DESILICIOUS!
HOP ON BOARD FOR SOME RAILWAY FARE
We walked into a smallish space with one entire wall taken by an eye-catching mural that has luggage racks above windows with grills.
By SUVARNA SHASTRI
I have been led to believe by my husband that I am in a minority of one in actually enjoying railway food – as in food served on trains in India.
He said so when I shared that though my mother packed puris or parathas with dry alu or bhindi curries and always lots of oranges (that we didn’t have to wash or cut before consuming!) for long train journeys, I used to persuade her to order a thali from the staff when they came to ask if we wanted lunch or dinner.
Watery dal, spicy sabji, oily puris, I loved them all.
When I told him that a friend at school also loved train food so much that she used to get her parents to take them to the railway station so they could eat at the canteen, he just shook his head in bewilderment.
And so it stayed, as one of my many quirks. Until we drove past Railway Chai House in Brampton recently.
We googled it and found that they say they serve the real chai, not pre-made – and the varieties they offer are many – and also, along with a wide range of snacks, a “railway thali”!
Which necessitated a drive back the very next weekend.
We walked into a smallish space with one entire wall taken by an eye-catching mural that has luggage racks above windows with grills. It’s like being on a train, looking out, because you see the ubiquitous chaiwallah on the platform, and crowds of people walking with bags and baggage. The stage being set, so to speak, I looked around inside and was happy to see that the counter where one places the order is also designed like a stall on a railway platform with racks of munchies and candy in front and old-fashioned jars of ghee biscuits on the counter.
The railway thali ($9.99) comes with two curries – we got chhole and kadhi pakora – and rice, raita, pickle, and a choice of kheer or gulab jamun for dessert. One can add a paratha or kulcha and we opted for the kulcha ($1.25).
We ordered a tikki chaat ($8.99) and a railway thali ($9.99). The thali comes with two curries – we got chhole and kadhi pakora – and rice, raita, pickle, and a choice of kheer or gulab jamun for dessert. One can add a paratha or kulcha and we opted for the kulcha ($1.25). Our order with elaichi-adrak chai for my husband and gurwali chai for me, $2.75 each, was at our table in about 15 minutes. The raita was a tad watery (in true railway fare fashion?) but everything else was super delicious. And piping hot.
Another point in their favour, the washroom was (unlike the ones on an Indian train or a railway station) spotlessly clean.
My husband earned brownie points by admitting, not too reluctantly, that he finally saw why I was such a fan of railway food. “As a place that has ‘chai’ in their name, they do a seriously good chai,” he pronounced.
As we plan to return soon to sample more items on the menu, he’ll find more reasons to agree!
Railway Chai House has several locations in Brampton. We were at the one on 2880 Queen St E (905-793-2832).