An Irani Chai Break

Last week I had the opportunity to visit two Irani restaurants that almost every Hyderabadi perhaps knows about. I had heard about these two and had been to one long time ago but last week I got the chance to visit both. One of these is a very old restaurant and the other, I guess, is also equally ancient. One is ‘Grand Restaurant’ at Abids and the other is ‘Nilofer Café.’

One thing that strikes one in old fashioned Irani restaurants is the variety of mirrors that adorn the walls. There is a large mirror in Bombay Bakery and Restaurant at Gunfoundry, one in Light of Asia in Abids and also other Irani restaurant’s I have been. So finding not one but almost a dozen mirrors at ‘Grand Restaurant’ did not come as a surprise. The main room had mirrors on all the three walls and it gave an appearance of being full. The hotel seemed to be one of the busiest Irani restaurants I’ve seen. I was there last Sunday during my book hunt when I happened to be near the General Post Office and sauntered into ‘Grand’.

All the tables appeared full and there was the sort of buzz one finds in places where there is a constant flow of people. The most popular item seemed to be bun and butter that the person at the counter was making all the time. There was a large circular bread and it looked wonderful but I noticed it after I had my tea. The tea, by the way, is not exactly something to write about but it was good enough. The ambience was more impressive.

I saw an old man standing in a corner with a register in hand. He had a beard and a cap and seemed to keep a watch on all the waiters. There were two other rooms adjacent and it appeared to be the dining section because there was a board inside with the list of all the items available starting with the favorite, biryani.

I plan to check it out again sometime later, and also write about Nilofer Café in the next post.