Halal Chai and Desserts for Northwood

Northwood and Northwood Hills are neighbours on the Metropolitan line, with Northwood the next station out towards Moor Park and Northwood Hills the next one in towards Pinner. So the tube is genuinely one stop, and because the shop faces the station exit there is no second leg at the other end. If you drive, head for Joel Street and there is free and pay-and-display parking along it and on the surrounding side roads. The H11 and the 282 stop on Joel Street outside the door, and the TfL app will tell you what is running from your end better than we can. If you happen to live at the Northwood Hills end of Northwood it is a walk, though most people take the stop or the car rather than do it in the rain. Both areas sit in the London Borough of Hillingdon and share the HA6 postcode, which is a fair measure of how close this is.

This is the trip the shop gets most from Northwood: the last train home, one stop early, and a drink before the evening starts properly. Karak chai is £3.25 for a small and £3.50 for a regular, brewed strong and milky, with a sugar-free version if you ask for it. Karak coffee, same price, is karak and coffee in one cup and is the order for anyone who wants the caffeine and the spice at the same time. If you want something to eat with it rather than a meal, the toasties and paninis are all £4.95, including chicken tikka, keema and paneer, and loaded chips at £6.95 come under chicken, keema or paneer with cheese, jalapeños and house sauces. Masala chips are £2.95. Monday to Thursday and on Sunday the shop serves until eleven, and on Friday and Saturday until midnight, so an evening cup does not have to be an early one.

The Punjabi parathas are the reason a lot of people come one stop rather than settle for what is closer. They are layered, rolled and griddled to order rather than reheated, and they come with yoghurt and pickle. Keema is £6.95, stuffed with spiced minced meat. Chicken and cheese is also £6.95. Cheese and aloo are £5.95 each and plain is £4.95. Because they are made to order they take a few minutes, and on a busy evening they take longer than that, which is worth knowing before you set off hungry. If you would rather have a plate, the chicken biryani is £7.95 and limited daily, and chicken curry with rice is £6.95, a homestyle karahi in a spiced gravy on pilau rice. Vegetarian dishes are marked with a V on the menu and there is a real range of them rather than one token option, including veg biryani at £5.95.

Plenty of the Northwood traffic is collection rather than sitting in. A variety box of five donuts is £7.95 and a box of twelve is £14.95, and they are fried fresh in store, which is the difference you notice by the time you get home. Milkcakes are £6.95 in pistachio, Lotus Biscoff or Oreo, and £7.50 for kunafa. If you are picking up on the way back from the station, ordering before you leave saves the wait. The menu is also on Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. We deliberately do not claim those platforms reach any particular street, because the radius is theirs to set and it changes: put your postcode into the app and it will tell you straight away. What we can say is that collection from 56 Joel Street works from nine in the morning until close, seven days a week.

A quiet but real reason people travel the one stop: this is a proper evening venue with no bar in it. Nothing alcoholic is served, the whole kitchen is halal rather than a halal line within a wider menu, and the room is set up for sitting rather than turning tables. That makes it usable for the meeting you do not want to have in a pub, for a family with teenagers, or for anyone who wants a late evening out without the question. Mocktails are £5.95, including a classic mojito and a passion breeze, smoothies are £5.95 and freshly squeezed juice is £4.95. Nimbu pani is £3.00. The interior is warm and evening-lit rather than bright and functional, with a green foliage wall and pendant lighting, which is why people stay longer than they meant to. If you want a table for a group, call 01923 918456 ahead rather than turning up eight-strong on a Saturday.