More indian grub

CHAI WHAI
In contrast I also recently went to Chai Whai, one of the newest restaurants to open in the southside.

The look of Chai Whai is another odd one, while Shimlas is going for a very trendy, deliberate, eye catching style, Chai Whai seems to be a place in the middle of working out who it is.

From the outside, it doesn't look anything special, a doorway between a baby shop and an empty unit leading to a long uninviting corridor. At the end of the corridor however is a HUGE restaurant, probably 160 seats.

The staff were extremely friendly but looked a little cold - they were all still wearing their coats and jackets. They seemed almost surprised to see us as we walked in and as we looked around we realised why - the place was even emptier than Shimla Pinks had been. This may to some extent be explained as they have only just opened and have yet to start really spreading the word that they are there. So new are they in fact, that they haven't yet got round to hanging any pictures or images on the walls. I recommend they do that quite soon as it felt very odd to sit in a bright white room - a bit like a canteen.

From our first impression we were therefore not expecting too much from the food. The staff bustled around us, advising on a good selection of tapas dishes and then all scurried off to get them for us. We sat looking around, a bit confused - its odd being the only people in a restaurant.
We then heard the clinking of cutlery and thought that there must be other patrons that we hadn't previously noticed. I poked my head over the low division wall only to find the sound was coming from the staff who were all sitting down to dinner together.
The food took quite a long time to come, possibly because the staff were eating their own or possibly because we were the first customers the night and they had to heat up the ovens but when it did arrive, it was very nice. Indian/ Malay tapas is a good idea - whenever I go out to an Indian restaurant I end up wanting everyone else's dish.
This way, each of you order 3 or 4 dishes and the chance to try different things is greatly expanded. Ann's a veggie so I got to try her dishes but she couldn't try mine. Two of mine were delicious, one was ok. That's not a bad average and the home made chapatis that come with the meal, were buttery and garlicky and very, very tasty.
We chatted to the owner as he constantly kept trying to encourage us to eat more - "have another chapati", "I'll get you the deserts" "another rice? I think you should have more rice".
The tapas is their first step but they have plans to expand. Next they will start doing home deliveries from a second non-tapas menu and then they will dedicate a section of the restaurant to a third fine dining menu. All sounds a bit complicated to me - and I can imagine Gordon Ramsay would have a few things to say to them about their plans but I hope they do well as they seem nice people, the food is good and its only about two seconds from my flat.

http://www.chaiwhai.com/index.html

Up-date .....

Unfortunately Chai Whai has now closed