Mumbai Has Its Very Own Cha Bar - And It's Hidden Away In A Book Store

Delhi’s famous Cha Bar has a Mumbai doppelganger, and it functions out of Oxford Bookstore in SoBo completely hidden from the public’s gaze.

Cha Bar can easily be missed when you’re crossing the road, however, the big red Oxford store is bright enough a landmark for you to notice the small board with “Cha Bar” written on it. Housed inside the store and serving as its café – Cha Bar isn’t as big and diverse at its Delhi’s counterpart but its collection of tea is as delightful.

The seating is limited for about 20 people and it’s a typical bookstore café. We loved its simple décor. On one side you can see a shelf of antique and contemporary teapots and on the other side of it is the counter to order with a humongous shelf next to it featuring all of the tea that you can buy.

Thy don’t have a physical menu and write it up on a white board next to the door  with new additions ever so often. Find paninis, cupcakes, sandwiches and other quick bite items that you can munch on whilst chilling in the cafe.

Check out the many tea variants it offers. Over 50 types of tea are available here with Assam, Darjeeling, green tea, Irish breakfast tea and so much more in its hot tea section. We had their peach iced tea {INR 80} and it was exactly how we wanted it to be – strong with a leafy scent.

The best, however, is how the tea is served in quirky colour teapots. We were served hot tea in a colourful Mughal- E -Azam themed teapot.

#LBBTip: They often play old Hindi songs so it’s a proper 90s throwbacks {mainly instrumental} and we heard Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Mohabattein so if you’re into Bollywood nostalgia, this one is for you.

Cha Bar is quite, peaceful and inside a bookstore which also gave us the perfect opportunity to explore and browse through Oxford’s book collection.