Chaat Street, Wellington

Sarah Tuck visits this beloved Wellington street-food restaurant.

Chaat Street, Wellington’s popular street-food restaurant, has been so wildly successful that co-owner Vaibhav Vishen (with his wife Maanvi Chawla) has recently opened a sister restaurant in Auckland’s Parnell. Success has come quickly for Vaibhav. Re-wind 14 months and Chaat Street was only just opening its doors in Victoria Street after Vaibhav – on the encouragement of his wife, and after time spent reflecting about the future during Covid lockdowns – decided to take the risk.

But this wasn’t the first time he’d taken a punt – Vaibhav started his career in India as a software developer before moving into hospitality. As he puts it, “I wanted to be a chef from the get-go, but in India there are social expectations that decide your career. After a degree in computer science, I decided to follow my heart and moved to New Zealand to study at Le Cordon Bleu... Chaat Street means a lot to me. Little did we know that we’d become an institution of Indian food in Wellington and we are humbled with the amount of love and support we get. We started off with a very conservative stance – it was almost the end of Covid and there was a lot of uncertainty around will it work or not. My wife and I put our heart and soul into making Chaat Street happen.”

Inspiration has been taken from the street-food enjoyed during his youth, with nostalgia playing a key role in influencing both the fit-out and the oft-changed menu selection. “As an immigrant, when the charm of a new place weans off, nostalgia kicks in and the easiest way to reach that is through food. It was almost impossible to find genuine Indian food internationally, so I thought that’s the market I can tap into and it makes sense in terms of a business opportunity and a fringe benefit to myself, and others like me.”

Having never been to India, I somehow connected with that sense of nostalgia, immediately feeling at home in the casually authentic, unpretentious yet welcoming surroundings, complete with an open kitchen and cheery pops of turquoise and red. The food is all served tapas style, with dishes designed to share – and there is nary a butter chicken or saag paneer in sight. Instead, Chaat Street’s menu focuses on Indian and South Asian street food dishes.

Vaibhav shares his reasons for this departure from what we tend to expect at most Indian restaurants, and what he hopes diners will get from their visit this way: “A genuine experience of Indian food. It’s a dimension of Indian food that has not very often stepped out of the Indian subcontinent. We don’t serve curries because it isn’t an Indian dish. In fact, it means nothing. Trivia: a south Indian saucy-looking dish called ‘Kadi’, which is made out of ground chickpeas, got mispronounced and every saucy-looking dish became curry. So please come in with the expectation of a whole new experience of Indian food.”

On our visit, we quickly settled at a table for two looking out the large front-facing window onto Willis Street. It was very much a beer and Riesling situation as we perused the menu – taking advice from Vaibhav as to the menu-favourites. We kicked off with Dahi Puri, one of my go-to Indian snacks. Light and crunchy semolina shells loaded with spiced, tangy potatoes, lentils and ‘top-secret’ chutneys, these were the perfect little party-starter. Next up was Keema Pav, braised lamb mince with peas, served with onions and toasted buttery buns. I could fulsomely have eaten these any time of day – morning, noon or night. This popular Mumbai street food has a perfect balance of spices, juicy tender lamb mince, pops of sweet peas and a sharp contrast in flavour and texture from the red onion. Load onto the buttery bun and you have a spectacularly pleasing combination.

Finally, my favourite dish of the day, Kale Patte Ki Chaat – an Agra staple – chickpea-battered crunchy kale leaves served with yoghurt, chutneys and a topping of fried chickpea noodles. The combination of crunchy batter, earthy, irony kale with cool yoghurt and spicy chutney was an absolute delight. Had we not been eating our way around Wellington on the visit, and had a little more room to spare, I would have been keen to try Vaibhav’s favourite – the Chole bhature, a Delhi staple of spice-braised chickpeas with ginger, onions, bhature (similar to puri) and achar (pickle).

While we were happy sipping our beer and wine, the drinks menu includes much more sassy options, including chilli margarita and bubblegum martinis, alongside the classic traditional milky chai. The playful and innovative drink options add to the overall dining experience at Chaat Street, where Vaibhav and his team are dedicated to offering diners a whole new dimension of Indian food that goes beyond familiar curries and introduces them to the diverse flavours and dishes of Indian street food.

Menu Recommends:

• Dahi Puri – semolina shells
• Keema Pav – braised lamb mince with peas
• Kale Patte Ki Chaat – chickpea-battered crunchy kale leaves
• Chole bhature – spice-braised chickpeas

171 Willis Street, Te Aro, Wellington
320 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland
@chaatstreetnz