Historical version 2 of Chai Corner, CR9 1SB (view current version)
- 020 8633 1779
- Allders Mall, North End, CR9 1SB (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
- chai-corner.com
- 9:30am-6pm Mon-Wed; 9:30am-7pm Thu; 9:30am-6pm Fri; 9am-6pm Sat; 11am-5pm Sun
Indian cafe in Croydon.
It was previously located in the basement of Allders department store photo. However, now that Allders has closed, it operates solely from a unit in Allders Mall (the only part of the store to remain open), with some outside seating on North End. Note that although its postcode begins "CR9", it's actually physically located within the CR0 postal district. See Locale CR9 for an explanation.
Prior to the Allders shakeup, they served various teas, cakes, biscuits, Indian snacks, curries, sandwiches, and breakfasts (including the interesting-sounding "desi breakfast"); we haven't yet checked how much of this has survived.
Kake visited the basement location a couple of times in July 2011, the second time in the company of Sarah. The first time, I had chai latte (£1.95), which was unsweetened and only very subtly spiced, and some of the Indian snacks photo.
Veg tikki (95p) was relatively spicy, with bits of red chilli in, while pakoras (£1.45 for five) were nicely fried, with a good but not over-dominant onion flavour. Vegetable samosa (95p) was competent enough; the pastry wasn't the best I've ever had, but at least it was proper samosa pastry rather than filo. On our second visit, we had some chocolate chip cookies (50p for two) which were OK but nothing special.
Kake's verdict: I might pop in if I was passing and needed a sit-down, and I might come back on purpose to try the desi breakfast, but then I do live quite close. It's probably not worth much of a journey; the food and drinks I've had here so far were competent but nothing special.
See also:
- Photos of the menu as of July 2011: 1, 2, 3, 4
- Croydon Today review
- Londonist review
- Local Guardian article
- Tandoori Magazine article