Chai Talks recently (in the first half of 2023) opened up where 911 Pizza used to be. It's on the…read moremain floor of the Parkdale Medical Tower.
TLDR: Good Indian street food and chai. Environmentally friendly packaging. Service is good. Butter Chicken Poutine has no actual chicken pieces though.
The first time I was there, I was getting some fasting blood work done in the building and after 14 hours of not eating, I was ready for some food, lol. I was thrilled to see that they were having a BOGO special on UberEats. I had to take advantage of it, haha. They had a small pick your own flavour chai for $3.75 BOGO and Cheese Bread Pakora for $5.45 BOGO, so this is what I got.
For the chai, you can select up to 3 flavours. I chose ginger, cinnamon and "Karak Chai." I didn't really know what the last option was, but it was described as "a strong tea" and I like my tea flavours potent, lol. Overall, the chai was very good. The tea flavour was pronounced, and it was creamy. I did request "less sugar than usual" and specified "half the usual amount or less" in the comments, and the sweetness level was perfect for me. I appreciated that they paid attention to my request. The small size is rather small though.
I had never had Cheese Bread Pakora before. The version I got at Chai Talks I would describe as a Panko-like-crusted deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich. Not sure how this compares to other versions. I was actually expecting a chickpea flour batter. Nonetheless, it was tasty. Very crunchy, with subtle Indian spices. I liked it.
It was a great deal with the Buy One Get One Free special.
I guess the Cheese Bread Pakora usually comes with some sort of dipping sauce, because they wrote me a note that they didn't have any sauce, so they were giving me ketchup instead, and I got 4 ketchup packets. I ended up not using the ketchup as it was fine on its own, although I'm interested to see what sauce they normally provide with the Cheese Bread Pakora.
On my second visit, I got a Cutlet Chaat ($9.95) and a Butter Chicken Poutine ($7.95) for my husband and I to share as a snack. I requested no cilantro toppings since my husband hates cilantro. I'm not a huge fan, but I can tolerate it. I was happy to see that my order did not have cilantro sprinkled on top :)
The Cutlet Chaat had several pieces of vegetable cutlets and chickpeas in it. It had a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds, and tiny sev pieces. It was also topped with yogurt, a green sauce and a brown tamarind sauce. There were these red strips in it too, which I'm not sure what they were (beets?) but they tasted good, lol. The entire dish was good, actually. Very flavourful. It did lack the crunchiness, I usually associate with chaat though.
The Butter Chicken Poutine was ok, but it didn't have any chicken in it. It was just fries, cheese curds and the sauce you typically find in butter chicken dishes. There weren't any pieces of chicken in it :( The flavour was good, but I was disappointed that there was no chicken. Also the portion was a bit small, in my opinion. I would have liked a bit more fries.
I do love that they use compostable wooden cutlery and paper boxes.
There are several tables to eat in and the ambiance is casual. The decor is a bit more fun than I would expect from a medical building eatery. The printing on the tables is very cute. Service was courteous.
Chai bars and Indian Street food restaurants have been popping up a lot in Ottawa in recent months. I love options so I welcome them all.
I saw that they have muffins and cookies too, if you're looking for more North American snacks.
There's a paid parking lot behind the medical building, or you can park on the street for free. Street parking nearby is hard to find though. On my first visit, I parked several blocks away, got exercise and saved money, win-win, lol. On my second visit, my husband and I walked there. It was a bit of a hike, but we love going for long walks, getting takeout and then eating it in a park, which is exactly what we did.