Tour at Famous Irani Cafes of Mumbai

In Cafe Excelsior’s 100 year journey, the place has catered to generations of office goers, the young and the old. The cafe also gets its fame courtesy it’s proximity to one of the oldest single-screen theatres in the city—Novelty (now called Mukta A2 Excelsior). Established over a century ago, the cafe is now run by the third generation owner Ardeshir Mazkoori who is named after his great grandfather, the original owner of Excelsior cafe. When Mazkoori’s great grandfather first moved to Mumbai from Iran, he worked at nearby cafes to raise money before he started Café Excelsior in 1919 with his brother. Back then, they only had a section of the place hence they would make up for the lack of space by serving meals at the cinema hall. Over the years they have expanded the menu and added some quintessential Parsi dishes such as keema pav, salli boti and more. Mazkoori’s father also manned the kitchen while managing the cafe.

Established in 1914 by Boman Merwan, B. Merwan & Co. is still going strong (despite a scare a few years back). With Bentwood chairs and marble-top tables—a signature at most Irani cafes—step into a world where everyone’s welcome. B. Merwan & Co. is where we go for mawa cakes—if we wake up early enough to get them that is. On weekends, they usually run out by noon – on a slow day. And yet, there’s a lot to recommend at this Irani cafe besides the cakes, starting with chai and the mandatory bun-maska to dunk into it—the generous lashings of butter offset the sugary tea perfectly. If you’re looking for something heavier, they do a few simple egg preparations and people love their omelettes, but we’d choose the vegetable puffs over those. Prefer something sweet? Try the mawa samosas, misleadingly named but delicious, they’re large triangles of puff pastry filled with mawa.

The iconic Britannia & Co has been a crowd-puller for years, with tourists and locals alike, lining to devour their fragrant berry pulao and delicious caramel custard. Apart from the food and ambience, what was also a novelty was the late owner Boman Kohinoor who even at the age of 94 greeted guests with his enthusiastic personality. Started in 1923, the Indo-Iranian Parsi menu was designed by the late owner’s wife Bachan Kohinothey. Pre independence, the restaurant kept its flavours mild to make it palatable for the British. It was only after her retirement that Bachan got involved with the functioning of the restaurant and added her Parsi expertise to the menu.