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In Pictures: Mumbai’s dying Irani cafes

Iconic street-corner cafes are shuttering down one by one as peoples’ tastes change and more glitzy eateries take over.

Customers have breakfast at Kyani & Co. which opened in 1904 and is the oldest operating Irani cafe in Mumbai
By Karen Dias
Published On 20 Mar 201420 Mar 2014
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Mumbai, India’s financial capital, has been famous for many things, from its dazzling film industry to landmark buildings resplendent in colonial architecture.

The city was also oddly famous for its street-corner ‘Irani cafes’ that sprouted up in the late 18th and early 19th centuries due to an influx of Persian immigrants.

Though the high-ceilinged cafes with mostly shaky tables and rickety chairs shared little of the glamour and glitter of the city’s glitz, they enjoyed iconic status.

Selling sugary milk tea and bun-muska (freshly baked bread lathered with butter), the cafes had a quaint but welcoming quality: those thronging them included actors, workers and out-of-work youth with lots of time to spare.

But that was then. Today, the cafes are shutting down one by one, and no more than 25 of them survive. Fast-food restaurants, global cafe chains and changing attitudes are taking a toll on the cafes.

To adapt and sustain, many of the cafes have changed their decor and menus to serve a wider range of customers. But the battle is still being lost and last month, the news broke that B Merwan & Co., one of the best known Irani cafes, is also likely to shutter down for good soon.

Incidentally, in 1998, another popular cafe called New Empire gave way to one of the first McDonald’s to be opened in Mumbai.

As the new edges out the old, Irani cafes, it seems, are no longer anyone’s cup of tea.

 

A waiter prepares cups of the popular Irani chai or tea served with milk. 
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Waiters at work in Kyani & Co. as images of Parsi family members and religious icons adorn the walls above
Ninety-two year old Boman Irani, partner of Britannia & Co. poses for a portrait in the restaurant with the Iranian and British flags hung above him and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth who had once visited the restaurant
Biscuits and confectionery sit in glass jars on the shelf of an Irani cafe. Most Irani cafes in the city are popular for their , bread, cake and biscuits.
News that B.Merwan & Co may shut down soon sent shockwaves across the city
Customers at Britannia & Co which was set up in 1923 in the Ballard Estate area of South Mumbai and was one of the first structures to receive a heritage status in the area
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Opened in 1953, Yazdani Bakery is one of the most popular Irani cafes in Mumbai and is popular with students and workers
Customers dine at Kyani & Co. Most Irani cafes have high ceilings, bent wooden chairs, vintage clocks and posters
Established in 1913, Sassanian Boulangerie is named after the ancient Sassanid Empire that ruled Iran for more than 400 years
Meheraban Kola, one of the partners of the Sassanian Boulangerie, sits at the cash counter of the cafe which was started by his wife(***)s great-grandfather who migrated to India from Yazd in Iran
Customers wait in line to eat at Brittania & Co which has become an institution and a landmark in South Mumbai
The menu at B Merwan & Co has not changed in hundred years. Merwan opens at 5.30 am and its freshly baked breads, biscuits and cakes are usually sold out by 7am
A man sips Iranian chai at Sassanian Boulangerie with photos of historical monuments from Iran on the walls in the background


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