Adda — unhurried, purposeless, sustained conversation — is a Bengali institution and it needs a venue. The Indian Coffee House on Bankim Chatterjee Street has been that venue since 1942: high ceilings, waiters in white with fan-shaped turbans, infusion coffee, and tables that have held the same argument for decades. Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen and most of Bengali public life passed through it.
The tea shop version is the bhanr — the small unglazed clay cup, used once and thrown, which gives the tea its taste and is the reason nobody here wants a paper cup.
Central Kolkata
BBD Bagh · Esplanade · New Market · Park Street · College Street · Bowbazar · Burrabazar| Name | Where | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Coffee House1942 | 15 Bankim Chatterjee Street, College Street | The adda institution. Infusion coffee, cutlets, and a first floor that has barely changed. |
| Favourite Cabin1918 | Surya Sen Street | Tea and toast; a century of student conversation. |
| Dilkhusha Cabin1918 | Mahatma Gandhi Road | Tea, cutlets and chops. |
| Flurys1927 | Park Street | The other end of the same instinct, in a tearoom. |
| College Street tea stalls | College Street | Bhanr tea between the bookshops. |
North Kolkata
Shobhabazar · Shyambazar · Bagbazar · Hatibagan · Kumartuli · Jorasanko · Maniktala| Name | Where | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|
| Paramount Sherbat1918 | Bankim Chatterjee Street | Not tea — sherbet. The daab sherbet recipe is said to have come from the scientist Prafulla Chandra Ray. |
| Hatibagan tea stalls | Hatibagan | Para tea shops, which are the real venue of adda. |
South Kolkata
Bhowanipore · Kalighat · Gariahat · Ballygunge · Lake Market · Jadavpur · Tollygunge| Name | Where | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee House | Jadavpur | The Jadavpur branch, serving the university. |
| Para tea shops | Bhowanipore, Ballygunge, Lake Market | The neighbourhood tea shop is the basic unit of Kolkata social life. |
What to order
- Infusion coffee at the Coffee House, which is not good coffee and is not the point
- Tea in a bhanr, the clay cup, which is thrown away after one use
- Lemon tea at a College Street stall between bookshops
- Cutlets and pakoras at the Coffee House, which are better than the coffee
- Darjeeling first flush, if you are buying tea to take home
Other kinds of eating
Read the city by area
A note on this page. Restaurants, shops and markets open, move and close far more often than industries do. Everything here is a snapshot of Kolkata as of 2026, offered as a starting point rather than a live listing. Check the address and the hours before you travel.
Restaurant, shop and company names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Inclusion is for independent discovery only, not endorsement, ranking or affiliation.
Our other websites
These open our other sites in a new tab. They are part of the same network and are marked in blue throughout this site.