Lipsmacking Vegetarian Multicuisine Dishes @ Chai Break, Chowringhee, Kolkata ☺

“Chai Break is a start-up with an inventive concept that whenever anybody thinks of taking a break, they think of Chai Break. As a chain of all-day casual diners currently present in the Eastern parts of India, Chai Break specialises in teas and a bouquet of cuisines such as Italian, Chinese, Thai & Indian. Chai Break has strengthened its presence with 14 outlets. Recently, it raised a million dollar funding by Venture Catalysts.”

Few months back, along with other food bloggers and media personnels, I was invited to cover the new menu launch, at the Chowringhee based 100% vegetarian outlet of Chai Break i.e. one of the nine outlets that have covered all the important dining hubs of Kolkata. Chai Break’s revised logo was also launched on the same day.

Chai Break’s intelligently designed new menu has it’s cover designed like that of a magazine, filled with headlines concerned with the Chai Break brand.

The menu has 4 broad categories – Small Break, Big Break, Sweet Break and Drinks Break.

The following food items were displayed and/or served for tasting and review –

– Drinks Break –

– Orange Mint Virgin Mojito (Rs. 190/-): With an orange slice and a sprig of mint inserted around the rim of the serving glass and a portion of the same placed on it’s top along with some crushed ice, it was a traditional virgin mojito with a zing of tangy orange.

The orange hued mocktail was an instant thirst quencher. It tasted excellent.

This mocktail was not a part of the food display, but served to me as per my choice.

Orange Mint Virgin Mojito

Virgin Mojito (Rs. 180/-): Having tasted it umpteenth number of times by now, I refrained from tasting this one.

– Small Break –

– Caesar Salad (Rs. 190/-): Presented in a black bowl with designer rim, the salad was the usual combination of romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce and bread croutons tossed in Caesar Dressing with a generous portion of finely grated cheese sprinkled on the top.

The ingredients used were fresh and crunchy. The salad tasted good.

Caesar Salad and Virgin Mojito

– Dirty Fries Manchurian (Rs. 190/-): A generous portion of French Fries topped with Manchurian Sauce and scantily sprinkled with some chopped coriander leaves was presented in a thick bottomed but relatively small black metallic pan.

The dish was basically the age old French Fries presented with an Oriental ‘tadka’.

The dish tasted nice.

Dirty Fries Manchurian

– Korean Cups (Rs. 225/-): A flat black wooden tray sat laden with eight portions of Oriental veggies filled Wanton Cups along with a small black bowl of red sauce.

The baked dish comprising of spicy stuffing in homemade phyllo cups was Chef’s special creation.

It never reached my dining table.

– Potato Rosti With Mushroom Ragu (Rs. 265/-): Sweet Potato Rosti topped with Mushroom Ragu was presented in a round black metallic pan, garnished with a sprig of coriander at the centre.

Both the elements of the dish complemented each other. The dish was filling and tasted good.

Potato Rosti With Mushroom Ragu and Korean Cups

– Big Break –

– Paneer Tikka Paneer Kulcha (Rs. 275/-): A black metallic square shaped quarter plate sat laden with two half sliced portions (like half moons) of Khabus bread stuffed with dry paneer tikka makhni, onion and capsicum. Other elenents on the plate were a side salad comprising of mainly onion ringlets and a small black bowl of achari mayo.

The dish looked interesting. But, it never reached my dining table.

Paneer Tikka Paneer Kulcha and Aurugula & Feta Pizza

– Pesto Pizza (Rs. 400/-): It was a thin crust and healthy pizza that substituted the tomato sauce base with pesto. The veggie sprinkling comprised of generous portions of – corn, broccoli, sun dried tomatoes, capsicum and some rocket leaves.

It tasted good.

Pesto Pizza

– Aurugula & Feta Pizza (Rs. 400/-): It was a relatively healthy pizza, as it was topped with moderate amount of feta cheese and moderately garnished with aurugula or rocket leaves, broccoli, black olives and sun dried tomatoes.

Having tasted the aforesaid Pesto Pizza, I refrained from tasting this one.

– Ricotta & Spinach Manti (Rs. 330/-): Served in a similar pan, like the one used in Dirty Fries Manchurian, the dish comprised of in-house made fresh dough pasta stuffed with – spinach, 5 cheese and nuts and cooked in Pomodoro Sauce. 2 slices of Garlic Bread were also served along with the dish.

The Pomodoro Sauce was quite well cooked. It was slightly cheesy and was perfectly devoid of the tangy taste of the local tomatoes. The dumplings were uniformly shaped and adequately stuffed.

The dish tasted good.

Ricotta & Spinach Manti

– Fried Rice (Rs. 215/-), Chilli Garlic Noodles (Rs. 225/-) and Paneer In Chilli Basil Sauce (Rs. 225/-): These three Oriental dishes were served as a combo on our dining table. The Rice and the Noodles were served in separate black bowls. The Paneer dish was kind of dry and served in a heavy bottomed round black pan.

Needless to say, the combo was a full meal in itself. It was served piping hot and tasted excellent.

Chilli Garlic Noodles, Fried Rice and Paneer In Chilli Basil Sauce

– Sweet Break –

– Sweet Nachos Sundae (Rs. 165/-):
Served in a similar pan, like the one used in Dirty Fries Manchurian, this dessert was Chef’s special creation. It comprised of sweet homemade tortilla chips, topped with – chocolate syrup, chocolate soil and ice cream.

The fusion looked interesting, but did not go well with my palate.

Sweet Nachos Sundae

– Chocolate Monte Carlo (Rs. 165/-): Presented in a big glass cup this layered pudding had alternate layers of sugar syrup soaked chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and the likes. It was garnished with broken Oreo biscuits, chocolate chips and Kit-Kat.

This dessert was not served on our dining table. Also, we were too filled to try anything else.

Chocolate Monte Carlo

This tasting session had a good presence of top level chefs and managers of Chai Break. Insightful interaction with them made the session all the more special and memorable.

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