Coffee, cream or cheese omelette: at Vohuman Café, the choice has been a difficult one for decades

If not eggs, bun butter and toast butter are the go-to options at Vohuman. The cream plate, or malai, is also enjoyed by customers, but is only available till it lasts every day. The coffee is served with the coffee powder settled at the bottom of the glass, which one must stir to see the milk change colour from cream to a dark brown.

Earlier situated next to Jehangir Hospital, the cafe shifted to its current location in 2015.  A toddy shop started by Sarosh’s maternal grandfather originally stood at the cafe’s location. In 1978, Hormaz Irani, Sarosh’s father, closed down the toddy shop and started Vohuman Cafe, as his wife did not wish for the family to be in the alcohol business.

The cheese omelette is the cafe’s most popular dish. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)

Hormaz passed away in 2016. His red Luna is proudly displayed at the entrance of the cafe. Recalling a humorous incident about the scooter, Sarosh said, “One day I had gone to the restaurant to just relieve dad at about 11 o’clock. I was sitting on the counter and my dad took Luna and went out. And dad had this typical way of going straight into the centre of the road. Everyone had to stop for him. (That day) A bus crashed into him and he just fell on the side of the road. Instinctively I just ran out and went to pick him up. And the first thing he did was abuse me and he said, “How did you leave the counter and come?”

An omelette at the cafe costs Rs 35, cheese omelette costs Rs 70, and a special tea costs Rs 30. Sarosh says he is continuing his dad’s legacy. “He was always of the opinion that you should be able to serve the classes also and the masses as well. I don’t think I have done much more than what my poor old man did, right? We have one shop. We are happy. We are fine. We are going on okay.”

Actor Ashish Vidyarthi is a regular at the cafe, arriving every time he comes for a check-up at Ruby Hall. “But honestly I don’t care about celebrities and I am not fascinated by them. A normal customer walking out of the cafe happily is more important than any celebrity posting us on social media,” Sarosh concludes.