Time machines may or may never exist but one thing's for sure- Vohuman Cafe will take you back to the glorious past of charming little Irani cafes bustling with people, creaking with the sound of old wooden furniture and filled with the heady aromas of simple but delightful food. I say past because there aren't too many of them left and the ones that continue to exist have an uncertain future; children of most current owners have either moved on to greener pastures or are plain uninterested in continuing with the business. A case in point is the heartbreaking shutting down of many such cafes in Mumbai in the recent past.
I once visited the cafe on a Sunday morning and immediately was taken aback by the crowd - not just the sheer number but also the fact that most of their customers seemed to be 20 -30 age group many of them belonging to well-heeled families. This is the crowd you'd expect to see in an upmarket French bistro, sipping on their lattes as opposed to slurping cups of irani chai.
After a rather arduous wait, we did manage to get a table and another aspect that seemed oddly amusing was the fact that there's precisely one attendant who takes all orders with a couple of obedient side-kicks who run the dishes. I don't remember this man taking a physical note of our order, or anyone else's for that matter, but all the dishes seemed to going on the right table and to the persons they were meant for.
The menu is very basic - plain and cheese omelettes, egg bhurji, variations of bread and butter, tea and coffee. We ordered the bhurji, cheese omelette and toast butter. I am not a fan of spicy food and abhor green chillies and so was more than pleasantly surprised to find that the food is mild. A refreshing change from other restaurants where half my time is spent plucking out green chillies from an omelette. The bhurji was extremely light and flavoursome and the portion would easily suffice 2 average eaters. The fluffy cheese omelette was just perfect to my liking - eggs, cheese and perfectly seasoned. They surely don't skimp on the cheese here. And not on butter either. The toast-butter came with a massive dollop of butter and is heavenly to relish either by itself, dunked in chai or eaten with the egg dishes. This meal couldn't have possibly been complete without some piping hot chai and a mandatory parcel of bun-maska, both of which were as good as it gets.
Experiences like these make me want to assiduously hold on to this delicious era which is being traded in for all things flashy. I will keep revisiting this place for regular doses of nostalgia and great breakfasts. So should you.
I once visited the cafe on a Sunday morning and immediately was taken aback by the crowd - not just the sheer number but also the fact that most of their customers seemed to be 20 -30 age group many of them belonging to well-heeled families. This is the crowd you'd expect to see in an upmarket French bistro, sipping on their lattes as opposed to slurping cups of irani chai.
After a rather arduous wait, we did manage to get a table and another aspect that seemed oddly amusing was the fact that there's precisely one attendant who takes all orders with a couple of obedient side-kicks who run the dishes. I don't remember this man taking a physical note of our order, or anyone else's for that matter, but all the dishes seemed to going on the right table and to the persons they were meant for.
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| Toast Butter - Not for the faint-hearted |
Experiences like these make me want to assiduously hold on to this delicious era which is being traded in for all things flashy. I will keep revisiting this place for regular doses of nostalgia and great breakfasts. So should you.
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