A Fitting Tribute To Our Chai!

I had heard of meeting point, lovers point, sunrise point etc. But when I heard of Chai Point, I could hardly believe that such a concept was possible. In this coffee chain crazy country, where you can find a coffee joint at every nook and corner, setting up a dedicated tea shop is, if I may call, a risky affair. I got a taste of their tea when a colleague got a whole jug to office one fine morning. What’s the big deal, I said to myself. When offered a cuppa, I obliged. The moment I sipped, I literally said ‘Aha’. It was an Aha moment for me, and I guess for hundreds, or ten thousands by now, of satisfied customers. For some their day begins at this outlet located in Cyber Hub (Based on the runaway success of this outlet in Gurgaon they have set up shop in other places such as Huda City Center, Unitech Infospace etc.).

 

 

 

 

They have a variety of tea available - lemon, ginger, masala, green etc. in hot chai; lemon, ginger, apple, cranberry in ice chai. They can serve you in disposable plastic glasses or actual glass tumblers, which will remind you of those long forgotten tea breaks taken at roadside shacks during college days. Moreover they also have a free delivery service for the unique disposable jugs or flasks (dual-coated stainless steel decanters with tamper-proof labels and heat jackets) which have a capacity of 10 glasses.

 

 

 

The outlet also offers you fresh snacks to partake along with your favourite tea. There are sandwiches to puffs to pastries. Having tried their paneer tikka and spinach & corn sandwiches my favour remains the egg puff, delicately made with the egg enveloped by the crunchy (and very much munchy) outer. When I had it the first time for breakfast, it had melted in my mouth. I certainly have not had/felt such amazing taste for an egg puff in Delhi NCR. The only close competition comes from a few local bakeries in Bangalore which have this item on their menu for so many years now.

 

The pricing is also easy on the pocket. The small tea cup is priced at Rs.20 and large at Rs. 60. The flask is most cost effective at Rs. 180. The egg puff comes for Rs. 35, sandwiches between Rs. 60-70 and cakes between Rs.55-60. This is any day a better and possibly healthier choice than the creamy coffee with oodles of sugar, dollops of cream and other calorie laden stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

The Cyber Hub outlet opens at 8 in the morning and has a steady stream of customers from then till late in the evening, closing time being 11 p.m., although crowds linger on even till midnight at times. Everyone wants a tea break! And its popularity can be gauged from the fact that one evening, hungry and famished, and feeling the need (or greed) to satisfy my taste buds, I dismissed going to my office tuck shop and descended 8 floors for my favorite snack. But alas! there was no egg puff, in fact nothing was left. My hungry eyes hunted out a lone brownie at a shelf behind the counter and gratification filled me, only to be told that it had been booked and billed for another customer! 

 

Chai Point is a fitting tribute to something that we Indians can proudly call as our contribution to the world and stamp it with ‘Made in India’! What would we all do without our daily dose of tea! Indeed, India Runs on Chai!