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— Syed Tahir jamal

Looking back at Karachi's Irani cafe culture

Once the most ubiquitous part of Karachi’s heritage, Irani ‘hotels’ are fast disappearing from the urban landscape...
Updated 16 Sep, 2016

Sometime in the 1920s, Rustom Aspandiar Bahmani, a Zoroastrian, left Yazd, then a small desert town in Iran, with his companions. All of them perched on mulebacks trotted all the way to Zahidan, from where they took a painfully slow train to Quetta. A faster train took them to Karachi from where they boarded a sailboat to Bombay. After a six-day voyage, the vessel dropped anchor at the city’s harbour.

The city was not unfamiliar to Zoroastrians. Waves of Zoroastrians had migrated from Iran between the 8th and 10th centuries and had made their way up the social ladder as successful businessmen and industrialists. Quite understandably, they were supportive of their co-religionists. To cut a long story short, Bahmani, like other Zoroastrians, made their mark in the restaurant business. They were followed by Bahais, practitioners of the 19th century religion, and Muslims. The latter moved to the state of Hyderabad in large numbers.

A good number of Iranis didn’t go to Bombay, however; they decided to settle down in Karachi. There were more than a hundred Irani restaurants (Irani hotels in common parlance) in Karachi in the 1970s but today hardly 10 remain. After Independence, not many opened in the newer parts of the city. Café Liberty and the one in Nursery market in PECHS (whose name nobody seems to recall) were among the exceptions. Areas such as Defence Housing Authority and North Nazimabad never had a single Irani restaurant.

The Iranian cafes of yore

Khairabad Coffee House and Tea Shop, then and now: (Left) 1947 as M.A. Jinnah’s motorcade drove past - Photo from State Bank Museum; (Right) present day - Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star
Khairabad Coffee House and Tea Shop, then and now: (Left) 1947 as M.A. Jinnah’s motorcade drove past - Photo from State Bank Museum; (Right) present day - Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

The middle class localities and commercial areas of the city were once punctuated with Irani restaurants. Most of them had ‘cafes’ preceding their names. Four restaurants were in close proximity in Saddar. Fredrick’s Cafeteria was the haunt of punters who frequented the place after placing bets at the city’s racecourse. It also had a pay phone which one could use after inserting two coins of 10 paisas each in the slots. Café George, on the intersection of Victoria Road (now Abdullah Haroon Road) and Frere Road (now Shahrah-i-Liaquat) was known for its snacks, particularly its mutton patties and the accompanying chutney concocted by its cook (chef was a term that was yet to come in vogue).

On the other side of the road was Eastern Coffee House, which was named India Coffee House until a few years after Partition. It was initially run by the India Coffee Board, (ICB), which ran a chain of coffee houses since the mid-1930s (it still does in India). India Coffee House in Saddar became Zelin’s Coffee House but, soon after, an Irani took over, who christened it Eastern Coffee House. Mr Merchant, a coffee-taster turned manager at the ICB, then set up Pioneer Coffee House in what is now the Electronics Market.

Eastern Coffee House was the haunt of writers and student leaders. Some people were regular visitors. Come rain or shine, they were there in the afternoons. Once the Marxist student leader Ali Mukhtar Rizvi, who was part of the Moharram zuljina juloos, climbed up the stairs, had a quick cup of tea before joining the tail of the long procession. Then there was one Mr Bilgrami, who never loosened the buttons of his sherwani even when mercury crossed the 110F mark. In those days air conditioning in restaurants was a rarity. Only Shehzan and Pioneer had that facility. Fredrick’s Cafetaria and Eastern Coffee House had sections for families as well.

As you walked towards the Elphinstone Street (now Zebunnisa Street), you saw Café Parisian (the septuagenarian Parisian Bakery is still there). Then as you proceeded towards the corner of Bohri Bazaar, you saw the plebeian Boman Abadon Irani Restaurant where ready-made tea was served. Outside the restaurant there was a row of shoe-shine men from what was then the NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). You would place your foot on a pedestal and the man seated on a stool would live up to his promise of making your shoe shine like a mirror. “Sheesha banaiga” used to be their slogan.

Diagonally opposite the Parisian was Café Gulzar, which had its loyal clientele too. The Karachi-born singer C.H. Atma, who had migrated to Bombay, visited his native city sometime in the ’60s. He made it a point to visit two places — Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s mazaar and Café Gulzar. In an interview with a local journalist he said that whereas he got spiritual satisfaction at the mausoleum, the food in his favourite restaurant gave him gastronomic satisfaction. “It still tastes as delicious as it did before Partition,” he said.

Abbas Ali of Khairabad Tea Shop continues to run the establishment set up by his grandfather in 1932 - Photo by  Tahir Jamal/White Star
Abbas Ali of Khairabad Tea Shop continues to run the establishment set up by his grandfather in 1932 - Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

At the other end of Victoria Road, opposite Hotel Metropole, was Café Victoria, which was spacious and comfortable. It had a number of delicacies listed on its menu, but to a friend, who frequented it in the ’60s, the piece-de-resistance was the Mahi Kabab — ‘mahi’ being the Persian word for fish.

Café Subhani, close to Fleet Club, was widely known for its Chullu Kabab, an Iranian specialty kabab served over a bed of buttered rice. It closed down a year or two ago. It is now owned by locals, who have refurbished it and renamed it Chullu Kabab Sistani.

Two Irani restaurants which are still there are adjacent to each other. Pehlvi Restaurant, at the intersection of M.A. Jinnah Road and Zebunnisa Street, offers tea in cups and also has a small stall which serves tea in chainaks — small metallic teapots. Next to it is Café Durakhshan, owned by the same family, where tea is served in teapots, accompanied with sugar in a pot and milk in a small jug. Its fastest selling dish is the Spicy Pulao. It retains the feel of old while Pehlvi seems to have morphed into a more modern fast food joint.

Café Durakhshan is located at the intersection of M.A. Jinnah Road and Zebunnisa Street. —Photo by  Tahir Jamal/White Star
Café Durakhshan is located at the intersection of M.A. Jinnah Road and Zebunnisa Street. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

Pehlvi Restaurant has morphed from an Irani 'hotel' to a fast food joint. —Photo by  Tahir Jamal/White Star
Pehlvi Restaurant has morphed from an Irani 'hotel' to a fast food joint. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

Almost invariably all Irani restaurants, not just in Karachi but also in Mumbai and Pune, are located at street corners, a testament to their early-mover advantage in real estate. They are open on two sides. It seems Pehlvi and Durakhshan were once one restaurant but were later divided between two siblings, so the latter does not enjoy having entrances from two sides. The present owners simply refuse to comment on this subject.

The only Irani Restaurant which was not in a corner was Café Gloria in the small lane which is still called Capitol ki Gali. Capitol was one of the two cinemas owned by the Mobed family, who were Parsis. Flamingo, a snazzy restaurant on the first floor of the cinema, was particularly known for its cold coffee. While Flamingo was owned by a Zoroastrian, Café Gloria’s proprietor was a Bahai. Capitol Cinema and its twin, Paradise Cinema, have vanished like many other movie houses in Saddar.

Tea and Cake - traditionally it was 'maska (buttered) bun' that was served with tea. —Photo by  Tahir Jamal/White Star
Tea and Cake - traditionally it was 'maska (buttered) bun' that was served with tea. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

Café Yasmeen near the Police Head Office on I.I. Chundrigar Road was the latest Irani restaurant demise and the one to suffer the most is the paanwallah outside —all Irani restaurants have paan shops tucked in small spaces outside the premises. The paanwallah has lost his clientele and now closes shop at 6pm.

Not too far from Cafe Yasmeen was Café Victory on what was South Napier Road, which was renamed Altaf Hussain Road after the founding editor of Dawn. With the offices of the Dawn Group and Millat Publications being there, journalists thronged the café at lunch hour. It was known particularly for its succulent beef steak and the sauce that topped it.

Khairabad Tea Shop offers a refuge from the rush outside. —Photo by  Tahir Jamal/White Star
Khairabad Tea Shop offers a refuge from the rush outside. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

Perhaps the only Irani restaurant which is faring quite well is Khairabad Tea Shop. It has its loyal clientele, some of whom keep returning even after years. Syed Abdullah Shah, the chief minister of Sindh from 1993-1996, paid a visit to have tea there after assuming the top office in the province. He recalled that Khairabad was his usual haunt while studying at the nearby S.M. Law College.

Why are Irani restaurants closing down?

Many Irani cafes have dispensed with their signature marble top tables to conserve space, but their bentwood chairs are still there - Photos by Tahir Jamal/White Star
Many Irani cafes have dispensed with their signature marble top tables to conserve space, but their bentwood chairs are still there - Photos by Tahir Jamal/White Star

But why are so many Irani restaurants closing down despite their being a part of Karachi’s heritage? Young Abbas Ahmed of Café Durakhshan, an MBA, has the answer. “For one thing, the trend has changed,” he says. “Now there are fast food joints as well as eateries which specialise in items such as nihari, biryani or barbecue. Secondly, there is much hassle in running restaurants, particularly when the profits have dipped. You would be better off selling the restaurant and putting the money in fixed deposit.”

Why have the marble top tables that were the mark of Irani restaurants disappeared? “Simply because they were too space consuming,” explains Ahmed. “But the bentwood chairs are still there. In fact, you are sitting on one. The large mirrors which give the impression of extra space have not disappeared either.”

The Iranis are still very much into selling tea leaves. “Two of the leading shops, Islamia Tea and Iranian Tea are doing quite well,” Ahmed points out.

Café Yasmeen was the latest Irani restaurant demise and the one to suffer the most is the paanwallah outside. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star
Café Yasmeen was the latest Irani restaurant demise and the one to suffer the most is the paanwallah outside. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star

Irani restaurants may be vanishing but they have left their mark on their city. Proof, if proof be needed, is that the Tariq Road and Allama Iqbal Road intersection is still called Café Liberty and the area near Fleet Club is known as Lucky Star, after the restaurants which dropped shutters years ago.

Banks and other shops have replaced Irani restuarants in prime locations - this one is off Bandar Road. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star
Banks and other shops have replaced Irani restuarants in prime locations - this one is off Bandar Road. —Photo by Tahir Jamal/White Star


Originally published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, September 4th, 2016

Comments

techscribe Sep 10, 2016 11:10am
This is a sad trend, even in India. The city of Hyderabad used to have many Irani cafes 30 years ago. But today you'll have to search for one. Mumbai has a few of them. I hope they survive as their menus are unique and we love the fare.
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usman Sep 10, 2016 11:39am
Sir, I would remind one more of same category CAFE MILLI in Ranchore Lines area
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Nabeel Sep 10, 2016 11:42am
Love Iranian cafe it's a shame we used to have a few uses to love the food. Should promote Iranian to come and open those cafe.
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Aqeel Ali Siddiqui Sep 10, 2016 01:10pm
the owner of Iranian cafe in front of nishat cinema sold his cafe few years ago and now running a textile mill in IRAN
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Sandip Bhatia Sep 10, 2016 01:12pm
Gladly the Irani cafe culture in Mumbai, which by-the-way, does not represent India, is up and thriving. Sunday mornings for me are earmarked for Britannia, Kyani, or Jimmy Boy.
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Ali Sep 10, 2016 01:14pm
This is not at all surprising, given the deep hostility the majority of Pakistanis seem to have against Iranians.
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Lailie Sep 10, 2016 01:17pm
Well the main reason behind closing of Iranian restaurants and bakeries are that in recent 10 15 years or so a dozen well known restaurant and bakery owners were killed in sectarian violence in Karachi and most of Iranians moved back to Iran since.
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jyotsana Sep 10, 2016 01:32pm
Why was there an exodus of Zoroastrians in the 8 and 10 century from Iran to India, no mention of that.
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Cowas Sep 10, 2016 01:47pm
@Lailie Not true! They were losing business due to competition and demographic shifts!
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Arshad , Canada Sep 10, 2016 01:55pm
There was a very popular Irani "Hotel" at Liqatabad Dakkhana . This was on the road which takes you to Sindh Hotel area. And it was almost next to the Police station Liqatabad. Lots of Police "Lain Dain" used to take place there. I have lots of fond memories of that place . Many local poets , writers, and student Leaders used to spend their "Busy productive "time there. I am not sure if the place is still there.
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wellwisher Sep 10, 2016 02:20pm
In Pune also many Irani cafes closed down, but those remaining are doing very good business.Their clientale loves hem and keep coming back.One special thing about them is that any time of day, complete and fresh food can be ordered.
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Wiq Sep 10, 2016 04:27pm
As a child , I remember gazing at the unique architecture and Decore ofthese cafés and wondering what happens inside . We would order special Naan Roti and Patties and running back home to serve them hot to the family. 'Khaily Mamnoon'.
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Agha Ata Sep 10, 2016 07:51pm
I can never forget the mix-plate (as the waiters called it) of the Parisian cafe in Saddar during the 1950s; It contained a friend egg, a kabob or a goat chop, and fried potatoes. It cost only one rupee those days. You could sit in Parisian cafe eat your mix- plate and then a cup of tea and relax for an hour or so, or more, and look at the non-stop crowds passing by on the two roads, (As the cafe was on a cross road). I haven't been there as I have been out of the country for 25 years, but I still remember the Iranian restaurants.
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Maxx Sep 10, 2016 08:54pm
...and look at the burgeoning Chinese restaurants in Karachi and elsewhere, Turkish presence is there as well increasingly everyday, all seems to be related to commerce and culture. Iranian restaurant business can be re established with more business activity between Iran-Pak like the IP gas pipeline so on and so forth.
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Ali Vazir Sep 10, 2016 09:13pm
Some are arguing, but this is the fact. I have personally talked to a few Iranian bakery and restaurant owners for leaving and the reason is of course targeted killing by the terrorist organizations, and others receiving death threats to close down. The Proprietor of famous Irani Restaurant plus bakery "Hamshiri Restaurant, Kharadar"; Proprietor of "Agha Juice Center, Nazimabad"; Proprietor of "Iranian Tea Store, Saddar"; 2 Iranian Engineers under the Clifton Flyover; Iranian Cultural Center Director, Multan and so on. The worst part is the silence of the majority at these ghastly murders of our guests.
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Saeed shah Sep 10, 2016 11:26pm
There use to one at Karachi airport till mid seventies. Don't know if still there or not
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asif Sep 11, 2016 03:01am
Cafe Subhani at Lucky star used to be my destination for Chulu Kabab and it was the best. It's really sad to hear that they have closed. Things have changed really.
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Ali Sep 11, 2016 10:28am
Let's accept it, it's out of trend now. Young generation prefers ice cream parlors, frozen yogurts, coffee houses that are funkier, hippy, more western let's say. Saddar MAjinnah Road Napier Road are no more 'in-spots', instead malls in Clifton, north nazimabad, gulistan-e-jauhar are crowd pullers. Societies move along, preferences change..more so in large cosmopolitan cities and the rate of change is just more rapid in today's world. Yes we all feel nostalgic abt them (we used to have an Iranian cafe mubarak at the corner of our college in saddar) and it will be great if we can somehow save them. But at the end of the day it all boils down to economics, shifting lifestyles.
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Rustom Sep 11, 2016 11:39am
@Ali - It is not Iranian feeling. Your agenda is nothing but to enjoy this article that refreshed my memories when as a young boy I used to enjoy mutton pettis at an Iranian Restaurant near New Challi in Karachi. You need to tell your true identity so that your malign agenda is exposed.
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Rustom Sep 11, 2016 11:42am
@Cowas - You are right on the spot. Lifestyle in Mumbai or Karachi has changed. It is now fast food era. People do not have time to pass somewhere now.
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Taqi Sep 11, 2016 02:02pm
@Ali Not true, Pakistanis consider Iranis as their brothers and friends!
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Baakza Sep 11, 2016 10:49pm
There was one on Bunder Road , opp Plaza Cimema , on the ground floor corner of Hidayatullah Mahal . It served the best chai and khara biscuit , delicious malaee and super mixed plate . How we miss Karachi of our childhood ..... Clean and neat city.
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adel Sep 11, 2016 11:05pm
@Ali Vazir I agree. I knew a very lovely family that owned a cafe in Sadar and a ladies boutique in Glamor One, Tariq road. They probably left for the same reason. I've been abroad for over twenty years and haven't been able to locate / contact them so if anyone can pass any info on them, I'll be eternally grateful!
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Maqsood Sheikh Sep 12, 2016 01:39am
The article brings back memories . We lived on Tariq road in PECHS .Cafe liberty was one if the famous Iranian ( irani) cafés . Yes they were famous for their Tea and Patties and also for their Chicken Biryani and Mutton Quorma. The other famous Irani restaurant in nursery was the Farooq 29 ,also popular for its aromatic chicken Biryani and Succulent Quormas . It's a shame that Karachi is losing such cafés . Another loss is the Chinese family run restaurants that are slowly disappearing of the landscape .
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Tofiq Pasha Sep 13, 2016 12:27pm
I think it has a lot to do with the change of tolerance of our society post late '70s. The Irani tea houses were targeted. It's not only them, Karachi had a large number of Malbari Hotels. We had large population of Chinese living here. All of them including the Goan and Parsi have left.
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Adel Sep 15, 2016 10:52am
So no one knows the owners of the 'ladies' dress shop in Glamour One, Tariq rd, Karachi, and the tea shop on Bunns rd? If they have passed away, I'd like to offer 'Fatiha' for the departed souls, but if they are alive, I'd like to contact them. Thank you! Adelh9@yahoo.com
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AK Sep 16, 2016 07:44pm
Some 20 years back I used to enjoy a Cup of Iranian tea and biscuits at Iranian cafes in old Hyderabad City. Now their no.s have dwindled.
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Fariha azim Sep 16, 2016 08:18pm
In the seventy's there use to be a Iranian hotel called subhani hotel near nursery opposite shah- re -Faisal . I use to go often with my father. They had lots of candies , pastteries , cookies which I often buys. They also had a kind of grill outside the hotel which had seekh kababs and boti kababs my father loved their bar-b stuff.
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worthless wealth Sep 17, 2016 06:12am
@Cowas , yes, it is much true, read with meticulous care, dispassionately and in its right perspective, news Pakistani papers from 1985 to 2002. Christians were good at schooling and managing Hospitals, Parsis were good Bankers, Educationist and running Hotels, Cafes, Restaurants. Nationalization of Schools and Hospitals, followed by dirty politics, ruined everything. Competition was not as cut throat which you are talking about, rather it was among themselves and for better and productive.
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ather Sep 17, 2016 08:36am
In Karachi you cant even get proper cup of tea, all you can get is sugary milky concoction in dirty cups from Quetta Pushton type dhabbas.
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Karachi Wala Sep 17, 2016 09:20am
Economy may not justify the existance of Iranian Cafe - only the love of our heritage can.
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Jawaid kamal Sep 17, 2016 09:22am
Asif I am so thankful to you, and so nostalgic, in late 50s my dad used to take me to the cafeteria in front of regal cinema for ice cream.
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Abdullah Mahesar Sep 17, 2016 09:52am
I think few more corner restaurants are missing from the list. Apollo and the other opposite to it on the intersection of the then Kutchery Road and Frare Road; the one below the then Shewakunj Hostel on Frare Road and Out-Ram Road Junction were favorite and quite helpful from affordability of meager pocket money, for late night visits of the students living in Metharam and Shewakung Hostels (pursuing studies in D.J.S.G. Sc. College; N.E.D. Govt. Eng. College; and the Dow Medical College. Then there was perhaps also a well known restaurant at the intersection of Zaibunisa and main thoroughfare (leading to Empress Market) where the Gulzar Hotel was on the diagonally opposite corner. Abdullah Shah the then Chief Minister was one one of the luminaries of those who came for education purposes to Karachi from far flung areas of Sindh and other provinces during the One-Unit times and perhaps before like myself who came to Karachi and lived in Metharam Hostel during 1963-69.
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Abdullah Mahesar Sep 17, 2016 09:57am
Thanks Mr. AGHA ATA, it was the "Parisian cafe" at the corner of Zaibunissa and the Frare Road leading to Empress Market
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