Where is Teretti Bazaar

Kolkata is a melting pot of cultures possibly because it was the British India capital till the early twentieth century. It boasted of a bright Chinatown replete with Chinese temples and bespoke shoemakers. The earlier Chinatown was at Tiretti Bazar (also called Tiretta Bazar) in Central Kolkata near the city police headquarters – Lal Bazar. The Chinese shoe stalls were also located in the vicinity. Most of the Chinese shoe stalls have shut and China Town has now moved to Tangra in a different part of the city. But Tiretti Bazar has still retained an old practice. It has a makeshift market every morning for selling Chinese breakfast in Kolkata. It is among the hidden gems of Kolkata.

Chinese breakfast at Tiretti Bazaar

If you walk towards the fruit market at Tiretti Bazar, there is a small kiosk that comes to life every morning. The bustle starts as early as 5 when Chinese hawkers come and set up their stalls to cater to the foodies’ paradise Kolkata.  Steamers are placed and make shifts stoves are lit to supply warm and fresh breakfast items to visitors.

The Chinese breakfast market here is not just a touristy gimmick. It caters to the still substantial Chinese population of Kolkata. The Anglo Indians of Kolkata, a sizeable community here and the local Bengalis also come here frequently for fresh breakfast provisions. In fact, this should be rated among the top food places of Kolkata.

Tiretti Bazar Chinese breakfast timing

We had heard about the Chinese breakfast market for long but had always missed it because of difficult timings.

As we came to know after some asking around – the breakfast market operates from about 6 to 8 am every morning. Sundays are extensive with more hawkers and visitors here.  The market hence runs a little longer, till about 8.30 am on Sundays.  However, most items sold here are homemade. Hence there are limited supplies that exhaust fast. Reaching near closing time may not give you a fulfilling experience.

Given that the market got over by 7.30 – 8 a.m., for reaching that place in time, we would have to start early, really early. And for that we would have to wake up even earlier. And that, we confess, was a deterrent.

How to reach Tiretta Bazar

This time we met a friend who got us very excited about the breakfast market. Cherry on the icing was that he knew the exact place. We knew that Teriti Bazar has been at a very central location. In fact, the Metro Station near Teritty  Bazar is called Central Metro Station.

Breakfast market timings are really early, before Metro in Kolkata operates. One can take a bus though since buses in Kolkata ply very early but that could take longer that one would like.

We would recommend a taxi at the early hour. You can book a radio cab and the standard cab companies operate here. It was about 6 a.m. when we started.  We went traditional and hailed a yellow ambassador taxi. The taxi guy was very accommodating in the morning.  Once we reached Tiretti Bazar, our friend guided us to Sun Yat Sen Street where the breakfast market was held.

What to have at Chinese Breakfast Market

The Chinese cuisine in Kolkata is a fusion between Chinese food and Bengali and other Indian cooking styles. So we wonder whether this can be called “authentic” Chinese breakfast in Kolkata. Let’s face it – the food is as Indian as Chinese. It combines typically pungent soy pastes and Chinese sauces with Indian spices like turmeric and dried red chillis. The flavor is unique and is backed by years of legacy to reach its present form, what is now popularly as Indian Chinese cuisine.

We reached the market before 7 a.m. and it was already very busy.  Chinese food flavours wafted in the air and it seemed we were not in Kolkata but in some other city in Asia. Most of the vendors looked Chinese and a few looked like locals as well. Most stalls were set on small wood tables or carts with wobbly standing tables in front. The tables for used to keep the food while eating. There was no seating arrangement though.

We wasted no time and started on our breakfast-tasting mission. Our food trip here started with dumplings or momos.  Both steamed and fried varieties were available. We had eaten chicken and pork momos at many places including the famous Hamro.  But the breakfast market here also had fish momos. That was new and we tried this. The steamed dumplings had a heavy filling of boiled and seasoned minced fish. Given that we were in Kolkata, the great quality of fish stuffing was no surprise.

Among the other items that we had, our recommendations would be the meatball soup, steamed red meat pao buns with red bean paste and meat filling, and fried hand-pulled sausages. Incidentally, one woman arrived with a huge sack filled with something, and even before she could place the bag on the ground, waiting customers pounced on the bag. They randomly shoved some notes in the seller’s hands and in no time, the big sack was empty. It was a surprising sight and we were most intrigued. Apparently, she baked and sold fresh bread every Sunday morning here. Needless to say, her loaves were a big hit. Sadly we did not get to try any of her stuff but we tried another kind of bread – fried bread. These were shaped liked fingers, deep fried, and tasty.

There were many confectionery items available too. Given the genetic Bengali sweet-tooth the Bengali among us was gravitating to these stalls and he had kept some appetite to stuff himself with almond pies, rose-shaped cookies, and sticky rice pudding. There were some tea stalls opened and he gulped down some stuff with tea. And when he could not shove anymore inside him – he started getting things packed!

The breakfast experience seemed a little overwhelming initially but that could also be because we were a little groggy with barely any sleep the previous night. But gradually we got into the spirit – rather – the flavour and had a ball for about one and a half hours.

Even after eating a zillion things, we spent less than Rs. 500 among the three of us! It was that easy on the pocket

Pro Tips

There are many vegetarian options available in the market in soups, dumplings or momos, pies, and confectionery so let dietary preference not be a deterrent.

Also, we can’t overemphasis the merits of coming early to this market. As time progressed, the market got crowded and the hawkers got extremely busy. Consequently, service took time and many items were over. Customers were just left asking. So do come to the Tiretty Bazar Chinese breakfast market early – it would be totally worth any effort you make in waking up!