What we serve
Toasties and Paninis in Northwood Hills
Every toastie and panini is £4.95. There are six: Chicken Tikka, Keema, Paneer, Tuna Mayo, Tomato & Cheese and a Fish Finger Sandwich. All of them are halal, because the whole kitchen is, and no alcohol is served. This is the quick end of the menu. If you have twenty minutes rather than an hour, this is what to order, and it is the same price whichever one you pick so there is nothing to weigh up. Cha Cha Chai is at 56 Joel Street in Northwood Hills, directly opposite the station on the Metropolitan line.
Six toasties, all £4.95
Chicken Tikka is tandoori chicken, melted cheese, fresh salad and creamy mayo. It is the closest thing on this board to a standard lunch, and the safest order if you are ordering for someone else.
Keema is spiced keema with cheese and crisp salad. It is the heaviest, and the one to order if the toastie is your whole meal rather than half of it.
Paneer is soft spiced paneer melted with cheese, and is marked V.
Tuna Mayo is creamy tuna mayo, melted cheese and fresh salad.
Tomato & Cheese is tomatoes, melted cheese, crisp salad and mayo, also marked V.
The Fish Finger Sandwich is four fish fingers in a toastie with ketchup and cheese. It is the plainest of the six and the one to order for anyone who does not want spice.
All six are £4.95. That flat price is the useful part. A table of four can order four different things without anyone doing arithmetic, and it comes to £19.80.
The chicken and keema are halal, like everything else in this kitchen.
What to add: chips, spuds and sides
Chips are £2.50 and Masala Chips are £2.95. The masala version is the one to get with a spiced toastie, because it keeps the whole plate in the same register.
Loaded Chips are £6.95, topped with chicken, keema or paneer, cheese, jalapeños and house sauces. That is a shared side rather than a personal one. Adding chicken, keema or a mix to the loaded items is £1.00.
Cheesy Nachos are £6.95 and marked V: tortilla chips with melted cheese, fresh salsa and jalapeños.
Mozzarella Sticks are £3.95, Chicken Bites are £3.50, a Hash Brown is £2.00, a Fried Egg is £2.00 and Sauces are 50p.
Jacket potatoes are the other quick option and are baked fresh in store daily. A Plain Spud is £3.50 and includes butter, salt and pepper. Beans, cheese or coleslaw are £1.00 each, and tuna, tandoori chicken or keema are £1.50 each. So a jacket with cheese and beans is £5.50.
A toastie at £4.95 with masala chips at £2.95 is the standard lunch here at £7.90.
Toasties, wraps or a paratha
Three parts of the menu compete for the same lunch, and it is worth knowing the difference.
Toasties and paninis are £4.95, pressed and quick.
Paratha and tortilla wraps are also £4.95, in Seekh, Masala Omelette, Paneer, Sausage & Egg and Chicken Tikka. A wrap in a paratha is the more interesting version of the same idea.
Fresh parathas are the slow option. Plain is £4.95, Cheese £5.95, Aloo £5.95, Keema £6.95 and Chicken & Cheese £6.95, all rolled and griddled to order and served with yoghurt and pickle. They are the top sellers on the board, and they take longer for that reason.
So: toastie if you have a train to catch, wrap if you want it in your hand, fresh paratha if you have time to sit.
Breakfast is served all day too, so a Masala Omelette at £4.95 is a lunch option as much as a morning one.
Drinks with lunch
Karak Chai is £3.25 for a small and £3.50 for a regular, and can be made sugar-free if you ask when you order. With a keema toastie, that is the pairing.
Masala Chai is the same price and aromatic rather than strong. Karak Coffee at £3.25 and £3.50 is chai and coffee in the same cup. An Americano or Cappuccino is £3.25 and £3.50, and a Latte is £3.50.
Cold: Nimbu Pani is £3.00 in Lemon & Lime, Lemon & Strawberry or Lemon & Raspberry, and it is the sharpest thing to drink with something cheesy. Fresh juice is £4.95 in Orange, Apple, Pineapple or Watermelon. Canned drinks are £1.50.
Milkshakes are £4.95 if lunch is doubling as dessert.
For a group, the Family Lunch is £29.95 and covers two jackets with two toppings, any two paninis, four canned drinks and two cookie doughs. That is the easiest way to feed four people here without four separate orders.
When to come and where we are
Cha Cha Chai Northwood Hills is at 56 Joel Street, Northwood Hills, Northwood HA6 1PA. We are directly opposite Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line, about thirty seconds from the platform exit, which is what makes a £4.95 toastie a realistic lunch on a working day rather than a detour.
The H11 and 282 buses stop on Joel Street outside the door. There is free and pay-and-display parking on Joel Street and the side roads around it.
We open at 9:00 seven days a week, serving until 23:00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Toasties are available the whole time, not only at lunch.
Weekday lunchtimes are the quickest service. Weekend evenings are the slowest, because the kitchen is making parathas to order at the same time.
If you are eating in, the tables have ludo and snakes and ladders printed into the marble, which is how a twenty minute lunch turns into an hour.
Common questions
- How much are the toasties and paninis?
- All six are £4.95: Chicken Tikka, Keema, Paneer, Tuna Mayo, Tomato & Cheese and the Fish Finger Sandwich. The flat price means a table can order different things without comparing costs. Chips at £2.50 or masala chips at £2.95 are the usual additions, and a jacket potato with two toppings starts at £5.50.
- Is the chicken and keema in the toasties halal?
- Yes. Cha Cha Chai Northwood Hills is fully halal throughout and no alcohol is served, so the Chicken Tikka and Keema toasties at £4.95 each are halal, as is everything else in the kitchen. A halal roundel is displayed on the entrance door at 56 Joel Street. The Paneer and Tomato & Cheese toasties are both marked V for vegetarians.
- What is the quickest thing to order if I am in a hurry?
- A toastie or panini at £4.95, or a paratha or tortilla wrap at £4.95. Fresh parathas are rolled and griddled to order, so they take longer, which is worth knowing if you have a train to catch. We are directly opposite Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line, about thirty seconds from the platform exit, so the walk back is short.
- Do you serve toasties all day?
- Yes. 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. Toasties are available throughout rather than at lunchtime only. Weekday lunchtimes are the fastest service; weekend evenings are the slowest, because the kitchen is griddling parathas to order at the same time.
On the menu
- Chicken Tikka£4.95
- Keema£4.95
- Paneer£4.95
- Tuna Mayo£4.95
- Tomato & Cheese£4.95
- Fish Finger Sandwich£4.95
- Chips£2.50
- Masala Chips£2.95
- Plain Spud£3.50
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.
