Thia was my first time at the Iconic Britannia Cafe in Bombay. I had meant to go many, many times, but never wound up doing it. This time, on our last day in Bombay, just before we caught our flight out to Goa, we managed to get lunch here. Even though we arrived early, there was still a waiting list outside the door.
The service here is extremely fast though and so we hardly had to wait 5 minutes before we were seated.
The place is a typical Parsi joint leftover from British times, old furniture, checkered table clothes, waiters in bow ties and dim lighting. We ordered the famous Berry Pulao and Salli Boti, both mutton dishes. They did not disappoint.
However, My favorite thing about this place had to be the owner, Boman Kohinoor. Now in case you haven't noticed yet from my pictures, I am fascinated by cute little old men and Mr. Kohinoor is a prime example of the type. Though 90, he walked around taking orders and chatting with all the customers. I just had to talk to him, so I caught his attention and asked what was that strange pink drink called Pallonji's that everyone was having and could I try one too? to which he looked most confused and said, 'but that is a Parsi drink.. it is called Rozy Raspberry... all Parsi's drink it.' After a bit of convincing, he finally let me try one.
After Lunch I went up to Mr Kohinoor and asked if I could click a photo of him (because I had failed at all my stealth attempts) and he said, 'You want to click a photo of me? do you know how old I am?' I smiled and said no... he then told me he was 90 and proceeded to show me all his pictures of the British royals who had visited his cafe, his newspaper write ups and his letter from the Queen, all laminated and kept on a nearby table for easy access.
You can find more on the history of the cafe as well as the life story of Mr Kohinoor here.
The service here is extremely fast though and so we hardly had to wait 5 minutes before we were seated.
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| The Queen, Gandhi and of course the Parsi Prophet |
However, My favorite thing about this place had to be the owner, Boman Kohinoor. Now in case you haven't noticed yet from my pictures, I am fascinated by cute little old men and Mr. Kohinoor is a prime example of the type. Though 90, he walked around taking orders and chatting with all the customers. I just had to talk to him, so I caught his attention and asked what was that strange pink drink called Pallonji's that everyone was having and could I try one too? to which he looked most confused and said, 'but that is a Parsi drink.. it is called Rozy Raspberry... all Parsi's drink it.' After a bit of convincing, he finally let me try one.
After Lunch I went up to Mr Kohinoor and asked if I could click a photo of him (because I had failed at all my stealth attempts) and he said, 'You want to click a photo of me? do you know how old I am?' I smiled and said no... he then told me he was 90 and proceeded to show me all his pictures of the British royals who had visited his cafe, his newspaper write ups and his letter from the Queen, all laminated and kept on a nearby table for easy access.
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| My latest old man crush, Mr Kohinoor, isn't he adorable? |
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