When I walked into the tea lounge of the five star address at
Dalhousie (the central business district), it was a pleasant surprise. It was a
sunlit yet indoor lounge, thanks to the ceiling entirely made of glass. Lights
are turned on only when it is dark. Thanks to the daylight (use of which obviously
scores on eco-friendliness) this spacious and comfy lounge can provide the
ideal setting for a relaxed business meeting or a chit chat with an old friend
after a long while. I doubt if Kolkata has another dedicated tea lounge of this
standard. The Lalit chain of hotels also has such a lounge only in this
property. The lounge has another feature
which is as matchless. I shall come to it in a little while.
A tea tasting session is not a common event, and when the venue is
in a hotel which is part of Kolkata’s rich colonial history (Founded as
Auckland Hotel in 1840 by David Wilson, an Englishman who was encouraged by the
thriving success of his confectionery shop), an invitation as a blogger was
something that I couldn’t afford to miss.
By the way, the tea lounge was not part of the erstwhile Great Eastern
Hotel when it was bought over by The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group from the
state government in 2005. The lounge is a welcome value addition by the present
owners, designed to offer a new environment to the tea-loving Kolkata, keeping
intact the ancient British style and ambience. It has brought to life the
British concept of ‘Afternoon tea’ with its Phoenician décor and a manner of
service modeled on the English style of ‘Silver service’ to appeal to the tea
connoisseurs.
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| View from the tea lounge |
Mr Subhojit Sengupta, the Food & Beverage Manager started the
session with a small group of mediapersons and bloggers like an informal chat. To start with, they serve an eclectic range of
thirty two varieties of tea from sixteen select tea estates of India. Seven to
eight are from select tea gardens of Darjeeling
and an equal number is from Assam.
Others include flavoured tea, like strawberry, which are flavours carefully mixed
with tea right here to create a tea plus experience.
A distinct variety from the range is silver needle tea- a
fine-flavoured tea which is rarely available and happens to be one of the most
expensive varieties in the world. This tea is regularly served here.
A distinctive offering of the tea lounge is the Great Eastern
Darjeeling tea- a tea made in Goomtee Tea Estate in Kurseong exclusively for
the hotel. You won’t get it anywhere else in the world. The tea menu describes
it as “available in black, green, white and oolong. When properly brewed, it
yields a thin-bodied, light-colour infusion with a floral aroma. The flavour
can include a tinge of astringent tannic characteristics, and a musky spiciness
sometimes described as "muscatel.” It comes at Rs 350 for a pot of tea. One can even buy a
pack of the tea from the lounge to take home or to gift. It has also been made
available in the other five star properties of The Lalit.
The other feature which is matchless as I
mentioned in the beginning is the tea menu. It is a three dimensional thing
that can be folded to make a box. Not only the various teas and their
descriptions, it also shows you the actual tea leaves next to their names in small
flat boxes covered with a transparent material. The waiting staff takes this to
a customer who after going through a description can uncover the respective box
and take out a pinch of the tea for whiffing its distinctive aroma. The waiter
is qualified to make a recommendation suited to the person’s taste. Not only
that such an approach to serving tea is out-of-the-box, it goes a long way in
tea appreciation for the enthusiasts.
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| The tea menu. Photo by Anindya S Basu. |
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| The tea menu- a close look |
Here are two varieties from the menu, one Darjeeling, one Assam, for your information:
Darjeeling
Phuguri- The silver tipped leaves make
for a bright golden liquor and remarkable flavour reminiscent of fresh flower
and fruits. It has an excellent aroma, light liquor and as unmatched sweet
cloned taste which lingers for long time. Comes at Rs
350 for a pot.
Assam Halmari Orthodox- Halmari (tea garden) specializes in orthodox teas. Superior leaf from
top quality orthodox clones is used to produce exotic tea blends. The tea is
manufactured from young, carefully picked buds and is sun-dried. It has a very
mild flavour reminiscent of honey and cocoa. Comes
at Rs 325 for a pot.
Subhojit then called us to the expansive counter
where he and his team showed how the tea is brewed. The tea leaf is put in an
apparatus called infuser (looks like a tube with pores for the juice to be extracted).
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| The infuser in the cup. Brewing is on. |
The brewing time depends on the nature of the tea
and the customer’s taste and preference. There is a set of three hourglasses
with three timeframes- 3 minutes, 4 minutes and 5 minutes which helps the
customer in clocking the right time of leaving the tea in the boiling water as
per personal preference.
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| The hourglass set. Photo by Anindya S Basu. |
We were showed the brewing of the very special
Jasmine tea, known for its aroma. It was a revelation, I must say. The jasmine
flower is bound by the tea leaves into a small ball called pearl. When the
pearl is dropped in the boiling water, the leaves are slowly separated and the
flower comes out. The whole thing looks like a blooming flower and holds great
visual appeal. For this characteristic this tea is also called the blooming
tea. Subhojit informed us, it is said that the pearl sleeps till it is put in
hot water, and once done, it wakes up.
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The blooming tea. The flower inside is visible now. And the pearl is placed outside the teapot.
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Subhojit’s pick from the menu would be the Great Eastern
Darjeeling tea, Silver White tea (a specialty from the famous Makaibari tea
garden), oriental tea and masala tea (in which select Indian spices are mixed to
bring out a winning flavour which is very Indian). Masala tea is highly popular
overseas.
The food menu perfectly compliments the eclectic array of teas,
with a range of European savouries and desserts interspersed with Bengali snack
food. For instance savouries include Norwegian smoked salmon between mini
bagels and date mustard (Rs 475), shrimp tartlets with Moroccan chermoule a
spice (Rs 475), frittata with gruyere & onion jam (Rs 375) and Bengal style fish fingers with mustard (Rs 450). Each
portion consists of six pieces. Desserts include British tea cake, New York cheesecake,
apple cinnamon strudel, assortment of French macaroons and Hazelnut Praline
Napoleon among others.
The highlight of the menu is a British hi-tea, called The Great
Eastern hi-tea and interestingly, a Bengali take on hi-tea aptly named Jol Khabar. Both have a vegetarian and a
non-vegetarian version. While the British one comprises of a selection from the
savoury and dessert range, the Bengali one includes Bengal
shingada with cauliflower &
peanuts/ mangsher shingada, fish
finger, jhalmuri and an assortment of
sandesh among other things. The British one is priced Rs 1000 for veg and Rs
1200 for non-veg and Jol Khabar is Rs
850 and Rs 1050 for veg and non-veg versions respectively.
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| The hi-tea food items. Bengali at the sides and British in centre. |
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| Jol Khabar- the Bengali take on hi-tea. |
I tried the Great Eastern Darjeeling tea which I liked, followed by the fine British Earl Grey tea. To go with it I picked up a mini
sandwich, chicken shingada, paneer wrap and cheesecake. The paneer wrap (with
the wrap made of whole wheat) was good. The cheesecake was delicious and melt
in the mouth, so I took a second helping.
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| My plate. The cheesecake in front and the wrap at right. |
The lounge is open from 10 am to 9 pm.
Felt good to meet fellow bloggers Poorna Banerjee and the couple Anindya S Basu
and Madhushree Basu Roy. Anindya is a gifted amateur photographer, as you can see from his pictures in this post.
Overall,
a satisfying and truly different experience that will stay on the mind for a
long time.
The details:
The Lalit Great Eastern Kolkata
1,2,3 Old Court House Street
Dalhousie Square
Kolkata 700069
Ph: 033 4444 7777
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