Dourer Upor Tea Stall: Uttara's ‘hysterically’ unique tea haven
The owner, who had frequently been forced to relocate his stall due to police raids, decided to pay homage to its 19-year-old history through the name. Fortunately, the stall is now located in a rented shop and no longer on the lam
Living in Uttara for over two decades, I have seen the place grow and turn into a street food hub of Northern Dhaka, with unique restaurants of its own and new restaurants and food carts setting up shop every month. Over time, I lost the urge of trying each one out.
However, riding my scooter one fine evening along Rabindra Sarani and struggling to make my way out of the rush hour traffic, I noticed a massive crowd in front of Chheka Pora restaurant. It wasn't just the people, even cars were parked in double lanes.
My first instinct made me think it might perhaps be due to yet another new promotional offer like every other restaurant these days. But curiosity got the best of me as I got closer. I realised people had cups in their hands and behind them was a tiny store with various fruits and similarly shaped cups displayed in front.
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What makes this particular tea stall so special, I wondered. And that's when the name of the stall caught my attention: 'Dourer Upor Tea Stall' — a name so uniquely hilarious that I bet no one had ever thought of it before.
It's not just the name of the stall, the menu gets even more hysterical. Over 60 different variants of tea can be found here with names like 'Dourer Upor', 'Pagla', 'Matha Noshto', 'Kharar Upor', 'Osthir' and so on.
A brief chat with Sultan Ahmed Sagor, the founder, revealed that he had established the stall nearly four years ago. However, his journey of selling on Rabindra Sarani Avenue can be traced back much further.
"I've had my stall here for over 19 years now! I originally set up a stall in the middle of the divider which I had to frequently relocate due to raids by the police. This is what inspired me to name my stall 'Dourer Upor' when I decided to permanently set it up in a rented shop," he said.
In fact, he also named most of the teas based on his personal experiences. Take the 'Urkis' tea for example — a red tea with an intense sweet citric taste coming from a combination of lemon and mint leaves. Sagor decided to name it Urkis after one of his customers, who used to come and regularly have this tea, used the term to describe it! Priced at Tk40, it has a consistent taste similar to lemon iced tea but warmer. It's the first tea I tried and I believe it's a must have.
Next, he recommended that I try out the 'Aina Baji'. Priced at Tk65, its name, which was actually inspired by the plot of the popular film by Chanchal Chowdhury, signifies the contrast in taste of the tea. It's basically a masala milk tea that starts off with a minty taste due to the inclusion of raw mint leaves at the top while the latter part reveals a smoky taste with a boosted flavour of the aromatic spices.
The next tea I tried was 'No Porokia'. This tastes less like tea and more like a soup as it's primarily made with tamarind, ginger and chilly. It's a burst of flavours ranging from being sweet and tangy at first to being sharp and spicy.
Tea stalls or more popularly termed as 'tongs' have been a part of the traditional South Asian culture and serve beyond its purpose to being a place of social interaction.
Dourer Upor Tea Stall is no different in that sense as it's a stall in front of which one will find some sitting and having tea while browsing their phones, some standing and having chit-chats, while others looking befuddled by the names of the teas.
What makes it unique however, is Sagor quirky combination of the traditional spices to make at least 60 innovative flavours of tea that many have not thought of putting together before.
The stall remains open regularly from 4pm to 12am.
