to be quite close nit. There was a good atmosphere, with a view of the kitchen and watching the waiters rushing around delivering dishes as if they were small human shaped rickshaws going from source to destination, getting the food to where it needs to be.
One thing I will say, there was in no abundance of choice in the menu. Below is a list of dishes we got:
- Aloo Papri Chaat (V)
- Hakka Chilli Paneer (V)
- Bombay Bhel Puri (V)
- Vegetable Somosa (V)
- Bun Tikki (V)
- Bun Chilli Chicken
- Almond & Saffron Phirni (V) (n)
- Masala Chai
Bombay Bhel Puri (V)
So any kind of bhel usually consists of many different components, the base is usually the same, but everyone always want to put their own twist on it. This can vary by whoever makes it. An example being at Dishoom who put pomegranate on top to freshness. Roti Chai kept it safe and traditional with this combination. It was a good size portion for 2 people, though the puri (the small Indian cracker in the picture) was a bit too small for my liking. I’m not actually sure whether they have this pre-made or make it fresh, but for me a sign of a good bhel is not only flavour but also texture. This was a bit on the soft side. I like a bit of crunch but i feel it may have been left with the imli a bit too long and softened.
Score: 2.5/5
Hakka Chilli Paneer (V)
Okay so one of my most favourable Indian dishes is anything with paneer. For those of you who don’t know what paneer is or have never tried it, its basically curdled and then strained milk using either vinegar or lemon juice. Don’t want to veer away from the actual review of the dish. For me paneer can be easily be ruined, everyone has their own preference but for me I like it to be on the softer side (but not complete mush!). This paneer has a bit more bite to it, which wasn’t too bad, but it would have been nicer if we got more paneer than vegetables. It had a good level of spice to it and wasn’t too sour as sometimes chilli paneer can be, but the ratio of paneer to vegetables let it down.
Score: 3/5
Vegetable Somosa (V)
My most favourite Indian snack ever, are samosas (or samosey). But i am very very fussy when it comes to what type. Being Gujarati i have grown up with the traditional samosa made with filo pastry (or Chinese spring roll pastry). My mum has made it exactly the way i like it for years and I have yet to taste better ones (even others agree). Another interesting fact is that i prefer vegetarian samosas to meat. I find the meat ones too….”samey”. I’m generally not a fan of the punjabi style samosa which comes in a much thicker pastry, it reminds me a bit of a hot water crust pastry. These samosas are generally heavier and are filled up a lot more too. These ones in particular though were really good. There are times where I get too much jeera seeds in it, and I’m really not a fan as it imbalances the flavour. These samosa were reasonably sized, and the pastry wasn’t too oily either. It came with some channa masala (chickpea masala). The flavour was really good, and had all the right proportions of vegetables.
Score: 3.5/5
Aloo Papri Chaat (V)
This papri chaat was definitely a refreshing starter. You have the cool freshness of the yoghurt, the crunch of the papri and the spicy and sweetness from the chutney. Although the spice was a bit uneven, only because the chilli powder was sprinkled more on one side than the other (you can see in the picture). All in all it was a decent starter, eating it one papri at a time with the toppings, you got about 5 of them.
Score: 3.5/5
Bun Tikki (V) & Bun Chilli Chicken
Seeing as I am a “m-eater” (get it?) and Nishant had by then switched to being a vegetable….sorry i mean vegetarian. We both saw the buns on the menu and thought lets get one each. I, of course got the pulled spiced chicken bun and Nishant got the tikki one. The Bun Chilli Chicken that I had was not too bad, I’m glad it was pulled and not just a piece of chicken because that allowed me to pour the sauce (imli) that came with it and it went through the chicken. The spice itself wasn’t overwhelming but had a good flavour to it. There was nothing that really stood out about it really, it was just decently spiced ripped apart chicken. One thing I did appreciate was the soft brioche bun, I love the mix of a sweet brioche with a spiced burger. From what Nishant said, the Bun Tikki wasn’t too bad, but there wasn’t anything that stood out as part of the dish, The patty was made from veg and potato with punjabi spices. It fell under expectations as he thought there’d more to it (he loves aloo tikki!).
Score (Bun Chilli Chicken): 3/5
Score (Bun Tikki): 3.5/5
pulled spiced chicken 
Amritsar-style aloo tikki burger
Almond & Saffron Phirni (V) (n)
I’ve never had this dessert before and at first glance, I thought it was some sort of kheer (an Indian rice pudding based dessert with saffron). I was very wrong, because of this i expected a more loose texture but it was almost like a chilled set rice pudding. Although I could taste the almonds and saffron, for me it just was a bit toned down in terms of flavour. I was expecting something slightly sweeter than this. Some people may love it because its not top sweet, but this just wasn’t for me.
Score: 2/5
Masala Chai
I’ve been practically raised on tea, literally have it like 2 times a day at least. desi tea is usually heavier than normal “English tea”. This is because the milk is boiled with the teabags. Traditionally chai masala is added to it to add a bit of a kick to it. It’s a very heart warming drink for the winter and is one of those beverages that always gets made when guests come to an asian household. When i have desi tea, i usually don’t like the masala in it, but on the odd occasion when we go out, I’ll have it. I find the masala can be too harsh in it, and masks the flavour of the tea and you just get a shock when you take a sip. This masala chai was way too spiced for me. I took a couple of sips and then had to put it down, it was too harsh on my throat and almost wanted to cough every time I took a sip. This might have been our batch as Nishant has the same issue (he actually doesn’t mind masala chai)
Bear Experience Score: 3.6/5
Bear and a Plate 