A long time ago, the late veteran journalist Anil Dharkar wrote about the butter chicken at Gulmurg. The next day, queues snaked outside the restaurant at The Shalimar Hotel, Kemps Corner. Long before that, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu used to slip in for leisurely lunches, while Amitabh Bachchan and Shammi Kapoor were among its regular patrons. For generations of South Mumbai families, Gulmurg has hosted their many milestone. It was where memories were made.

In its new avatar, about 50 per cent of the menu remains unchanged. “Favourites like the tikka masala and other long-standing classics, have a cult following among our regular guests. People have actually called me and said, ‘Please don’t take this off the menu.’ So those dishes stay, although we’ve refreshed the presentation a little,” says Mr DS Advani, chairman and managing director of The Shalimar Hotel.