What we serve
Milkcakes in Northwood Hills
Milkcake is soft sponge soaked in milk and topped, served cold in a tub. At Cha Cha Chai there are four: Pistachio at £6.95, Lotus Biscoff at £6.95, Oreo at £6.95 and Kunafa at £7.50. The menu calls them melt-in-your-mouth, which is the plainest description of what soaked sponge does. They are halal, like the whole dessert counter, and they are made to be eaten with chai rather than after a big meal. We are at 56 Joel Street in Northwood Hills, directly opposite the station on the Metropolitan line, open until 23:00 and midnight at weekends.
What a milkcake actually is
A milkcake is sponge soaked through with milk until the texture changes completely. It is not a wet cake and it is not a mousse. It holds its shape on a spoon and then goes as soon as it hits your mouth, which is why the board describes it as melt-in-your-mouth rather than reaching for anything fancier.
Ours are served cold, in tubs, with the topping on top rather than mixed through. You choose your flavour at the counter and it comes out of the chilled cabinet, so there is no wait.
That makes it the right order at the end of a long meal when nobody wants to sit for another twenty minutes, and the right order on its own at half past ten at night with a chai.
The portion is generous enough that two people can share one, though in practice most people do not.
All four are on the dessert board every day. Prices are £6.95 for Pistachio, Lotus Biscoff and Oreo, and £7.50 for the Kunafa. Those are the in-store prices. Delivery platforms mark their own prices up.
Pistachio and Lotus Biscoff, £6.95
Pistachio is the one to order first. It is the flavour that reads as the traditional end of the range, nutty and green rather than sweet and heavy, and it is the milkcake customers mention most often in reviews.
Lotus Biscoff is the other side of the board. Caramelised biscuit, sweeter, and the flavour most people already know from a coffee saucer. If you are ordering two between a table, one Pistachio and one Biscoff covers both preferences.
Both are £6.95.
What to drink with them matters more than usual, because a milkcake is already milky and sweet. A regular Karak Chai at £3.50 cuts through it. So does the Masala Chai at the same price, which is aromatic rather than strong. Sugar-free karak is available if you ask when you order, and with a milkcake in front of you it is a sensible request.
If you want something cold instead, the Pink Chai Shake is £4.50 and the Karak Chai Shake is £4.50.
Oreo at £6.95 and Kunafa at £7.50
Oreo is £6.95 and is the one children pick without reading the rest of the board. Crushed biscuit over soaked sponge, dark on top and white underneath.
The Kunafa milkcake is £7.50 and is the most interesting of the four. Kunafa is shredded pastry, so this one brings a crisp element onto something that is otherwise entirely soft. If you have been reading about kunafa online and want to know what the fuss is, this is one of four ways to eat it here.
The others are the Strawberry Kunafa Cup at £7.95, the Dubai Kunafa Chocolate at £3.50 and the Dubai Kunafa Donut at £2.95. There is also Loaded: Kunafa ice cream at £4.50.
Everything on the dessert counter is halal, and there is no alcohol in the shop or in the desserts.
If you cannot choose, order the Kunafa milkcake at £7.50 and a Single Donut at £1.95 for the table, and see which one people reach for twice.
What else is on the dessert counter
Milkcakes are one shelf of a bigger counter, and it is worth knowing what else is there before you decide.
Customer favourites: Gulab Jamun with ice cream £5.95, Gajar Halwa with ice cream £5.95, Dream Cake £5.95, Sebastian Cheesecake £5.95.
Hot desserts: Matilda Cake £6.95, Brownies with Ice Cream £6.95, Apple Crumble with Custard £6.95, Cookie Dough £5.95, School Cake £4.95, Nutella Wrap £3.95. Custard or ice cream is £1.50 extra on the Matilda and the School Cake, and on the cookie dough it is £1.50 for ice cream or £2.00 for gelato.
Desi classics: Falooda £4.50, Kheer £4.95, Gajar Halwa £4.95, Mango Lassi £3.00, Paan £2.95.
There is a matcha range too: Matcha Drink £4.95 and Matcha Cheesecake £5.95.
A milkcake is the cold, light end of that list. If you want hot and heavy instead, the Matilda Cake at £6.95 is the one to go for, and it is starred on the dessert board along with the gulab jamun and the gajar halwa. Gelato is the other cold option, at £2.50 for one scoop and £4.50 for two.
Coming in for dessert
Cha Cha Chai Northwood Hills is at 56 Joel Street, Northwood Hills, Northwood HA6 1PA, directly opposite Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line. It is about thirty seconds from the platform exit, which is why the dessert counter gets busy from the moment the evening trains start arriving.
We open at 9:00 every day. Monday to Thursday and Sunday we serve until 23:00, and on Friday and Saturday until midnight. Dessert is available the whole time, not only after a certain hour.
The H11 and 282 buses stop on Joel Street outside. There is free and pay-and-display parking on Joel Street and the surrounding side roads.
The room is set up for sitting: velvet booths, big tables, and ludo and snakes and ladders printed into the marble. A milkcake and a chai at a games table is how a lot of evenings here end, and it is the reason people stay longer than they meant to.
Milkcakes travel well in their tubs, so they are a reasonable delivery order on Deliveroo, Just Eat or Uber Eats.
Common questions
- How much is a milkcake at Cha Cha Chai?
- Pistachio, Lotus Biscoff and Oreo milkcakes are £6.95 each, and the Kunafa milkcake is £7.50. Those are the in-store prices at 56 Joel Street. Delivery platforms set their own higher prices, so if you order through Deliveroo, Just Eat or Uber Eats you will see a different figure. They are served cold from the chilled counter, so there is no wait.
- Are the milkcakes halal and are they suitable for vegetarians?
- The whole of Cha Cha Chai Northwood Hills is halal and no alcohol is served, so the dessert counter is halal throughout, milkcakes included. For vegetarian and allergen questions, ask the team in store. UK law requires us to declare fourteen allergens, and staff will go through the dessert counter with you item by item rather than guessing.
- Which milkcake should I order first?
- Pistachio at £6.95 is the one customers mention most, and it is the least sweet of the four. Lotus Biscoff at £6.95 is the sweetest and the most familiar. The Kunafa at £7.50 is the most interesting, because the shredded pastry adds crunch to an otherwise soft dessert. Order a regular Karak Chai at £3.50 alongside whichever you pick.
- How late is the dessert counter open?
- 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. Desserts are available all day rather than only in the evening. We are directly opposite Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line, about thirty seconds from the platform exit, so it is an easy stop on the way home.
Coming from nearby?
We are at 56 Joel Street, Northwood Hills, Northwood HA6 1PA, directly opposite Northwood Hills station.
While you are here
Other things worth ordering at the same time.
