In my perfect world, I will be surrounded by a lot of teapots and kettles of varying shapes and sizes. There will be steaming hot cups of tea in different flavours waiting to be tasted. Tea strainers, tea pots, tea cosies and the intoxicating smell of the dark brew everywhere.
When I chanced upon TPot on Petercelli street one afternoon as I was wandering around aimlessly, I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn’t walked into a dream or a scene out of Alice in Wonderland!
The afternoon light filtered through the high windows on the wall, creating some cosy corners and giving the whole place an interesting effect. Inside, there was a yellow orange light that lit up the teapots and kettles all around. They were everywhere : on the walls, on the cabinet, some even hung from the ceiling.
I found myself a cosy corner and settled in for my tea. After tucking into some fish curry and fluffy appams, I had a chat with the owner Sanjai who was sitting inside.
Collecting tea memorabilia took him a few months (my mom thought I had lost it, he reminisced). A lot of the things : tea cosies, strainers, pots, kettles — around have been sourced from Jew Town and a few other areas where he would go and forage the old markets for interesting things. On the wall, are photographs, also around the tea theme.
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Sanjai admits to me that he’s never been much of a tea person. It’s just an idea that took wings and a few months later, along with the able help of a partner, he had a full-fledged “tea room†open to the public. The interior of Teapot is rustic and evokes a kind of old world charm. Including the tables, which have been put together using the boards that come out of tea chests. Even the chairs are slightly ancient looking, but rather comfortable. In the main seating area is a big table that is supported by a huge tea bush. In case you want to throw a big tea party.
In Teapot, besides tea you can also get coffee(!) and some food in case you’re hungry. And since the place is open from morning till evening, you can have any of your meals here. I take a walk up to the “attic†like area which has a view of the whole of the downstairs from amidst more tea kettles. Here you can settle down with a book or just spend some quiet time by yourself.
My fish and fluffy appams with mustard is rather delicious and I wash it down with another cup of tea. Of course, I am totally charmed by the place and come back several times during my 3 day stay in Fort Cochin. I especially love the quiet no nonsense ambience of the place. I’m sure you will too if you happen to step into the place.
If you’re roaming around Fort Cochin, you know who told you about the Teapot :-)
There’s more:
The Teapot Album
Its interesting how your description of some remote place in a corner of world makes me feel i must look for it when i am there whenever in time.
good observation !! :) keep going.
Posted by Tara | March 2, 2009, 4:03 pmSounds like an interesting place. Might get a chance to visit Cochin in May. Would check it out. And I know what you mean about the perfect world being filled with teapots and various flavors of tea. Mine would have coffee!
Posted by Mayurakshi | March 3, 2009, 1:24 amNow I have to go back to cochin just to visit this place.It definitely was not there when I went..Nothing like a nice cup of black tea for me..none of those milky north indian chai
Posted by lostonthestreet | March 3, 2009, 8:54 ami have to hand it to you.…. how in gods name do u manage to find these tiny places?? :-)
btw, your photography is just amazing.…..
Posted by anu srikumar | March 3, 2009, 5:20 pm@ tata: ah… then you must definitely visit and my job is done :-)
@ mayurakshi: you must! and you get coffee there also!
@ lostonthestreet: me too! love black tea and can’t have doodh and that horribly sweet indian chai!
@ anu: it’s not too hard! thanks!
Posted by Anita | March 6, 2009, 7:17 amyou are awarded with The Premio Dardos Award
Posted by noni | March 6, 2009, 2:24 pmI’ve been there… its amazing.. i had the camomile tea and it was one of the best I’ve tasted
Posted by Shilpa | March 7, 2009, 5:58 pmCool ! i like the way …whole thing has been explained as usual i have always been a fan of ur blog … very regular reader …:-)
I like the photography also … nice … very nice !
Posted by Sushanth | March 8, 2009, 1:15 amThanks for the link, Anita!
come to Kathmandu and we’ll open a theme restaurant, “Alice’s Tea Party” all like Alice in Wonderland, nothing but tea.…and scones of course.
Posted by sirensong | March 10, 2009, 4:06 pmits really good to see that you are still blogging … :)
Posted by naresh | March 11, 2009, 9:36 am@ noni: thank you!
@ shilpa: camomile tea… ah, i could do with a cuppa right now!
@ sushanth: hey, thanks for the nice words. do keep dropping by!
@ sirensong: that is indeed quite an attractive proposition! are you based in kathmandu?
@ naresh: ahem… means what?
Posted by Anita | March 11, 2009, 2:25 pmTea never semed more enticing ;) Hot beverages are not my thing but your write up makes me want to look this place up..
Posted by Aroha | March 17, 2009, 11:36 am@ aroha: tea is the best! you must if you get a chance!
Posted by Anita | March 18, 2009, 1:39 pmWow! I want visit this place.
And what amazing pictures!
Posted by Rhapsody | March 29, 2009, 7:53 amA hot cup of tea has saved me on many occasions.
I think it might be my soulmate.
Nice blog, by the way =).
Posted by Shiva | April 6, 2009, 5:47 amanita, thank you for such a nice write up. I am sanjai’s partner. Happened to read the article. Thank you very much. Hope to meet you sometime. Bye
Priya
Posted by priya sharma | October 23, 2009, 1:42 pmHi, I am Mr.Sanjai’s Niece :) I was just checking something about Tea Pot on the web and found such nice things written about Mama’s teapot. Nice to know :) I’m very proud of Teapot .
Posted by Aishwarya Gopalakirshnan | April 28, 2012, 1:28 pm