It is as if a part of our life has been lost when we read about the closure of another Irani restaurant, Bastani, at Dhobi Talao. Before that it was Cafe Naaz at Hanging Gardens. It is feared that within a decade and a half, other well-known Irani restaurants may meet similar fate like that of Bastani.
The flavor of an Irani restaurant, has best been described by the late columnist Busybee (Behram Contractor).
When the Bastani downed its shutters, we were taken back to the years when we were young and innocent and our parents would take us to the nearest Irani restaurant which was located at every nook and corner of Bombay.
Each Irani restaurant has a speciality of its own: one may be famous for its cakes, another one for its khari (crusty) biscuits, still another for its pudding. The common trait in all these restaurants was that, after ordering a cup of pudina (mint) tea and brun-maska (crusty bread and butter), you could take your own sweet time reading the day’s newspapers at leisure or chit-chat with your friends across the table.
Now, but a few Irani restaurants remain.
BHIKHAJI M. ADENWALLA