KOCHI: For decades, a red-brick building with a modest garden in the heart of Willingdon Island stood as a quiet constant amid Kochi’s culinary churn.
BTH Harbour Gate — that was where Sundays began with masala dosas for families with children, where evenings lingered on for Navy officers, and where young couples dipped in for a late night filter coffee. Sadly, this outlet is closing its doors for the final time, Bharat Hotel (BTH) has announced.
On learning of the development, author and culinary enthusiast N S Madhavan posted: “Oh no!” And his words summed up the city’s collective mood. For Francis J Kattady, a doctor, the hotel was inseparable from family ritual. “My uncle was the Cochin Port Trust deputy chairman. After Sunday mass at the Port Trust church, it was routine to grab a bite there,” Francis recalled.“I fondly remember the masala dosa, cutlets, and milkshakes.
A quaint little place, Baker-style red stone building. All the more alluring when it rained,” he added. That image of rain tapping on red brick, filter coffee steaming, recurs in nearly every recollection. Appu, a public transit enthusiast, too, described it as a space with “a nice aesthetic”.
Rebecca remembers weekend drives with her grandfather. “Dada used to take us on long drives to the island and we would end up at BTH for a small bite,” she said. On the outlet’s closing, she said, “It’s sad, because it feels like a tangible part of my childhood has disappeared.”
Located near the naval base, Harbour Gate was a familiar haunt for Navy personnel. “Willingdon Island has always carried a certain isolation, and in that industrial landscape, BTH Harbour Gate was an oasis,” a Navy official said.
And now, in its closure, a shared civic memory has faded. At the same time, BTH has indicated that this is “not a goodbye”. It has invited patrons to return to its original outlet on Durbar Hall Road.
But for many, Harbour Gate was not interchangeable with another address. In June 2023, BTH had shut its outlet ‘Sarovaram’ on NH 66, citing how the family was unable to continue the same hands-on involvement in the property anymore due to a change in ambitions among its next generation members.