Chai Pani: Disco Bhel
Chai Pani has been a staple of my life since before I could speak. In a majority of Indian families, it’s shorthand for refreshments - chai (tea), pani (water) and invariably some sort of delicious, salty, spicy nibbly thing.
I heard about Meherwan Irani’s restaurant Chai Pani about fifteen years ago and it’s been on my bucket list of restaurants to visit. In addition to serving my favorite kind of food - Indian street food - Irani is also instrumental in Brown in the South, a collaborative dinner series featuring Indian chefs who have made their homes in the American South.
Proceeds from this series benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance, an initiative of the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture which documents, studies and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. They present oral histories, produce films and podcasts, publish original writing, sponsor scholarship, mentor students, and stage events that serve as progressive and inclusive catalysts for the greater South.
Food is a universal language. Preserving culinary traditions and amplifying the voices of people involved in the food industry - be it farmers, servers, chefs or home cooks - matters deeply.
TLDR: Chef Irani cooks well, is passionate about the same things I’m passionate about and when it comes to Indian street food - literally a BILLION people can’t be wrong.
The iconic vegan Disco Bhel at Chai Pani: crunchy, sweet, tangy, and spicy Indian street food.
Chai Pani's bright brick storefront located in the heart of downtown Asheville, North Carolina.
The bold 70s Bollywood-inspired interior at Chai Pani Asheville featuring vibrant floral decor and busy dining room booths.
The Spot: Chai Pani
Location: 32 Banks Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801
Vibe: Bold, bright and Bollywood. Bright pink bougainvillea, turmeric-colored marigold and 70s Bollywood style typography all over the place. Makes a girl wish she would have hosted her rehearsal dinner here.
The Bite: Disco Bhel
Price: $10.99
Vegetarian Status: Vegan
The Flavor Breakdown
Bhel is probably my favorite food in this world. A popular snack on the beaches on Mumbai, bhel is essentially a mix of every taste and texture you could imagine - a hyper customizable combination of salty, sweet, spicy, sour, crunchy and soft:
Poori: Crunchy fried wheat flatbread crackers
Puffed Rice & Boondi: Deep-fried chickpea flour drops
Corn Poha: Crispy flattened corn kernels
Sev: Savory, fried chickpea flour noodles
The Mix-ins: Red onion, fresh cilantro, roasted peanuts, sweet tamarind chutney, spicy green chutney, and juicy pomegranate seeds.
Fresh without feeling like diet food and filling without weighing you down, bhel is the perfect dish.
While I personally love mine loaded with raw green mango and diced green chilis, Chai Pani’s version is note-perfect.
Indian food in restaurants is different than ghar ki khana (food from home). Restaurant food is entirely too rich and the spices are typically muted to appeal to a broader audience but the bhel at Chai Pani? It tastes like it was made at home or in a surfside stall on Chowpatty Beach.
The Bonus Round: Butter Chicken Thali
Price: $20.99
If there is butter chicken on the menu, my son will order it and the butter chicken thali at Chai Pani is one of the best deals in the city.
For $20.99, you get a feast: butter chicken, velvety daal (lentils), spiced channa masala (chickpea curry), veg raita (cucumber-carrot yogurt topped with boondi), crunchy masala slaw, fragrant jeera rice (cumin-spiked basmati), papadum, soft chapati, and gulab jamun (a fried donut soaked in cardamom sugar syrup).
The loaded $20.99 Butter Chicken Thali feast at Chai Pani in Asheville, NC.
We also got the naan and cleared the whole platter. Will loved the creamy butter chicken. The channa masala was redolent with garam masala, the raita was thick, the roti was just like the kind my aunt makes, the rice was fragrant and every grain was perfectly cooked, the daal was velvety, the slaw was crunchy and the gulab jamun was tooth-crackingly sweet as all Indian desserts are supposed to be.
Next time I’m at Chai Pani, I’m ordering the thali with palak paneer and I am not sharing.
The Beverages: Postcard from Mumbai
Price: $15
The Postcard from Mumbai cocktail at Chai Pani: pineapple rum, mango, passion fruit, and lime.
The Postcard from Mumbai is a tropical melange of pineapple rum, mango, passion fruit liqueur, vanilla almond rooibos syrup and lime. This is a drink you want while sunning by the pool but it was a touch too sweet for me. I’ve been into more savory cocktails lately so next time around, I think I’ll grab the Golden Hour Sour which features my poison of choice gin which has been infused with fennel, fenugreek, turmeric and aquafaba.
One Mouthy Sandwich Girl Rating:
Flavor & Freshness:
🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪
Value for Buck:
🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪
$11 for what will likely be the most flavorful dish you’ll eat all day and $21 for two curries, a lentil soup, flatbread, a heaping portion of rice, slaw, yogurt, a huge lentil cracker and dessert. My favorite Indian joint at home charges $22 for curry and rice. You can’t beat Chai Pani’s thali deal.
Vegetarian Variety:
🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪
A majority of the menu is vegetarian and can be made vegan-friendly.
The Verdict:
🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪 🥪
Chai Pani is my favorite Indian restaurant in the country. Hands down. The food is fresh, flavorful and authentic without being snobby. Chef Irani’s love of great food and flavor with comes through in every bite and I cannot wait to visit this place again. Hopefully with my parents in tow.
