Today I was visiting Chai Coffee in Surrey. An unexpected and lovely cafe by the Scott Road Skytrain, serving transit patrons and residents of the mid-rise above.
The space is modern and fresh with vaulted ceilings, faux greenery, marble surfaces, and bleach wood accents. The type of cafe you would expect and linger within, downtown Vancouver. Except they serve more than just coffee, tea, and pre-made pastries.
Their food and drink menu is expansive with hot and cold, caffeinated or caffeine-free options, sweet shakes, and Indian classics. The totality of the menu leans towards the latter, but there is plenty to choose from, something for everyone between grilled sandwiches, toast, instant Maggi noodles, snacks, and eggs. Plus a showcase of sweet treats like brownies, cakes, cookies, loaves, and even sundaes.
Admittedly I was inadated with the sheer number of options. So leaned on the suggestions of their staff for best sellers and the most popular items, as a first time taste.
Chai Coffee Compamy prides themselves on making everything in house using non GMO and quality ingredients, done in small batches. There is nothing processed for a fresh and homey feel. And to their credit they have the ability to accommodate all dietary restrictions with gluten-free and dairy-free alternatives using vegan butter and cheeses. Not Halal certified, but all their ingredients are halal. Also, leaning on the health conscious side nothing is fried, instead cooked in extra virgin olive oil.
We started with drinks. I had to try their chai considering their cafe’s name. They have four different variations, I went with the most potent and ginger-ful with the masla chai. Not as spicy and gingery hot as I would have liked it, but a great introduction to chai for those unfamiliar.
Bewarned, if you are unfamiliar with the names and language, you will have to ask for clarification on 70% of the menu. One word names in Punjabi offered no insight as to what is what, and what you are getting.
Like the Kehwa which is a a Indian green tea latte of brewed herbs with a nutty cardamon flavour.
They are also competing in this year’s Vancouver Foodster Spring Drink Challenge, so have a new spring drink. Their entry is a tri-coloured rose latte with a ruby red layer that you stir up, and rose petals that your stir in to drink. “Dusty Rose”, the name speaks to its gradient of colour. You are directed to stir up to incoprate the sweetness of the pink syrup with its floral rosy flavour, alongside the milky latte. For my personal taste, I would have liked it sweeter.
They have a fairly extensive menu for a cafe, and staff their full kitchen with a full time chef. The following are menu items I thought the most interesting, as someone not that familar with Indian cuisine.
The Chilli cheese toast was an open faced spicy cheese sandwich with red onion, red chillies, and cilantro. It gave my guest flashbacks to the Orange Julius chilli cheese dog, I unfortunately didn’t have the same frame of reference. I found it fairly spicy and very zesty. Could have used a dip to add levels and depth to this.
The Bun sliders are available in chicken, potato, or cottage cheese as a filling. We had it in the former and liked the thick cuts of white breast meat chicken. It reminded me of a chicken samosa in sandwich form with starchy mashed potatoes texture. The red onions added freshness and the brioche toast brought it all together as a sweeter base.
We enjoyed the Corn chat like a side salad. Similar flavour profile as everything we had so far with the common spice blend, the raw red onion, cucumber, and red pepper. This also would have made a great side salad for the below.
The Aloo tikki sandwich is potato in a pressed panini, served with a side of thick cut ridged regular potato chips. I enjoyed the crunch of both as a filling entree with all the carbs and starch. I could have used a fresh element like a sauce or a salad on the side to break things up.
The Masala French toast was another original one. The eggy and fluffy texture of French toast, spiced up with the savoury blend of masala and zesty vegetable. A combination of salty and sweet and the least spiciest of all our plates. It comes with a thicker cilantro sauce to pour over like you would maple syrup. The sauce had a familiar Indian flavour, but we couldn’t decide of it helped or hindered here. It certainly added another dimension to the toast.
And considering it is my name sake we also tried the Veggie Maggi. A bowl of instant noodle which is a staple and nostalgic for many in India. The packet of instant noodle cooked el dente with chopped vegetables and topped with crispy noodle bits crunch. As tasty and inexpensive this was, I can’t bear to purchase instant noodles at any restaurants, when o so frequently make it at home for myself.
Looking for something sweet to end your meal at or to takeaway as a snack, later. They have cookies, loaves, and even an eggless cake. The latter and the cookies are made in house. Everything else is sourced from a wholesale distributor as they are not a bakery. I especially liked the soft and chewy salted caramel cookie.
In short, a great spot for some modern takes on Indian favourites in Surrey.
Chai Coffee Company
11088 126A St #100, Surrey, BC V3V OG3
+1866-886-4104
chaicoffeeco.ca
