Bustling streets of India to London’s buzzing metropolis

Street food is ingrained in India’s food culture and rules the roads. Mumbai, India’s metropolitan city boasts to be one of the famous street snack cities, offering mouth-watering Paani Poori to crispy Dosa. New Delhi’s popular dishes include Chole Bature to Butter Chicken. Amritsar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Chennai and Rajasthan are also key cities for street foodies.

Integral people within India’s street food scene are Dabbawalas, renowned for their juxtaposed hectic yet organised system, which constitutes a lunchbox delivery that carries hot lunches from restaurants and homes. A successful operation albeit with no technology involved in the process. Chaiwalas play a significant part in India’s tea culture, they sell and prepare fresh Chai tea on India’s roadsides. Lastly, Mithaiwalas are those responsible for serving succulently sweet Indian dessert dishes such as Gulab Jamun and Jalebi.

Explore the rich history of Indian street food

We explored the bustling streets of the Indian subcontinent to bring you and London’s buzzing city over 40 authentic, traditional and modern regional street food specialities, with a contemporary twist in Chali Thali’s quirky Bombay café, inspired restaurant. Our flagship branch is located in Camden Town’s Mandela Street is linked with great history, which is named after the man himself, Nelson Mandela. The street features a mural of the politician and philanthropist wearing a shirt inspired by flowers from South Africa, which was painted by artists from Global Street Art. In the 1980s the road was home to the South African political party, the African National Congress and now home to tech, finance, creative and gaming businesses. Chai Thali is surrounded by the charm of Camden Market, trendy bars, alternative fashion and much more. As well as our location’s history, each vibrant street food dish we serve has its own incredible origin story.

Our small plates include Pindi Chole Kulche, a Punjabi style chickpea dish cooked in a flavoursome gravy accompanied with Amritsari Kulcha. Chaat has dated as far back as the 1600s and has always remained one of the popular street dishes in India and at Chai Thali, our menu embraces a variety of chaats including savoury crispy Samosa Chaat and Aloo Corn Tikki Chaat. From west India, Maharashtra, Bhaaji Pao Fondue is a modern take on the Pav Bhaji, a bread and curry combination said to have originated in the 1850s.

From the South, Chai Thali’s Kerala Fish Curry is Tilapia fish cooked in tomato and onion gravy with silky coconut milk, tamarind, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Our creamy Malaai Kofta, part of Mughlai cuisine is simmered in a smooth gravy. Native to Hyderabad our Hyderabadi Dum Biryani is cooked in spices then layered with rice and from Delhi, the slow-cooked Murg Makhni with a touch of cream is just a snippet of the delectable dishes that make up our vast array of mains. Additionally, we offer all different flavours of sweet, salt, bitter, sour and spicy on our esteemed Thalis.

India’s most loved desserts feature in our menu, may it be warm grated carrots in sweet milk, accompanied with vanilla ice cream and chopped pistachio nuts, known as Gaajar Halwa and classic Kulfi available in mango, malaai and pistachio make refreshing afters.

To pair beautifully with our regional dishes, we offer fruity, sweet and sour signature and alcohol-free cocktails. Kadak Chai, the ultimate warm beverage of India is the perfect blend of spices brewed with tea leaves and milk, which we serve up in our artistic teapot and small chai glasses to deliver the real chai experience.

Our Bollywood Nights become a cult classic

Since Chai Thali’s debut in 2017, it has won luxury lifestyle magazine ‘The Resident’s vote as the best Indian restaurant in London and become a hot spot for celebrities, including singer Juggy D, BBC radio presenter Harpz Kaur, graphic illustrator Inkquisitive, Indian idol’s Harshi Mad and Bollywood actress Banita Sandhu!

We host a groovy retro Bollywood night every month, movie nights and art exhibitions. To date, our events have included Yash Raj Film’s movie launch parties and most recently the ‘Rang De’ Holi themed launch event.

We truly look forward to welcoming and delivering the high-class Chai Thali experience to you and your guests.