There’s coffee too

A grocery store-cum-chai place which went on to become a landmark for Hyderabadi biryani

Cafe Bahar at Hyderguda in Hyderabad. Photo: G. Ramakrishna

Cafe Bahar is crowded as usual. The staunch loyalists are divided into two groups; biryani connoisseurs and chai lovers. There are also those who won’t leave the place till they complete the whole process of relishing their biryani with their cup of coffee or Irani chai . The crowd at the tea section spills over to the road. These are those tea drinkers who have no time to stop, sit and sip. They don’t have the time and luxury to dip their salty Osmania biscuit into their sweet Irani chai and relish every bite followed by a blissful sip of that tea.

The cafe which started in 1973 was originally meant to be a tea/coffee place which doubled as a provisional store. “Not tea. Irani chai and coffee. ‘ Chai peekay atein ’ is what everyone says, whether they drink tea or coffee. It is a very Hyderabadi expression. That was the time when people were starting to have coffee outside a shop,” smiles Ali Asghar Bolooki of Cafe Bahar.

The Irani samosa at Cafe Bahar at Hyderguda Photo: G. Ramakrishna

 

In 1973 a cup of tea cost 15 paise and coffee was 20 paise. “The Irani samosa and Osmania biscuit cost 5 paise each. Now tea is ₹10 and coffee is ₹15 and each Irani samosa is priced at ₹ 5 and biscuit at ₹ 3,” informs Asghar.

Cafe Bahaar was passed on to Asghar from his father Syed Hussain Bolooki. Syed Husain Bolooki’s father Syed Ali Akbar Bolooki had shifted to Hyderabad from Mumbai in 1957. They came from Iran in 1934 and settled in Mumbai. “The current Shiv Sena Building in Mumabi belonged to my grandfather; tt was originally a restaurant called Shapour,” shares Asghar.

HYDERABAD, TELANGANA, 05/03/2017: Cafe Bahar at Hyderguda in Hyderabad. Photo: G. Ramakrishna

 

At Cafe Bahar, it isn’t the tea and Osmania biscuit that sell well. Their Irani samosas, special chai and sugary cream buns are hot favourites.

When asked to put a number to the cups of tea they sell, Asghar says that’s impossible. “It is about a several thousand per day. We begin at 4 am and close at midnight. So, the number isn’t constant. In winter however the number of cups sold slightly goes up. The Irani patti samosa is available throughout the day and our Osmania biscuits are baked through the day. We have two chai-masters operating on two shifts,” explains Asghar.