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.

Places to eat in Darjeeling | Keventers at Mall..

We were in Darjeeling for 4 days in the second leg of our recent holiday. First four days were spent in Gangtok and both the places were much loved. We wanted to taste local food and it was not much difficult to find our way through it. The stories of local food will be shared but today I wanted to introduce you all to this lovely old fashioned cafe called Keventers. It is a triangular old building situated at a Y shaped road turn where one road goes to upper road and the other going towards lower. This is how Keventers looked from our Hotel's dining hall glass panes one morning. The green board just behind the clock tower.

And here is how the capitol clock tower looks from the Keventers' roof top seating area.You would remember the roof top restaurant and the clock tower if you have seen the Hindi movie 'Burfi'. The hero climbs atop this clock tower and turns the clock back by 15 minutes so the girl can reconsider his proposal

This city is like a preserved specimen of old times, and I liked it as the old buildings and places are so charming. Just wish that the roads were taken care of.

Look how the stairs that go up the Keventers seating area look like. Much worn out wooden stairs tell a story. I liked that some of the planters were recycled plastic containers.

And here is how the roof top restaurant looks like. Always a few laid back tourists and locals would be seen chatting lazily, enjoying the sun if it is cold and safe in the shade of those beach style umbrellas if the sun is too harsh. The clouds are always company no matter if it is sunny or cloudy. The sky is clear blue unlike the cities we live in. This is the USP of this old world cafe in Darjeeling.

Good tea in old fashioned tea pots and some fried bacon, ham, chorizos and eggs or sandwiches for company..The menu is not very extensive but you would like a few things to order for quick snack or even a meal. And yes you get coffee as well. Cold or hot.

This platter is a treat. These are local spicy ham, sausages and bacon, fried till crisp on the edges and soft and succulent int eh middle. The eggs fry is very liquid and great to dip the hot bacon or ham. I liked them with a mustard sauce dip too.

To the one side of this al fresco cafe is a huge restaurant called Opium seen here across the wall, probably a hotel too, didn't inquire..

The other side is a restaurant that is boat shaped, called boathouse. Makes a nice picture of a boat floating in clouds...

We had a hot chocolate at Keventers the next day as we wanted to taste some of their milk shakes too. They said they were not making milkshakes and hot chocolate is available. It came in an old fashioned mug but quite insipid Cadbury's hot chocolate type drink. You love a hot drink anyways when in foggy hill stations, nothing extraordinary.

On the ground floor they have the sales counter, quite unpretentious and basic but they stock all these cured meats if you want to take them home. Some fish and prawn pickles and meat pickles too I spotted.  There is always a commotion of college students and young crowd here as they sell sandwiches and quick eats on the counter. There is a softy counter too. Arvind is one ice cream lover you see...

Keventers is a nice place to sit and laze in the mall road of Darjeeling, having sandwiches and tea in sun or inside the small hall on the first floor, just adjacent to the kitchen counter if you like. The sandwiches and cured meats are all tasty and enjoyable but don't expect good standards of hygiene there. We Indians have strong immune system so it's not a problem but if you think you have a tendency to pick up stomach infections, better have a look at this before deciding to dine at Keventers.

 Handling the food with naked hands is no big deal for most Indians, but if you live a sterilized life, be careful. Good taste of Indian food on the streets or old cafes can be had only if you have a acclimatized immune system.