Around Town: Inside the Ambanis’ favourite 88-year-old Cafe Mysore in Matunga

Going back in time

As legend has it, in pre-Independent India, a young A Rama Nayak stowed away on a ship from Mangalore to then Bombay without a shirt on his back and went on to become a formidable figure in Matunga, successfully running multiple restaurants in the neighbourhood.

“After losing his father, he and his mother came to Mumbai. They stayed at Rama Krishna Ashram and cooked there in exchange for their stay. He later started working as a cook, got married, and moved into a chawl in Brahmanwada. He was so good at his work that he was appreciated by the owners,” recalled Shanteri about her father-in-law, adding that he was a celebrated man when she got married and joined the family in 1975. “Between 1942 and 1960, he took over several hotels to manage, which was common practice at the time, and Cafe Mysore was one of them.”

People eating at cafe Mysore. (Photo courtesy: Express photos by Sankhadeep Banerjee.)

The eatery was much smaller then and in a dilapidated state. The late A Rama Nayak turned it around, and in 1973-74, he passed it on to his son Nagesh Rama Nayak. Shanteri’s husband Nagesh, an engineer from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), is credited with expanding the restaurant.

“He was a visionary and had a lot of ideas — he introduced the three-cavity-plate for serving efficiently, hot water washing of utensils, steam boilers for cooking, and himself designed the spiral staircase to save space. The first major renovation happened in the early 1980s,” noted his son, Naresh Nagesh Nayak, 44, who currently owns the restaurant and handles its day-to-day operations. “When he passed away in 2009, my mother – one of the first graduates in her village near Mangalore – took over the reins of the restaurant and ran it efficiently alongside my sister Neha. I took over during the Covid period,” added Naresh, who added a digital kiosk at the entry and a hands-free washing station in the restaurant, to keep up with the times.

Food at café Mysore. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Mukherjee)

Cafe Mysore and the Ambani family

It was during his father’s time that Reliance Industries’ Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani – then a student at the University Department of Chemical Technology (now ICT) – started frequenting Cafe Mysore, a tradition that continues to this day.

Naresh reminisced about his earliest memories of Mukesh Ambani dining at the restaurant. “I was barely seven years old, sitting on the manager’s lap, when he pointed to the television screen showing two young gentlemen and then to a table in the restaurant. Those gentlemen were Mukesh and Anil Ambani, and my young brain could not comprehend how someone could be in two places at once,” he laughed.

Food at café Mysore. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Mukherjee)

He recounted another instance when Mukesh Ambani dined upstairs in the air-conditioned section with his wife Nita and their three children. “When they finished their meal, the staff rushed to get the car but Mr Ambani walked leisurely with his kids, took out a hundred-rupee note, and bought them balloons from a roadside vendor,” he shared. “Mr Ambani has remained humble and still treats everyone as an equal. Even the children reflect his values. They did not have to touch my mother’s feet but the way they treated her brought tears to my eyes,” he added.

To this day, food from Cafe Mysore is delivered to the Ambani residence every weekend with their F&B team placing and picking up the order in advance. Payment is made promptly. “Mr Ambani has spoken about only one brand in the media that’s not theirs—it is Cafe Mysore,” Naresh added with pride.

Cafe Mysore. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Mukherjee)

Mantra for success

Over the years, many Udupi eateries have had to shut down. While Naresh admits that business is not what it was before Covid, he also shares that their boiler runs non-stop from 6 am to 10 pm, producing fresh plates of idlis – their most popular item – of which they sell over a thousand daily.

When asked about their success mantra, Naresh said, “Our goal is to provide very honest value to the customer at the right price” – a practice upheld since his grandfather’s time. “We do not compromise on the quality of ingredients; whether it is flour, oil, or spices, they are milled, cold-pressed, and ground in-house. We buy milk several times a day, starting at 5 am, to ensure it is fresh. We also listen to our customers and cater to their demands, including offering items like peri peri dosa,” added Naresh.