The story of A. Rama Nayak. Born 1902 Died 1981. Café Mysore This is about Mukesh Ambani’s favourite restaurant in Bombay and how much his favourite meal costs.
Mukesh Ambani is a man of modest tastes. And lucky for you, not only is his favourite restaurant located in Bombay, but also you will most certainly be able to afford a meal there. It is none other than the iconic South Indian eatery in the city’s King’s Circle neighbourhood called Café Mysore. You may be wondering how a man who has lived in South Mumbai (Peddar Road) for most of his life would be familiar with this humble restaurant? Well, a little known fact about Mukesh Ambani -- he holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), which is now known as the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT). This 83-year-old institute is located in the same neighbourhood as Café Mysore. A.Rama Nayak was then a class IV drop out from the village of Akkar (South Kanara). Choosing a vantage spot near the King's Circle railway station, he started making and selling idlis and dosas on plantain leaves. A few years later, he set up his first restaurant selling south Indian cuisine in Matunga. Subsequently, he set up another three restaurants in the same area of Matunga, a suburb that had a sizeable population of South Indians. These four restaurants (one for each of his sons) were named Udupi Shri Krishna (near Matunga station, now called Udupi Krishna Bhavan), Cafe Mysore (at Kings Circle), and Udupi Cafe, now Idli House. In line with the ideas of their founder, the four restaurants operating under the banner of "Rama Nayak & Sons" try to avoid keeping aerated drinks in their menu. The menus continue to sport simple south Indian fare including idlis, dosas, rasam, pineapple sheera, and filter coffee. Café Mysore uses a large steam press idli maker that makes 60 idlis in just eight minutes. The restaurants still source their milk from an old trusted cowshed at Jogeshwari, and their vegetables and grain from old time suppliers. Mysore Café was founded in 1934 and since then it is a popular South Indian Mysore restaurant in Kings Circle, Matunga. The restaurant has been a popular meeting and eating joint for many generations. The restaurant is popular with students as it has a number of prestigious educational institutions close by. In an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai in 2017, the Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani said that his favourite food was idli sambar and his favourite restaurant remains Mysore Café where he used to eat as a student at UDCT from 1974 to 1979. The Raj Kapoor family used to frequent the restaurants when they lived close by in the 1950s and 60s and a letter from Raj Kapoor is still displayed at one of the restaurants. A. Rama Nayak’s Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding started in 1942, bang opposite Matunga station. The menu hasn’t changed much since when the restaurant was first opened 78 years ago. The menu is fixed, with an unlimited thaali style meal served on a banana leaf. The management encourages you to eat with your bare hands and what a lavish meal it is! You get about three servings of rice. There is rassam, dal and dahi and about three varieties of vegetables. The GSB (Gaud Saraswat Brahmin) Special includes avial, six payasams for six days and powder chutney with pure ghee. This elaborate feast comes for a grand Rs 225 only! This legendary eating place is considered one of the pioneers behind the spread of Udipi restaurants in Bombay. It is extremely popular with people from South India in Bombay looking for home food. It is packed during meal times and you have to stand in a queue to get in. The ambience is pretty simple and it is not air-conditioned. It is one of those places where you go to eat and not lounge. They follow the thali system here. A.Rama Nayak's Udipi Idly House. This eatery has been serving varieties of idli, rasam and filter kaapi – we explore why it makes for a great breakfast date spot. It may sound weird to some, but breakfast dates are underrated. Strictly for those who love mornings, you can start the day with your partner on a happy note. And it’s gonna happen with dishes like pepper idli, Kanchipuram idli, butter idli, rava idli, kadhi, oondi sambhar and khotto sambhar in your tummy. Their jack fruit idli, a must-try. With just three odd tables to sit at, you can opt to stand if you’re in a hurry. Their idlis come closest to what they serve in the southern part of the country.. The variety of chutneys they serve is also phenomenal. A special mention of their gunpowder. Also, apparently they charge extra if you don’t finish your sambhar here. Well, that seems fair for those who waste food. If you’re looking for a place that satiates your need for a good idli thali, make a trip to Matunga East. Couple those idlis with some rasam and gunpowder, and you’ve got yourself a happy family. A. Rama Nayak & Sons UDIPI. Unlike the other udipis on this list, Rama Nayak Udipi stands out as the only one that is air-conditioned and where sharing tables is not a common practice. If you wish to savor your meal in peace and not suffer from the immense humidity that Mumbai’s weather can churn up, then head to Rama Nayak’s Udipi, which is located right outside King’s Circle. Small and relatively quiet, you can easily catch up with friends or family as you listen to some ambient music. Savor the mysore dosa, veg-grilled sandwich, and thalis (meals). North Indian food is also served here. It’s too hard to highlight other restaurants of Matunga-King Circle which are equally deserving in this post, so will try to share about them someday in the future. Credit to Arif Halani Roland. Toronto.
