The Best Chai in India, According to Locals

28.08.2024 - 20:18 / cntraveler.com

A version of this article originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller India.

Over endless cups of the best chai in India, many a writer has found the missing piece of that big murder mystery novel brewing in their head for years; or solace in a fellow writer’s struggle to find the words to describe difficult feelings; or humor in an overheard conversation at a street-side tea stand. This is the special, however romanticized, connection between writers and chai. For some, chai represents a quiet break in the middle of ever-looming story deadlines, for others, it's a resilient connection to the cities in India they love and write about. So who better to recommend the best places to get chai than writers across India?

Below, writers recommend their favorite spots in their city for the best chai in India, from quaint cafés to decades-old tearooms and bustling stalls.

Recommendations from Diya Kohli, director of features and special projects at Condé Nast Traveller India: “Kolkata is known for its culture of cha and adda. Growing up, this was a way of life: the pause in a working day, a chance meeting with an old friend, a quick pitstop after a walk. In my years in the city, I have had chai across several unnamed tea stalls; vendors who moved around with a kettle and their paper cups, selling the city’s specialty lebu cha (a lemony black tea turned savory by the addition of black salt). And these existed alongside the cafés that sold fine Darjeeling blends, where tea drinking was as much a sensory play of aroma and flavor as a wine tasting.

Dolly’s The Tea Shop is a tiny café in the Dakshinapan Shopping Complex where people sit on mudas or cane stools surrounding wooden tea crates repurposed into tables and drink some of the finest Darjeeling teas. Apart from the great tea, this is a spot with character; the late Dolly Roy who ran the place was the permanent fixture presiding over the space, saying hello and always making sure people got a spot to sit. I always get the Darjeeling second flush, lemon ice tea, and ham sandwich. Radhu Babu’s Tea Shop in the bustling Lake Market calls itself the oldest tea shop in Kolkata, and was set up by a revolutionary freedom fighter, Radha Kishore Dutta. I love their black tea and their fresh bread loaves slathered with butter and pepper. Maharani Tea and Tiffin is a tiny stall with fab tea served in a kulhad and the best puri aloo, samosas, and jalebis, making it the right place for breakfast and an anytime-snack. This is a place known for tasty bites and quick service, and is very popular with all the people who come for a walk at the Rabindra Sarovar Lake.”

Raghuveer Tea Stall, located above the verandas in the walled city of Jaipur, gives a panoramic view of the