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Chaat
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© Britta Jaschinski
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By Sulakshana Gupta
At the last count, the ‘Indian’ restaurant tally in Brick Lane stood at more than 50 – a mix of old-style curry houses, Bangladeshi fast-food counters and trendier refits. Chaat, which means ‘snack food’, is none of the above. It’s a welcoming, home-style Bangladeshi kitchen just beyond the northern end of London’s most famous curry corridor.
Chaat is sparsely decorated but cheerful – the white walls are hung with local art for sale, the plain wooden tables are carved with spiralled designs that manager Shanaz Khan (pictured) copied from childhood Bangla alphabet books, and the laminated placemats are characteristic of a sit-down meal at a Bengali home.
The short menu offers unpretentious comfort food; the dishes, priced between £2.75 and £5.95, are explained in brief English. We started with aloo and pea ‘chops’: crunchy mashed potato and pea cutlets, a palliative to the fiery relish made using Naga morich (the world’s hottest chilli pepper, from Nagaland) that rightly carries a warning. Thenga, succulent pieces of bony fish in a tangy mango and tomato gravy, proved to be an excellent choice for a main course once ladled on to steamed rice . The accompanying bowl of shredded white cabbage flecked with lentils was mildly spiced with just a hint of turmeric and panch phoran (a Bengali mix of five spices). As promised, the dishes tasted like mum’s own, and the day’s desserts even featured shimai: a pudding made with vermicelli. The only thing missing was the familiar pungent smell of mustard seed oil, a staple in Bengali cooking. The traditional recipes have been slightly tweaked to appeal to a diverse clientele, but thankfully never stray too far from home.Time Out Issue 1991: October 16-22 2008
See also
- Cheap Indian restaurants in London
Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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Details
- 36 Redchurch St, Shoreditch, E2 7DP
- Area: Shoreditch
- Tel: 020 7739 9595
- Category: Bangladeshi
- Travel: Liverpool St tube/rail or 8, 26, 48 bus
- Times: Open Tue-Fri 12noon-3pm, 6-11pm; Sat, Sun 6pm-12midnight
- Price: Meal for two with wine and service: around £40
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Jus had a meal here and I regret it. Terrible, no choice, little atmosphere, yes I agree - watery - so strange. Don't bother, take a taxi to Tayaabs instead or go to Mien Tay up the road - the best Vietnamese you will ever have.
Cosy atmosphere that's a great place to go for some tasty food. The service is great! Been a few times and I will no doubt be visiting again!
Nice quaint place. Interesting dishes and easy on the taste buds.
Its a sweet little place with nice simple indian food. Curry sauces were light but good for me as im not big fan of thick curry sauces.
I totally agree with Marcia. What is with the watery curry?!! So strange. Is this how they eat curry in Bangladesh?!
I also did not enjoy choosing my food ffrom 'steps' on a piece of photocopied paper.
Just as Marcia, I ate because i was hungry but would never go back .... maybe only for a paratha - that was divine. VERY surprisingly!!
It's like going to dinner in your mates house. Warm, cosy and friendly with great service. The somosas are amongst the best I've ever sample. Small, delicate and more - ish. The tea is really nice. A definate flavour from my past. Make you wonder why Tetley sold any at all.
we just had dinner there on recommendation from this site. This was the worst indian food either of us have had - and we love indian food.
the starter was basically a tortilla wrap filled with a little salad and paneer.
the dhal and the prawn curry were tasteless and watery. the keema was quite tasty, though it is actually samosa filling.
we ate it because we were hungry but we would never go back.
Fantastic food! Unique Curry!
Really fantastic range of vegetarian dishes and the taste of freshly made bengali cuisine was a fantastic change from the curries of Brick Lane.
Service was good but the food was excellent. Definately a good alternative to the Brick Lane curry houses.