Chaat and Chai

One lovely evening, my friends and I went to a relatively new in Indian restaurant, Chaat and Chai (1532 Snyder Ave). The restaurant is small and very cute with a few seatings. It had a lot of colorful and bold decor. See pictures of inside below. 

Inside Chaat and Chai

I decided to try a chaat. Afterall, it should be good since the restaurant is name after it.
Chaats are very popular street snacks in India and Middle East. It is basically a combination of different texture foods. Depending on the type of chaat you get, the ingredients vary. Chaat and Chai offered Samosa chaat (warm potato and pea turnover, chick peas, tamarind-mango sauce, indian yogurt, sev), Chana Chaat (chick peas, red onion, tomatoes, mints, tamarind-date chutney, Indian yogurt, crunchies), North Indian Chicken Chaat (Mint-cumin roasted chicken, radishes, tomatoes, red onions, raita, tamarind date chutney, mine-coriander chutney), and Bhel Puri (puffed rice, papdi, potatoes, scallions, tomatoes, mint-cilantro chutney, date-ginger chutney, yogurt, crunchies). As you can see chaats are really a mix of ingredients. 

Samosa Chaat

I ordered the Samosa Chaat. The visuals of dish was appealing. It came with a Samosa in the middle that was surrounded by chick peas, tamarind-mango sauce, mango, green onions, and Indian yogurt and topped with sev. Just in case you were wondering. Sev are crunchy fried noodle pieces made with seasoned chickpea flour. I cut up the samosa and ate the pieces with all the goodies on the plate. I thought it was delicious. It was sweet yet savory yet sour. It was also warm and cold in my mouth. Cold from the mango and yogurt and warm from the samosa. The samosa itself was very tasty. I enjoyed the combination of flavors and texture. I am very satisfied with what I got.

Assorted Nan

In addition, we got Assorted Naan for the table. The server informed us there were three types of naan, but I don't remember what they were. I think one was garlic and one might had cheese. Overall, the naan was okay. I didn't really eat much of it. These naan were somewhat thin and not really fluffy. Maybe they were not fresh. I don't recall them being hot when they arrived. I like my naan thick, fluffy, and somewhat chewy. Unfortunately, these naan did not fit those criteria for me.

Lamb Vindaloo

Chicken Chettinand

Bonus pictures. My friends got meat dishes. One of them got the Lamb Vindaloo (fiery and tangy curry from Goa with red chillies, vinegar) and the other got the Chicken Chettinand (spicy south indian curry with coconut, black peppercorns, star anise). For both entree, the rice was underneath the meat and sauce. I got to taste the sauce with some rice. The vindaloo was delicious. It was spicy and full of flavor. Before I became a vegetarian, Chicken Vindaloo was one of my favorite dishes. As a vegetarian, it is hard to find vegetarian vindaloo. Maybe I will try to make veggie vindaloo for myself, but knowing I this won't probably happen until maybe 2 years later. The chicken chettinand was okay. I thought that dish lacked some flavor.