An unapologetically desi celebration of Pakistan’s love for chai
ISLAMABAD: Over the last few years, the patios outside F-11’s cafes have become a favourite haunt for students and young professionals smoking and drinking coffee late into the night. And now breaking into this scene dominated by international coffee chains is Lahore’s Chai Kada promising no nonsense traditional Punjabi dhaba food.
The small cafe with an open storefront has liberally appropriated the loud colours and folk imagery of truck art. Everything from the cafe’s name to the cheeky Punjabi inscriptions on the walls are a celebration of lowbrow culture and Pakistan’s collective love for chai.
Parked at the entrance is a bright yellow rickshaw, perhaps the only one in the capital city, adorned with bright floral patterns which boasts the cafe’s slogan on the windscreen in calligraphic letters chai meri jawani, Chai Kada mera nakhra which roughly translates to ‘chai is my youth and Chai Kada my attitude’.