In Kolkata, chai is called cha — a single syllable that contains multitudes. The city has a different relationship with tea than the rest of India. Where Mumbai drinks fast and standing, and Varanasi drinks reverently, Kolkata drinks slowly and argues.
The tea houses of College Street — the neighbourhood around Calcutta University and the massive second-hand book market on footpath — are where this arguing tradition is most alive.
Indian Coffee House
The Indian Coffee House on College Street is, despite its name, as much a tea establishment as a coffee one. Founded in 1947, it is a three-storey institution of cracked chairs, slow ceiling fans, and waiters in white uniforms who have been serving the same regulars for decades.
Writers, academics, journalists, and students have gathered here since independence. Satyajit Ray came here. Amartya Sen has spoken of its atmosphere. The cha is strong, arrived at table in a small steel pot, unremarkable in flavour but irreplaceable in context.
Order the cha at Indian Coffee House not for the tea itself but for the hour it gives you. Waiters never hurry you. The tea is an admission ticket to the afternoon.
Favourite Cabin
Near the university, Favourite Cabin is a smaller and more intimate institution — a cabin restaurant dating from the 1930s that serves light snacks with tea at wooden partition tables. The doi (yoghurt) here is legendary. The tea is honest and well-made.
The Street Chai Wallahs of College Street
Between the tea houses, the street chai wallahs of College Street serve from small carts at near-constant intervals. The tea here is the working kind — strong, sweet, and milky — served in small glasses. It costs ₹7. It is always ready.
“📍 East IndiaKolkata's relationship with tea is the relationship of a person who reads. The cup gives the hands something to do while the mind works.