Closest station – Northfields (Piccadilly line)
Standout dish – Paan Patte Ki Chaat
It’s been a while since I did a restaurant review but when I was invited to check out Patri (part of the Chai Naasto group) I was intrigued and couldn’t give up the chance!
Myself and my friends are huge fans of Chai Naasto, especially the Hammersmith branch and Patri is the brain-child of owner of both former and latter, Puneet and his wife. Chai Naasto is based on a more ‘Gujarati’ palette where as Patri is a full on journey through the 2 great train journeys of India – New Delhi Station and Marwar Junction.
The Indian railways, first established during the British Raj, operates more than 7000 trains every day, carrying over 20000 passengers on both long distance and suburban railway tracks or ‘Patri.’
Based in Northfields, close to Ealing, I invited my friend who works nearby along for the tasting. We arrived on a very cold and windy Thursday evening, the place was busy but had room for walk-ins.
We were greeted by owner Puneet whom we have met in Hammersmith before. We took our seats and proceeded to order our evening meal. The food in Patri has a really artisan vibe, which stretches to both the food and drinks. The food is unique street food based on the food you’d eat on the journeys through the said railways of India. The place is small but super cosy and the décor is colourful, vibrant and warm with a really lovely scent. It also has some awesome veggie, vegan and gluten free options. We also had the pleasure of meeting head chef Vijendra Singh Rana who’s worked in the top restaurants in India and has worked in the UK for the past ten years.
Here’s a few of our favourite dishes.
Our absolute favourite was the Paan Patte Ki Chaat. This was an unexpected favourite. It is paan that is fried twice and then broken down. They are then topped and drizzled with spicy powders, chutney and yoghurt. The taste is tangy, spicy, savoury and crispy. It leaves you with an unusual taste and we wanted more!
We also loved the drinks selection. I had a pinot noir and my friend had a whiskey, Glenfiddish IPA. All their wines are award winning and the whiskey had a botanical, floral taste, which are served in unusual glasses. Later on we also tasted their version of a porn star martini which is made with mango as well as passion fruit.
An old favourite which Patri do really well are the Old Delhi pani puri bombs which were crunchy, tasty and a lovely start to the meal.
Here’s the thali we had for our mains was a combination of:
Safed machi maas, Banjara chicken, Daal makhani, Shahi laal maas, Achari malai paneer tikka with rice, gulab jamun and pickle.
A few other pictures from the evening:
We also tried a few other dishes such as the masala papad, palak paneer, kale pakora kadhi and garlic naan and there was nothing we didn’t dislike. My friend and I had differing views on the palak paneer but i’m very fussy about my palak paneer! For more descriptions of the variety of foods, you can view the menu here.
I would not hesitate to recommend Patri to anyone looking for a casual after work dinner, a date night, a family outing or a birthday celebration. From the countless times we’ve visited Chai Naasto and always had an incredible experience, I see Patri following in the same direction especially with their knowledgeable staff and owners who are clearly passionate about tasty and unique food.
Thank you for inviting us to taste your delightful cuisine.
Priya Mulji
priyamulji.com 