ChipiChapa is a street food hub hidden in the lively area of Merul Badda, adjacent to the prestigious BRAC University new campus (a few steps away from the pocket gate). Numerous food carts offer an abundance of street food here. It is more than simply a place to get reasonably priced and delicious food; it also reflects a unique background story from its early days.
Since you must cross a narrow alley to get there, the university students have named this place 'ChipiChapa' with love. Even though 'ChipaGoli' is a twisting route, it leads to a culinary heaven where delicacy and affordability coexist, where the flavours mingle with the vibrant energy of university life.
From fuchka to deep-fried snacks to affordable lunch meals to refreshing beverages, nearly everything is found here -some of the food stalls relocated from the previous campus of Mohakhali to ChipiChapa.
Heaven of 'Chat' items
If we talk about street food, Fuchka takes the first place. Panifuchka/Chotofuchka is a must-have if you visit this place. Bhelpuri and Jhalmuri are also available. A dedicated shop for 'Muribhorta' serves moshla-muribhorta, dim-murivorta, and chicken-muribhorta, which costs Tk 30 to 130. They also serve doifuchka, dim-fuchka and regular fuchka, ranging from 50-90 Tk.
Shingara, puri, dim chop, jali kabab, chicken roll, and chicken lollipops are light snacks. Prices range from 10-50 Tk only. Among all the fried items, a must-try item is 'Naga shingara' from the 'Mama Bhaginar Current Shingara' stall. This shingara contains thin slices of naga and flavourful stuffing.
A stall named 'PetukNaki' serves the best chicken cone in town, which costs Tk 100. They also serve reasonably priced meat boxes ranging from 150-200 Tk, french fries, wedges, nachos, and chicken fries, costing around 50-70 Tk.
Another cart named 'Steak Chicken' serves similar items ranging from 50-200 Tk. A 'Live CH food' shop also reasonably sells various corn dogs. The price ranges from 99-149 Tk. The most popular is the 'Half & Half Corn Dog', which has cheese and sausage for only 119 Tk.
"I think the food in ChipaChapa is much better than in the university cafeteria. Even the food served at the cafeteria is not as tasty as ChipiChapa, and it costs a little too much for most students. Momo-cola is my favourite item here," shared Shabnoom Tayammum Prerona, a second-semester CSE student at BRAC University.
There are few momo places, the most popular being the 'Peace of Pieces.' The momo filling has decent chicken with no extra binding ingredients or vegetables, making it the best. They serve regular chicken momo, nagamomo, cheese momo, BBQmomo, and crispy momo, starting from 60 Tk. A unique serving comes in a combo called 'Cola Momo'. It comes with 12 pieces of small momo of your choice and a soft drink. It will cost you 150-200 Tk. A pharmacy student from BRAC University runs this stall.
Saif Hossain, another pharmacy student, said, "From spicy foods to sweets and drinks, everything is available under one roof. It has created a great opportunity for some young entrepreneurs for a great beginning in the restaurant business." Another momo stall called 'MomoMela' serves a variety of regular momo and unique flavours such as chocolate momo, beef momo, fish momo, prawn momo, etc, ranging from 90-160 Tk for six pieces.
Perfect rice meal
'Dosa Express' only sells dosa and Chhole-bhature with tamarind pickle and coconut chutney at 70 Tk. Another stall called 'Savory' is only devoted to selling khichuri. They serve egg khichuri and chicken khichuri, which cost 70 and 90 Tk, respectively. This stall is also run by BRAC students.
Along with khichuri, 'Robin Biriyani House' offers teheri and polao. They serve dim polao, chicken khichuri, morog polao, and beef teheri. Price ranges from 60-120 Tk.
"Every item in ChipiChapa is mouthwatering-especially the khichuri with dim bhuna. The smell of mustard oil in khichuri is delicious, and the 'morich bhorta' is the heart of the khichuri. The egg Maggi tastes good. The quantity and taste of every item under such reasonable prices are rare to get near a university area," said Tasmim Farhana Anika, a fresh Pharmacy graduate of BRAC University.
At Laziz, you can choose from a pocket-friendly Chinese set menu. Their fried rice combo will cost you 60tk to 150tk. The 'Student box' is the most demanding, with rice, sliced fried chicken, chicken chilli, and salad. It will only cost you 100 Tk. They also serve chowmein and chicken shawarma for 40 and 50 Tk only.
Drinks
Chilled Iced tea, mango and orange-flavoured instant drinks are sold in the tea stalls along with different kinds of tea and coffee. They will cost you 20-25 Tk.
'Jamal Milkshake and Juice Corner' is a devoted juice shop.
Since lemonade is so refreshing, it is one of their best-selling items. They have started selling raw mango juice this summer. They also offer watermelon juice, pineapple juice, blackberry juice, cold coffee, lacchi, and milkshakes, all costing 30 to 100 Tk. Café Oxygen serves the best chocolate cold coffee at 70 Tk. Milkshakes range from 70 to 100 Tk. Another juice shop, Folafol, also serves excellent juices and milkshakes.
Are you craving something sweet?
ChipiChapa will also be satisfied with this. Dolphin Ice Cream Shop provides the best ice cream in the Badda area and offers many unique flavours. Some uncommon flavours include paan, blueberry, black currant, brownie blast, jafranpesta, butterscotch, and cookies and cream. A single scoop of these flavours costs 80 Tk. They also have fantastic kulfi, which is only 50 Tk. The flavours are mango, dry fruits, jafranpesta, mawa, and jammu. Mawa is the crowd favourite, and Jammun is liked by people who like tangy stuff. Among them, jafranpesta and butterscotch flavours are highly recommended.
"ChipiChapa has exceeded expectations. Since it's not exactly on the roadside, it's a place where all kinds of street foods gather without any chaos of rickshaws, cars or other vehicles. Apart from reasonable prices, stall owners maintain hygiene as well," shared Farzana Tabanssum, a fan of the foods in ChipiChapa.
Among numerous positive things, hygiene tops the list. The stall owners appear cleaner than other sellers on the street. Taste, affordability and cleanliness - what else could one ask from a buzzing food hub?
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