Irani Cafes of Bombay
Yazdani Bakery:
This bakery on Cawasji Patel Street was opened in 1953 by Meherwan Zend, a Parsee baker. All the products in this bakery are handmade and baked in diesel ovens. The building where this bakery is housed was originally a Japanese bank. In 2007, Yazadni got a urban heritage award for its early 20th century building. Today, Yazdani bakery bakes around 6,000 Pav-bread buns a day.
Yazdani Restaurant And Bakery
B. Merwan and Co.:
Located off the railway station at Grant Road, B. Merwan and Co. is hardly an Irani cafe today except for the name. Started in 1914 this place has undergone rapid transformation and currently houses a stationary and grocery shop besides the cafe, which serves only tea and omelette to the hungry commuters. One can find bent wood chair from Czechoslovakia and marble table top brought from Italy almost 100 years ago. Craving for a makeover, with the old signages still in place, once can still find the old chandeliers and the family room, which are typical of the Irani cafe.
B Merwan and co.
Cafe Leopold:
Mentioned extensively in Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, Cafe Mondegar is located on the Colaba Causeway located across the police station. Established way back in 1871, it started off as a wholesale oil store, and over the years have variously been a restaurant and store, and restaurant and pharmacy. Today it is a multi-cuisine restaurant with a bar on the first level, and serves diverse cuisines like, Indian, Western, Chinese, South American, etc., and beer and alcohol. Cafe Leopold at one pint of time was well known for its dance floor.
Leopold Cafe Gobeirne
Cafe Mondegar:
This is one place where you mix music with beer. Cafe Leopold happens to be the other big cafe at the Colaba Causeway, near to its cousin Cafe Mondegar. This place even after the rapid transformation into a retro spot retains the warmth that one expects from an Irani cafe. The food offered is however far from the original Irani dishes. The interior walls of the cafe were painted by famous cartoonist Mario Miranda.
Mistaken Identities:
Primarily around Colaba and Dhobi Talao areas there are few restaurants with names of Irani origin. As a matter of fact these places are owned by non Parsis, especially Muslims who have little hint, if the property was bought by their ancestors from a Parsi or an Irani Zoroastrian. Daryush and Free India are two such places which are mistaken by many as Irani food joints. Surprisingly, the local people call ‘Free India’ as an Irani cafe. Conversation with the current owner revealed that his ancestors were from Iran and they followed the Muslim faith.
