As the Akasa Air was set to touch down at Mumbai’s CSMI airport early in the morning, I could see up close how the ‘Maximum City’ has transformed itself from the time I had last visited.
Our destination was God’s Gift Tower at Bandra (West) at the crossing of Swami Vivekananda (SV) Road and Hill Road. As our check-in time was at 1pm, we decided to drive to the 88-year-old iconic Lucky restaurant at Bandra for breakfast. The restaurant is currently run by the octogenarian Syed Safar Ali and his son Syed Mohsen. “My grandfather Syed Ali Akbar landed in Bombay all the way from Yazd, a historical city in Iran in 1912. Earlier, there was a car showroom here which was set up by Thomas De Monty. Almost half of Bandra was owned by him,” said Mohsen, who had joined the family business in 1984.
“My grandfather’s friend, a Marathi, had asked him whether he was interested to buy a property at Bandra. He had told my grandfather to get in touch with Mr Monty and the rest is history,” Mohsen, a graduate from MMK College of Commerce and Economics, said.
“When my grandfather saw the building where ‘Lucky’ is located today, it immediately crossed his mind that he would open a restaurant there. That’s how Lucky restaurant replaced a car dealership store. My grandfather had set up ‘Bombay Restaurant’ at Bandra bazaar on September 9, 1938,” Mohsen recalled. (The city came to be known as Mumbai from 1995)
Syed Ali Akbar founded the restaurant with a paltry Rs 375 and left it to his seven sons and two daughters. “Lucky has since become a family business,” Mohsen said adding his father Syed Safar was only 10 when he had joined hands with his father Syed Akbar at this restaurant.
Syed Safar, who used to work at a Pune restaurant, had moved to Madanpura, a vibrant street food bazaar that was known for its rich cultural heritage in south-central Mumbai. He was working there as a tea-coffee maker. “My father was a bright student. He had studied Botany at National College, Bandra,” he added.
During the WWII, Lucky used to serve mill workers whose first shift used to begin at 6am. Troops would stop by the eateries for meals during their breaks, Mohsen said. “Mumbaikars’ lifestyle improved after the British left India, and families started visiting restaurants.”
When Lucky restaurant was opened, it offered only biryani, kheema pau, mutton chop, vegetarian daal, coffee, and tea. Lucky has now over 100 different items on its menu. “Earlier we never tried tandoori chicken. After India became free in 1947, a restaurant named La Bella, along with A1 Grill, in south Bombay had introduced tandoori chicken. We later added that to our menu,” Mohsen said.
The ‘Lucky’ carved a special niche among the foodies in Mumbai. In 1983, a hotel was built next to the restaurant. A bakery unit was also opened in 1991. ‘Lucky’ has opened another outlet in Goregaon in 2010. It now boasts one of the best biryanis in Mumbai. “We’ve over the years perfected the art of authentic biriyani cuisine. Our biriyani has alu (potato) in it, the typical Kolkata biriyani,” Mohsen said. “I’ve also introduced Chinese, BBQ and continental cuisine.”
“Since its inception, my grandfather never compromised with the quality of food,” he said. “Even today I keep striving hard to ensure that Quality is King at ‘Lucky’,” he said, beaming with pride.
“In the coming years nobody would possibly cook at home,” rued Mohsen recalling how his grandmother would cook at home during those days and the aroma would spread to neighboring homes.
“It was here at ‘Lucky restaurant filmmaker Vivek Vaswani, who was instrumental in launching Shah Rukh Khan’s film career, had signed the contract for SRK’s first movie ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ in 1986,” he said pointing at the table where the deal was struck.
Years earlier, a young Salim Khan, newly arrived in Mumbai, would begin his morning cup of tea here. Its timeless charm has attracted celebrities like Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar, Amit Kumar, Shipa Shetty and Bipasha Basu. “These days they prefer takeaway food especially our signature items mutton biriyani and kebab,” Mohsen said.
How will he explain the ‘Lucky restaurant’s USP? “Three ‘H’… honesty, humility and hard work,” Mohsen said, his eyes took on a sparkle.
