Lahoris have ths divine love for chatkhara food. From fancy fine dines to fruit chat wala at Bank Square Mall road have always defined what a true Lahori foodie is. To be honest, if anyone can define the true palate of Lahoris, that person would be massively mistaken. As someone dear said once, ‘Lahore is gradually becoming a city of food places. The amount of restaurants opening and sadly closing, is way higher today then ever in the past’.
Hira Asim from Mosh Diaries, a very dear friend and an amazing blogger, invited me to this opening of chaat and dahibhala shop. Though being at a fancy dahi bhala shop was the last bit on my mind but hey I can never say no to Hira. The place was nicely done in basement, though at the far back end of DHA in Q block commercial market. The outlet was sparking clean and will definitely drop in again to see if it remains the same. Very brief sitting area, reminiscing of college cafeteria. In one corner, you could see a man with grey temples and glasses with white chef hat, working with great attention. His canvas of food is an intrigue mix of different elements like bhalas, different masalas and variety of chutneys.
The place has a very limited menu. You wont find the variety that most of our dahi bhala and chaat places have. To start with it was interesting to see how carefully the chef was mixing elements to make one dish. Being part Karachiite, my first choice was Bhel Puri. They do ask you for the level of spice, from low to high. Strong suggestion; if you can not handle the heat, DO NOT attempt to go high. What I got was a nice bowl of crispiness along with smooth chutneys and perfect fire to match my palate. On second try, I requested for Channa Papri Chaat. This time I chose to stay medium on spice level, because the downside of high was you could not taste other elements in the bowl. The chaat was another amazing experience. On inquiry about his recipes, I was shared with half table spoon of this masala mix. It was specially developed for such street cuisine and a little secret he did shared the recipe too.
On a closing note, strongly suggest to give this place a try. Chatkhara360, is definitely for those who appreciate healthy and clean street food. Menu has brief variety for all those who look forward to innovation in traditional cuisine of Lahore. I would give 4 stars for the place and I hope it stays that way. 2 stars for the location, way far at the back and then in basement. 3 stars for the food, really good food with a slight room for further innovation. Lastly overall rating would be 3 stars for Chatkhara360.
Jehanzeb A. Khan aka The Bearded Chef
