Karak Chai in Northwood Hills

Karak Chai is £3.25 for a small and £3.50 for a regular. Those are the same prices as the masala, the pink Kashmiri and the chai latte, so nobody has to work out which cup is the good value one. Sugar-free is available. Say it at the counter when you order rather than after, because the sugar goes in during the brew.

Karak is the strong end of the range. It is boiled rather than steeped, so it comes out heavy and dark, and it stands up to being drunk slowly. If you want something gentler, the Masala Chai is aromatic rather than strong, and the Chai Latte is milder and creamier again.

Takeaway cups are matte black with the wordmark in white and a line printed on the side: "Truth lifts the heart like water refreshes thirst". People notice it. It is on every cup that leaves the shop.

If you are staying in, the tables have ludo and snakes and ladders printed into the marble. That is the reason a lot of people order a second cup rather than the bill.

Masala Chai is £3.25 for a small and £3.50 for a regular. It is black tea brewed slowly with milk and whole spices. Aromatic rather than strong, which is the honest way to describe it. If karak is the cup you want when you are cold and tired, masala is the one you want when you are settling in with someone for an hour.

Pink Kashmiri Chai is the same price. Green tea leaves are brewed long and aerated until the colour turns pink, then finished with milk. It is traditionally served either salted or sweet, so you get asked which you want. If you have never had it, order it sweet the first time and salted the second time, and decide then. The colour is real. It comes out of the pot that way rather than out of a bottle, which is worth knowing before you order it.

Both are halal, like the whole menu. There is no separate halal section here. It is a halal kitchen from the chai pot to the dessert counter, and there is a full vegetarian range marked with a V rather than one token dish.

Karak Coffee is £3.25 small and £3.50 regular. It is karak chai and coffee in the same cup, for anyone who cannot decide between the two. It sounds like a novelty and it is not. It is one of the things regulars order without looking at the board.

Chai Latte is the same price. Spiced chai with steamed milk, milder and creamier than the karak, and a sensible order late in the evening.

The rest of the hot drinks sit at £3.25 and £3.50 as well: English Tea, Mint Green Tea, Americano and Cappuccino. A Latte is £3.50.

The Viral Hot Chocolate is £4.95 and it is a different sort of order. It comes topped with chocolate shavings, marshmallows, whipped cream and sprinkles, and it usually arrives at a table with a phone already pointed at it. If you are bringing children, that is the one they will ask for.

All of it is served from nine in the morning. We do not stop making chai at a particular hour and switch to something else.

Chai does not have to be hot. The Karak Chai Shake is £4.50 and the Pink Chai Shake is £4.50. Both take the flavour of the cup and blend it cold, which works better than it has any right to in July, and works fine in January too because the room is warm.

If you want cold but not chai, the Iced Caramel Coffee is £4.50 and the Mango Lassi is £3.00. Canned drinks are £1.50 and a water bottle is £1.50.

There is also a Nimbu Pani range at £3.00 in Lemon & Lime, Lemon & Strawberry and Lemon & Raspberry. That one went viral on TikTok, which is why you sometimes see a table order four of them at once.

The two chai shakes are the ones to try first if you already know you like karak. They taste like the cup rather than like a generic milkshake with a spice added at the end. For a proper dessert shake instead, the Cha Cha Chai Special is £5.95 and the standard milkshakes are £4.95.

Chai on its own is fine. Most people do not stop there.

The parathas are the usual partner. A Plain paratha is £4.95, Aloo is £5.95 and Keema is £6.95, all rolled and griddled to order and served with yoghurt and pickle. Breakfast runs all day, so a Desi Breakfast at £8.95 with a fresh paratha, chana, halwa, salad and pickle is a perfectly normal nine in the evening order here.

On the savoury side, Samosa ×2 is £3.95, Spring Rolls ×3 is £3.95 and Samosa Chaat is £6.95.

At the sweet counter, a Single Donut is £1.95 and they are freshly prepared in store. Gulab Jamun with ice cream is £5.95, and so is Gajar Halwa with ice cream. A Pistachio milkcake is £6.95 and the Kunafa milkcake is £7.50.

If you want one recommendation and no more: a regular karak and a donut, £5.45 together, eaten at a ludo table opposite the station.

Cha Cha Chai Northwood Hills is at 56 Joel Street, Northwood Hills, Northwood HA6 1PA. We open at 9:00 seven days a week. Monday to Thursday and Sunday we serve until 23:00, and on Friday and Saturday until midnight.

The shop is directly opposite Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line. From the platform exit it is about thirty seconds on foot, across the road. The H11 and 282 buses stop on Joel Street right outside the door. If you drive, there is free and pay-and-display parking on Joel Street and the side roads around it.

Mornings are steady and quiet. Evenings fill up, especially at the weekend, and the room is built for that, with velvet booths and big tables. A group of eight is as normal here as one person with a book.

If you would rather stay at home, the menu is on Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. Chai travels better than you would think in the takeaway cups, but the first cup is always better in the room.