Monday, December 10, 2012

Glenary's at Mall, Darjeeling...




The hill station of Darjeeling has a languid air, you see everyone walking on the streets and yet there is a calming sense of laze all around. No one seems to be in a hurry even when a parent is walking the child to school or a young girl is walking in the fanciest of clothing. There is so much to soak in not only for a tourist but for a local resident as well it seems. The roads and lanes are dirty either with road construction or with overflowing sewage or something similar all the time and yet when you manage to look up you see a burst of colors in the flowers all around. All the walls, the hilly slopes are covered with wild or potted flowers. The ledges of homes and shops are lined with potted flowers, sometimes no proper pots to plant them. We saw recycled planters and even black polythene bags for planting flowers. Abundant colors of the season even when the potting material is not sufficient. I liked that a lot. This picture is a fine example of how the ledge of a two level restaurant and bakery is lined with flowers of the season. The place is Glenary's. We passed through this road a few times before deciding to enter inside for a breakfast one day.


Tea is what all the places around would serve in pretty old fashioned metal tea pots. I have never seen such beautiful tea post except my mother collection back home.



I ended up clicking pictures of tea pots in all the places we visited, the tea was exceptionally refreshing, best suited for the place and the marathon walking we were up to.

This picture even won a poetry post by Suranga Date.

For the breakfast we decided to try a few things from their bakery counter and ordered a cheese omelet with 2 pots of tea for ourselves. Yes we can keep sipping on Darjeeling tea for hours and our tea pots need refilling. The tea was definitely great at this place as well, but we didn't find the sweet bakes too good. We tried Apple pie, Lemon tart and Rum ball, all of these I feel con not be done wrong but I was disappointed with the taste. Very mediocre taste and a cold hard texture that results from trans fats used. We had taken just one piece of each and couldn't go beyond the first bite.


There are many sweet and savory bakes on display and a pleasant aroma of the bakery makes you happy as you enter. It's another matter I can't stand such rich bakery aroma for more than 10 minutes myself. But that's my problem, most people I have met find this aroma very inviting. Added with such a rich display, one would be tempted to hog endlessly. Fruity scones, cheesy breads, fruit cakes, Cinnamon rolls and what not.


I found the savory bakes better there. A Chilly chicken puff was good and Arvind liked the Cream puffs (rolls) too.

More than the baked goods, I liked this place for the ambiance. You can sit here and laze for hours with a lovely view of clouds outside thanks to the wall to wall french windows on the other side.


You would see people reading newspapers, writing journals or punching the laptop keyboard around you. The place is WiFi enabled and you are free to connect with the world for while if you wish to do so on a holiday.



The old world charm of Glenary's is accentuated by a red telephone booth inside the hall and a scalloped border to divide the ceiling into different areas..


Glenary's is a two level bakery cum restaurant cum bar with a lovely ambiance. Prices are very reasonable, quality of the baked goodies is mediocre but the Tea and omelets etc are really good. You would enjoy the place if you choose from the menu carefully. I give this place a thumbs up.



2 comments:

  1. There is something about the hills and particularly Himalayas that makes me feel so calm and at ease that hills feel like home to me :) Your pictures and description converyed the same feeling to me just now....I wish I was there...maybe I am there right now as I am momentarily transported to that place through these pictures ...feeling rested :) :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Amrita. I am so glad this post could make you feel like that. I am myself a hills loving person :-)

      Delete