Looking for an opportunity to grow in business and settle in a new city, Ghulam Hussain made the journey from Mumbai (then Bombay) and set up a tea-cum-general provisions store in Secunderabad in the 1950s. The 100-seater restaurant and provisional store was being planned in a corner as a neighbour of a yet-to-be inaugurated Paradise cinema theatre. So what better than naming the restaurant after it, they thought. So, in September of 1953 Paradise restaurant opened its doors to the public, a month before the theatre started running.
Ghulam Hussain was the uncle of the present Paradise owner, Ali Hemati. Referring to old photos which are hung on various walls of Paradise Food Court in Secunderabad, Ali says, “See the neat shelves on the walls, all the general items used to be stacked and displayed here. Then there were no super markets, so provisional stores were the lifeline of all. Also since we sold chai, it was easy to stop for a cup and pick what was needed.”
The idea of coming to Hyderabad was to look for a lucrative business option. The family initially resided in Khairatabad. Paradise restaurant sold chai , but never called it Irani chai . That might be because, Paradise’s tea is kadak chai prepared with the half and half ratio of milk and water. The decoction is strong, but Ali shows another combination. Those who drink light tea can add a dash of black tea to the kadak chai to dilute it and make it non kadak .
With chai being a hot seller, Paradise restaurant slowly introduced biscuits and samosa and was received well by its loyal customers. “More cups of chai began to sell.” Even though biryani was always there at Paradise it was the chai that sold the most at any point of the day. Since it was priced nominally, people would have it many times in a day. However, I will not be able to recall the price of tea at that time, I was very young, just born actually and after I took over I didn’t find out,” adds Ali.
Even today, the scene at Paradise restaurant or the tea section which is on the side of the Zorastrian club, the oldest of the present 1500 seater restaurant is always busy with people though it has been renovated completely. In this section the customers are the busy passers-by who want to grab a bite, a few sips with somasa and biscuit before heading to their respective chores. Since it opens at 5 am many young boys come from different localities for their roti-keema-chai combination and catch up with friends.
There is another reason why Paradise opens at 5 am. “Many people travel by bus to various places for their livelihood. The bus-stops that connect to various parts of the city are all in the vicinity. I didn’t want anyone to miss their bus and get late. So, we started opening chai section at 5 am,” says Ali. When at Paradise tea section, don’t miss the flaky egg samosa, keema samosa and the onion patti samosa.
Regulars love the dil-khush and dil-pasand, an overdose of cherry, creme and sugar.
