Chaayos....Experiments with Chai.....

A nation which lives to drink Chai at home and coffee outside of home.Long before coffee drinking became the "cool" thing to do, Chai held centerstage in our lives.The Famous Bengali "ADDA" is incomplete without  Chai and Gupshup....So Coffee is about Conversations and chai Is about Gup Shup and the works.
Celebrating Indias love for Chai and bringing it alive in a refreshing retail concept is Chaayos..Started in 2012 by 2 IITians who quit their high paying jobs to offer us a unique tea drinking experience..

Chaayos. ..Experiments with Chai, stick to their basic concept and go all out and present the ever so common, humble, almost plebeian, Chai in a refreshingly cool, modern and trendy Avataar...Move away from the boring Peach and lemon iced teas that you could manage to get in Coffee retailers..They have more than 25 varieties of Chai which can be custom made in more than 12000 different ways..The flavours used are "desi" but somehow best kept as ingredients in kitchen and not to be flaunted like the way these guys have done.....adrak, elaichi, cardamom, saunf, lung, kali mirch, tulsi, ajwain, moti elaichi...With variants like Sulemani chai (black tea), Irani chai( more milk), Cutting chai, Kullad wali chai...

The food menu is intelligently made with focus on lite and quick bites..The idea to build on some of the local street food is interesting..Vada Paav, poha, bun maska,  egg buns, sev n buns, keema pav...I was not very impressed with the food in terms of taste and authenticity..However the great flavours of tea, the ambience and setting make up for the lacklustre taste of food..Some of the wraps I have heard are decent but did not try..The vada pav, Bun maska were pretty average

However do visit this place for its great Tea and find your "meri wali chai" that's what their punchline is..The food needs to evolve over a period of time , but full marks to the experiment....happy chai drinking

The Brown Box

Writing a foodie blog after a really long gap. The reasons for the gap have been plenty ranging from personal to professional to even abstinence from the carnivorous stuff for almost 3 months..all that is  ow a thing of the past and hope to continue fishing out small jewels located in corners and by lanes of Delhi NCR...

The Brown Box is one such place located in a Quaint, peaceful almost derelict and dilipidated Panchsheel DDA market..The place is ideal for those who want to savour decent cuppas of coffee and tea at the same time don't want to pay obnoxiously unjustified money like in case of Starbucks, CCDs and the likes. .Moreover the Starbucks and CCDs of the world have mechanised and corporatist the coffee drinking experience confining it to a closed machine like existence. ..THE Brown Box challenges the very notion and makes you sip your Tea and coffee the way it's supposed to be savoured...In a serene setting, surrounded by greenery, not many souls to bother you, and surely saves you the trouble of forced ear dropping on the "enlightening conversations" of the umpteen teenagers..

The Brown Box sticks to the basics..A patisserie specialising in Coffee, select pastries , sandwiches and cookies...The Blueberry cheese cake is as good as the best in town when it comes to texture, freshness..The Masala tea is a real hit here,  again pretty much a contrast to the pathetic mild teas served by the CCDs..The Sandwiches are really decent.Since they don't work on bull volume and a factory line like system, things are freshly made...

A Great experience to hang out and relax.there is a huge open space and thanks to lack of occupants in the DDA market , there is ample space for kids to chill and run around..Visit the Brown Box,  not just for coffee..but to sit and relax in the midst of greenery