Cholo Khā’i in Somers Town, where prices are a shock… in the best sense

IN a quiet street in Somers Town, a lunchtime queue tells the story of a smash-hit new café. Every Thursday, a group of Bengali women take charge of the Somers Town Community Association Café in Ossulston Street to run their new enterprise Cholo Khā’i, which translates as “come eat” in Bengali.

This is an all-day, planet-friendly, pop-up café with a difference – serving authentic Asian food while transforming the lives of the women involved.

The prices are a shock – in the best sense. For breakfast, options include a paratha – plain or stuffed – with cup of masala chai tea; granola from Alara, a business just down the road; or perhaps the Desi Breakfast, with an omelette, paratha and Masala beans. These range from £2.50 to £5.50.

Later, it’s the set-meal curry or biryani – all served lightning fast for the price of a sandwich at Pret. My lunch was lovely: a bowl of matar paneer curry with pilau rice and a chopped salad for £6.

The curry, made with diced paneer cheese and peas, had layers of subtle flavour. You can dial up the heat with the bowl of fresh chillies on every table, which is known as the “Chilli Challenge”.

The salad was a well-balanced mix of chopped tomato, red onion and coriander served with a slice of lemon on the side.

Pudding was simply delicious. “Rashmalai” is a moist milkcake, topped with whipped cream a sprinkle of crumbled Biscoff biscuits.

They offer a range of street food snacks, too, such as pakora, samosa, shingara or papdi chat or popcorn for children on their way home from school.

The vegetarian cooking at Cholo Khā’i is home-style rather than fancy restaurant cheffing, and displays a keen eye for detail and colour on the plate.

For many of us, this is a rare opportunity to try the kind of dishes that are cooked at home by many Bengali families in London.

Yet what’s most intriguing about Cholo Khā’I is what’s happening on a personal level behind the scenes. This project started from some initial ideas generated at a Sharing Space – a community forum and initiative organised by the not-for-profit Think & Do.

Most of the women who work at Cholo Khā’I have never cooked for the public before or had a paid job of their own.

Joyna Begum, for example, tells me how she resisted initial suggestions to set up a solo food business: “I am 46 years old, and I was scared as it is my first time and I have never done a business before.”

But the prospect of joining a group of other women was far more tempting. “I am happy to do it with other people,” she explains. “It boosted my confidence. I feel better as I go with my friends, doing teamwork. I feel so happy. I feel like I can do anything.”

Cholo Khā’i
Somers Town Community Association Café,
150 Ossulston Street, NW1
Open Thursdays 8am-4pm