The Chai Spot

What to Order at the Chai Spot in NYC

"On a strip of Mott Street where Little Italy and Chinatown intersect in Nolita, I found the Chai Spot, a tea dhaba that offers a welcome exception to New York’s syrupy chai. Its play on classic masala chai foregrounds cardamom with a warm, clean finish uplifted by citrus tones; the butter chai—there’s no butter in it—is made lush with milkfat, finished with a touch of salt and a garnish of crushed almonds; the pink, gunpowder‑based homage to Kashmiri chai is available made to order; the coconut‑milk coconut rose tea is a smooth, lightly floral option for the dairy‑averse; sulaimani tea is sweet and heavily spiced with star anise; and the iced orange‑blossom is delicate, honeyed, and palate‑cleansing. There is no to‑go: you order at a front counter where steel vats of freshly brewed chai simmer behind a glass case of cake rusk, Parle‑G biscuits, and masala Lays, and your chai is served in a glass jar encased in a sequined sleeve before you pass a hallway of hand‑embroidered kameezes and trinkets into a rent‑defying back lounge of mirrored paisley prints, ottomans, and oriental rugs where you remove your shoes and are meant to stay a while. Founded by Khalida Brohi and David Barron, the spot’s colorful, Instagram‑ready decor is more than eye candy: copies of Brohi’s memoir I Should Have Honor sit on the bookshelves, and half the dhaba’s proceeds support Brohi’s Sughar Foundation and related initiatives (including the Khadija primary school), which has helped the location become an embraced enclave for New York’s South Asian community." - Bindu Bansinath