A person enters into a time capsule as they walk into an Irani Café in Mumbai where the air is filled with the aroma of bun maska, and sunlight fills the room with a warmed checkered floor through the glass window. With its marble top tables and bentwood chairs, Irani cafes of Mumbai remain an integral part of the city’s history and heritage.
Migration and Origin of Irani Cafes
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Mumbai was a bustling center for trade and commerce. This is the time around which Muslim Shias and Zoroastrian immigrants came to India to escape famine and persecution by Arab invaders so that they could have better opportunities.
It is said that most of the Iranians used to meet in the evenings and recollect their memories of their homeland. They got a business idea when someone served them tea. As most of them were good bakers they started selling Irani chai made of condensed milk and with that a delicate bun maska.
Slowly they started adding other baked foods and dishes like dhansak.
The cafes were becoming the city’s favorite place to meet up, read a newspaper and have a cup of sweet hot Irani chai. They broke the social barriers, and the traditional taboos as people from all ranks would come to have a little break from their schedule. Many people used to visit this place before work to have breakfast or lunch.
Design Philosophy
Corner Plots:
Rahul Chemburkar, a Mumbai-based Conservation architect points out that as per Vastu, Indians considered corner plots inauspicious. The Parsis saw good business in that and thrived. Hence, Irani cafes are mostly found in a corner plot on the ground floor where a person can sit and enjoy their chai while also being visually connected to the street.
Design Elements:
Irani Cafes in Mumbai have a very distinct and unique look from that of the other cafes. They are truly a journey back to the olden days. The interiors are very similar, yet each café has added its own quirkiness to the ambiance. Many of them have evolved over time, still, there are certain features that are commonly found in most of the cafes.
Bentwood Chair: These chairs are very common and can be found in almost all Irani Cafes. They are made using steamed wood and then they are bent to achieve curved shapes and then letting it cool so that it can be hardened. These are mostly in the colour black and are very similar to making chairs using a heavy cane.
Marble Top Tables: The bentwood chairs are accompanied by these marble top tables which are white in color. But today, due to maintenance, many cafes have replaced these tables with wooden tables which have glass on top. This glass is usually used on top of a table cloth with the Menu sandwiched between them.
Checkered Table Cloth: This is a characteristic cloth that is found in all cafes. This pattern is similar to the fabric worn by the Iranis and is usually found in the color red but blue and green variants are also found in the cafes.
Chandeliers: In the pre-independent era, these chandeliers were used to give a very continental ambiance, as the customers who used to visit these cafes at that time were mostly Europeans. Chandeliers are however not so commonly found in all the cafes.
Half Floor in the Interior Space: The cafes efficiently make use of the space by having a mezzanine floor. A mezzanine floor is like a half floor, and it provides additional seating and is connected to the main ground level by wooden stairs.
Family Room: Family Rooms were small chambers that were used to cater to the courting couples. These chambers usually had wooden swing doors. The concept of the Family Room became very popular and was shown in various Bollywood Movies.
Evolution Over Time:
Over the years Irani cafes have evolved with time to keep up with the changing trends. Some like Yazdani Bakery have kept their old-world charm. It is a charming place with a signature pointed red roof and a cornflower blue façade. It has tall vaulted ceilings, and its walls which are peeling are covered with vintage posters, wooden chairs, and menus which are written with chalk on a blackboard.
Others like B Merwan & Co. have adapted to survive. They are still famous for their mawa cakes, they expanded their menu to make small changes to attract a larger audience. This helps them to stay relevant while other fast-food joints and restaurant chains take over this fast-paced city.
Leopold Café and Café Mondegar have completely reinvented themselves to stay relevant. They have transformed into lively beer bars and attract a large amount of young crowd. Leopold café, which survived the Mumbai terrorist attacks has blended its past with modern bar culture while café Mondegar, known for its colorful Mario Miranda murals and jukebox has become a buzzing hangout spot.
Sustainability and Cultural Impact
Declining of Irani Cafes
Due to ever-changing social and economic dynamics, many of the cafes that were essentially a part of the city have vanished. As mentioned above, in order to stay relevant two of the famous historic cafes, Leopold and Mondegar had to convert and reinvent themselves as beer bars so that they could cater to a larger crowd. Some owners have to sell their locations due to increasing taxes, rising operating costs, and also a shift in family goals. Mr Boman Kohinoor, who is the owner of Britannia & Co. says that this decline was also compounded by their desire for financial stability and real estate gains.
Impact on Urban Fabric
Irani cafes shaped Mumbai’s Street cultures and were more than just a place to eat. In contrast to the contemporary cafes which aim to attract a specific group of people, these cafes were democratic places where people of all ages, and social and economic backgrounds would meet to catch up over tea or take a break before their work. These cafes were lively social centers.
Time passes slowly when in these cafes, as people linger on newspapers, chai, and countless chit chats. Their menus at reasonable prices make it available for everyone hence fostering an inclusive and communal atmosphere. Writers, Filmmakers, and Photographers always seem to find their inspiration in these cafes.
Unlike our modern-day contemporary cafes which are highly dominated by laptop screens, Irani cafes encouraged lingering, which made it an extension of the public realm. While many have disappeared, efforts can still be made to preserve their charm through various cultural initiatives and adaptive reuse.
As Mumbai continues to grow, these cafes are a reminder of places where time stands still.
Reference:
neeru (2015). Introduction. [online] D’Source. Available at: https://www.dsource.in/resource/irani-cafes-bombay/introduction [Accessed 9 Feb. 2025].
From Iran to India: How immigrants created Mumbai’s iconic Irani cafe. (n.d.). From Iran to India: How immigrants created Mumbai’s iconic Irani cafe. [online] Available at: https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/from-iran-to-india-how-immigrants-created-mumbai-s-iconic-irani-cafe-56631.
gateway (2019). Bombay’s Irani cafes – Gateway House. [online] Gateway House. Available at: https://www.gatewayhouse.in/bombays-irani-cafes/.
