A visit to Bandra's iconic Lucky Restaurant

As they celebrate their diamond jubilee this year Phorum Dalal meets the second and third generation owners to know how an Irani restaurant with just seven dishes on the menu has come to serve over a hundred items and has now even replicated their success in Goregaon Syed Mohsen sprints up the flight of wooden stairs and it takes an effort to keep up On the landing the 46yearold turns around and apologetically announces ldquoI have a habit to climb fast sorryrdquo Sayed Ali Akbar left the restaurant to his seven sons and two daughters Today only four survive Lucky is actively run by Sayed Safar Ali centre and his son Mohsen Left along with Syedrsquos younger brother Syed Amrulla right and his son Abbas PicsSameer Sayed Bedi On the second floor he leads us into his ancestral home now used as an office where 85yearold Sayed Safar Ali owner of Lucky Restaurant is seated on the sofa engrossed in a newspaper his alert eyes running through the daily news Since the age of 10 Ali has worked at the restaurant which his father Syed Ali Akbar opened on September 9 1938 This year the iconic restaurant at Bandra junction completed 75 years Syed Ali Akbar founded Lucky Restaurant on September 9 1938 ldquoMy father immigrated from Iran in 1912 to Bombay where he owned a restaurant called Bombay Restaurant in Bandra Bazaar When Akbar spotted the building where Lucky stands today he knew he wanted a restaurant here Thatrsquos how Lucky Restaurant replaced a motor showroom that was faring badly on the same spot Nobody bought cars in Bandra at the timerdquo says Syed who would roll down the shutters of the restaurant at 5 am every day so that they could be ready to serve the mill workers whorsquod have their first shift at 6 am 85yearold Sayed Safar Ali the current coowner of Lucky Restaurant started working here when he wasu00a0just 10 ldquoAt that time the menu had only seven things on its list Biryani Kheema pav mutton chops vegetable dal coffee and chai We also ran an Irani store that sold items from patent medicines to bread butter and jamrdquo says Syed Syed Safar Ali still has a copy of the invitation card for the inauguration of Lucky RestaurantA priest from Mount Mary Church had conducted the inaugural ceremony In the evenings the restaurant also served bheja and zabaan which was bought from a slaughter house mdash which has now moved to Deonar mdash nearby During the British rule it was a thing below dignity for middleclass families to visit restaurants During the Second World War the restaurants even saw soldiers dropping in for meals during their breaks Over the years the owners have perfected the taste of biryani A cook prepares a takeaway order Along with biryani the restaurant serves over a 100 dishes including Chinese and Indian coastal cuisine Syed remembers working with his father who put up a strict front to ensure quality ldquoBut inside he was kindhearted and soft At the time he taught me that a rupee was 16 anna and an anna was four paisa to carry out bill transactions He wanted me to be a doctor but a secondclass score could not get me a seat hererdquo he recalls An old photograph of Lucky Stores and Lucky Restaurant Mill workers and labourers used to be the early customers at 6 am After the British rule the standard of living of people went up and families started frequenting restaurants In 1983 Lucky builta hotel on the same premise till date boasting of 21 fully airconditioned rooms And in 19911992 they opened the bakery ldquoBut the difference today is like the earth and the sky We haveover a 100 dishes on the menu We never had tandoori chicken After Independence a restaurant called La Bella opened in south Bombay along with A1 Grill and they introduced Tandoori chicken which we included in our menurdquo Following his fatherrsquos footsteps Mohsen joined his father at the age of 15 squeezing in shifts between school hours A selfproclaimed workaholic he introduced an AC section new crockery uniforms and furniture ldquoTill date I take advice from father who is the best judge on all important matters But I have contributed to the development of this restaurant We now serve Chinese and seafood too In 1994 I headed a major revamp as it was the right time to upgrade the placerdquo says Moshin looking at his father with a grin ldquoHe was not that happy and was convinced only after the collections doubledrdquo he adds I turn to the senior owner for a comment ldquoI didnrsquot want to give away the beautiful Irani chairsrdquo he iterates The biryani With the regular ldquopoachingrdquo that goes on between restaurants and kitchens Syed is not worried ldquoTomorrow if the chef is away the patron will not notice it I can guide any cook to create our signature biryanis without breaking a sweat A Persian saying goes lsquoTo do something right you have to practice itrsquo And that is what I have donerdquo says Syed adding that even if he were to give away the restaurantrsquos recipe no one could reproduce it ldquoOver the years we have gradually perfected our dishes Our chef functions like a software in a computer He knows exactly what to do In our biryani the first thing that hits the patron is the aroma of masalas The role of taste buds comes in just after It is what allures an eater to take the first biterdquo smiles Syed who believes that cooking is an art ldquoWe have mastered the art of infusing flavour into every grainrdquo says Syed whose restaurant cooks around 200 kg chicken and 20 kg mutton every day And this figure is just a mere guess Memorable moments Having run a restaurant for over 40 years many memories remain etched on Syedrsquos mind When we ask him to narrate a few he says therersquos something funny happening at the restaurant every day ldquoLucky stands on an important junction of the city on SV Road which used to be the route for all dignitaries to pass in their big cars From the Pope to Mahatma Gandhi all have passed from here People used to gather on our terrace to get a glimpse The Pope even blessed our building from outside Mahatma Gandhi never came in but I saw him pass byrdquo says Syed who vividly remembers the 1947 riots ldquoWhile almost the entire city burned Bandra was nonviolent and peaceful There was no threat here and the Queen of suburbs maintained her dignityrdquo smiles Syed He also remembers the chaos on the streets when a cyclone hit the city in 1948 ldquoBut that was nothing compared to the deluge in 2005 People had parked their cars on the Bandra bridge and had waded into the restaurant that was in kneedeep water People sat in our premises all night We welcomed everyone that night to eat and even use the toiletsrdquo With the pain of seeing the Irani chairs moved out for more comfortable seating having faded with the success of Lucky Restaurant Syed is satisfied ldquoWe changed only with the mindset of our customers one step at a timerdquo says Syed In 2010 that they opened a branch in Goregaon with double the rooms But for now this is all the expansion on their mind there is Syed puts it beautifully with yet another Persian saying Who is at one place he is everywhere and he who concentrates everywhere is no whererdquo u00a0