Halal Breakfast in Northwood Hills

The Desi Breakfast is £8.95 and it is the plate this shop is known for. One fresh paratha, chana, halwa, salad and pickle. Add an omelette for £1.95 if you want it heavier.

The paratha is the part that matters. It is rolled and griddled to order rather than reheated, which is why it comes out layered and hot and why it takes a few minutes longer than a plate of toast would. The chana is spiced chickpeas, the halwa is the sweet semolina kind, and the salad and pickle are there to cut through both. You get sweet and savoury on the same plate, which is the whole point of a desi breakfast and the thing people miss when they order a fry-up instead.

It is marked V on the menu, so it works for vegetarians without any swapping.

Order it with a regular Karak Chai at £3.50 and you have the standard Saturday morning here for £12.45. Plenty of people order it at nine in the evening instead, because breakfast does not stop at eleven in this shop.

The English Breakfast is £9.95. Two toasts, two fried eggs, two sausages, two hash browns, grilled tomatoes, baked beans and mushrooms. Extras are £1.50 each for a fried egg, a hash brown or chips.

Every item on it is halal, because the kitchen is halal throughout. There is no halal option sitting inside a non-halal menu here, and no alcohol is served anywhere in the shop. If you have spent years asking cafés whether the sausages are alright, this is the short answer: they are.

It is a full plate rather than a small one, and it lands at the same time as everyone else at the table, so if one person wants the English and one wants the desi, that works.

If you want the two halves, the Plain Paratha + 2 Eggs at £7.95 is the middle ground. Eggs scrambled or fried, your choice, with a fresh paratha instead of toast. It is the order for someone who wants a paratha but does not want a full desi plate in front of them.

The Masala Omelette is £4.95 and it is the lightest thing on the breakfast board. Eggs, onions, chillies, tomatoes and fresh coriander. Add cheese or beans for £1.00 each. It is marked V. If you are catching a train and want something hot in ten minutes rather than twenty, this is the order.

Halwa Puri & Chana is £8.95. Sweet semolina halwa, chana masala and three puris. It is the weekend breakfast a lot of people grew up with, and it is on the board every day rather than on Sundays only. Also marked V.

Between those two you have both ends of the range covered. One is a quick plate before the Metropolitan line, the other is the slow one you order when the table is going to be occupied for a while.

Sides fill any gaps. A Hash Brown is £2.00, a Fried Egg is £2.00, Chips are £2.50 and Masala Chips are £2.95. Mozzarella Sticks are £3.95 if someone at the table is not really doing breakfast.

The breakfast board says served all day and it means it. There is no cut-off. A Desi Breakfast at £8.95 at ten at night is a normal order here, and on Friday and Saturday you can place it until midnight.

That suits shift workers, students, and anyone who has ever wanted a paratha at an hour when nowhere else will make one.

For drinks, Karak Chai is £3.25 small and £3.50 regular, and can be made sugar-free. Masala Chai is the same price and is aromatic rather than strong. Karak Coffee, also £3.25 and £3.50, is karak chai and coffee in the same cup for people who want both before work.

Fresh juice is £4.95 in Orange, Apple, Pineapple or Watermelon, squeezed rather than poured. Mango Lassi is £3.00.

If you are ordering breakfast for a group, the Family Lunch at £29.95 covers two jackets with two toppings, any two paninis, four canned drinks and two cookie doughs, which works for a late one rather than an early one.

Cha Cha Chai Northwood Hills is at 56 Joel Street, Northwood Hills, Northwood HA6 1PA, directly opposite Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line. From the platform exit it is about thirty seconds across the road. That makes it a reasonable stop before a commute rather than a detour.

The H11 and 282 buses stop on Joel Street outside the door. If you drive, there is free and pay-and-display parking along Joel Street and the surrounding side roads.

We open at 9:00 seven days a week, and serve until 23:00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Mornings are the calm part of the day. The room has velvet booths and big tables, and ludo and snakes and ladders printed into the marble, so families tend to stay longer at the weekend than they planned to.

Breakfast is also on Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats if you would rather eat it at home. Fresh parathas are best straight off the griddle, so if you have the choice, eat in.