Cafe Mondegar

Cafe Mondegar
Cafe Mondegar entrance
Location in Mumbai, India
Restaurant information
Established	April 1, 1932
Current owner(s)	Rusi Yazdegardi Hoshang Yazdegardi & Family
Dress code	None
Street address	Metro House, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Colaba Causeway
City	Mumbai
State	Maharashtra
Postal code/ZIP	400005
Country	India
Coordinates	18°55′27″N 72°49′56″E / 18.924158°N 72.832126°E
Other locations	None
Other information	Open daily: 0800 to 2400 Hrs

Cafe Mondegar (a.k.a Café Mondegar and Mondy's) is amongst the first (along with Leopold Cafe) and most iconic restaurant and bars in Mumbai, India. Cafe Mondegar is the first restaurant in Mumbai to house a jukebox.

The restaurant is a popular landmark and touristic attraction of Mumbai. Famous Indian cartoonist and painter Mario Miranda painted murals (his cartoons) on all inner walls and entrance ceiling of the restaurant.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

• 

  Jukebox in Café Mondegar

History

Cafe Mondegar was started in 1932 by Iranian Zoroastrians (Parsi settlers in India) as an Irani café. The current building (Metro House), then housed a hotel called Apollo Hotel and the café was started in the reception area of the hotel. By mid 20th century, the café introduced a jukebox, (first in Mumbai) and was simultaneously converted into a restaurant. By 1990s, Cafe Mondegar was refurbished, Mario Miranda's murals were painted on the walls & ceiling, and the restaurant was converted into a bar. Café is owned by Yazdegardi family and Rusi Yazdegardi / Hoshang Yazdegardi are the Managing partners of the business.^[7][8]

Location

Cafe Mondegar is situated in the Metro House in Colaba Causeway, 450 meters North-West of Gateway of India, 200 meters North-East of Leopold Cafe and 400 meters South of Elphinstone College in Mumbai.^[9][10]

Murals

In 1990s, Rusi Yazdegardi (owner) asked Mario Miranda to draw murals (cartoons) on two opposite walls; i.e. wall adjacent to the main entrance and wall opposite the main entrance. Both walls have different themes. Whilst one wall is dedicated to Life in Mumbai, the other wall is dedicated to Atmosphere in the Café.

Since Mario Miranda only drew in black-and-white and on canvas, initially all the drawings were made on canvas. Those drawings were later rendered on the restaurant walls and colors were filled in with the help of students from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art and under Mario Miranda's supervision.^[11]

• Murals
• 

  Cafe bar with murals

• 

  Murals on restaurant walls

See also

• Irani café
• Leopold Cafe
• Mario Miranda
• Top Mumbai Restaurants

References

1. "Mumbai's most legendary". CNN. Retrieved Jul 2015.
2. "Cafe Mondegar cartoon". Tripadvisor. Retrieved Jul 2015.
3. "Cafe Mondegar review". Lonely Planet. Retrieved Jul 2015.
4. "Cafe Mondegar remembers Mario Miranda". Rediff.com. Retrieved Jul 2015.
5. "10 Meals You Must Have in Mumbai". NDTV food. Retrieved Jul 2015.
6. "Cafe Mondegar location". wikimapia.org. Retrieved Jul 2015.
7. "Mumbai's Parsi Café Culture". Skift. Retrieved Jul 2015.
8. "Café Mondegar may shut down". First Post. Retrieved Jul 2015.
9. "Coordinates". latlong.net. Retrieved Jul 2015.
10. "Location". Google Maps. Retrieved Jul 2015.
11. "Cartoonist who loved to draw". Hindustan Times. Retrieved Jul 2015.