This tour is designed to experience the vintage Irani culture of consuming Tea. Irani cafes were introduced to Mumbai by the Parsi community, descendants traveled from Persia. These cafes are old and Heritage for the ever-bustling Maximum City, some older than a century.
Irani cafes once dotted every corner of the street in Mumbai, with time and development hundreds of them shut shutters. Presently there are a handful of cafes left in the city.
In this tour, we have handpicked four of the best Irani cafes in Mumbai, these cafes give a brief insight on Mumbai culture, a peculiar cuisine that evolved with time and gave a distinct flavor of cosmopolitan Bombay.
Your Travel buddy will tell you all the legends around this cafe and how these survived the test of the time.
You get to taste some of the best delicacies of these cafes as well, which are included in this tour.
Inclusions & Exclusions
✔ Snacks
✔ Services of Travel Buddy
✔ Private Transfers
✔ Tea and coffee
✖ Personal & Shopping Expenses
✖ Alcoholic Beverages
Pickup Locations
1. Hotel Lal Sai Residency
2. FabHotel Adore Palace
3. SPOT ON 44200 Hotel Ganga Palace
4. OYO 6428 K F Residency
5. Hotel Embassy Grand
6. OYO 7879 Golden Tulipz Boutique Hotel
7. Hotel Pearl View
8. Hotel Spring Hill
9. Hotel Bliss Executive
10. Hexa Crescent
11. Hotel Astro
12. Hotel Cliffton
13. HexHotel Plaza
14. Hexhotel Symphony
15. OYO 64573 Hotel Paradise
16. Hotel Sanjari Palace
17. SPOT ON 41085 Hotel Royal Residency
18. Hotel Heritage
19. FabExpress Silver Lake
20. Hotel Prince Palace Kurla
Additional Info: The guests are requested to wait in hotel lobby and inform front desk about the pick up. The guests arrving by cruise are requested to meet our reprentative at the green gate.
Itinerary
1
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.
Duration: 45 minutes
2
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.
Duration: 45 minutes
3
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.
Duration: 45 minutes
4
Mumbai
Kyani bakery & co., Founded in 1904 by Mr. Khodram Marezaban, who sought to bring the unique tastes of his culture to the people of Mumbai, Kayani is considered to be the oldest still remaining Irani café in town. The well-known landmark, an essential stop in the city’s municipal cooperation heritage walk, still maintains the same décor and interiors that it did on its very first day in existence. With rustic chairs around tables topped with red checkered mats, wooden shelves and large glass panes revealing huge jars full of biscuits and cookies, Kyani is the quintessential Parsi café.
Duration: 45 minutes
Additional info
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
