The legacy of Cafe Goodluck on Pune's Fergusson College Road

From colonial bungalows to high-rise buildings, small shops to giant malls, narrow streets to four-lane roads, Poona has evolved into Pune over the years, but there are a few places which haven’t really changed.

Like the city’s famous Irani restaurant, popularly known as Café Goodluck. The eatery, which lords it over the busy intersection of Bhandarkar and Fergusson College roads, was perhaps the first garden restaurant in Pune with 40-odd tables.

It was in 1932, when one Narayan Seth bought a small place which was later taken over by Haji Hussain Ali Yakshi. In 1935, Haji Hussain Ali set up this food joint here, which has catered to the taste buds of several Punekars. 

As you enter the café, you can’t fail to notice the aroma of scrumptious food that pervades the surroundings. The bun maska with hot chaai is the most favoured dish of the loyal students and citizens, who come here after their morning exercise.

The place also offers varied options of egg — omelette and fried eggs, soft and fluffy scrambled eggs on toast and bun omelette. The five-star quality chocolate mousse here is savoured by all along with other desserts such as caramel pudding and kulfi. One also can’t miss out on the spicy bheja masala or bheja chutney
with rice. 

When Haji Hussain Ali passed away in 1989, his brother Kasim took over the restaurant. Haji Hussain Ali’s son Ghasem remembers visiting the restaurant as a child. “After my father’s demise, I used to help my uncle. In 2001, I finally took over it. The challenge was to revise the redundant menu. It was the need of the hour to break the monotony and so I came up with tawa and tandoori recipes,” says Ghasem.

Till 2004, the young generation was reluctant to visit this place as they thought that it was meant for oldies only.

“The revised menu brought in the young crowd. As there are many colleges in the vicinity such as Modern, Fergusson, BMCC and Symbiosis, this became the most-preferred destination,” adds Ghasem.    

Manager Abbas Ali Khajehnoori, who has been with the café since 1965, says, “In those days, one samosa with one chaai and a cigarette would cost Re1. Since the Film and Television Institute of India’s inception in 1965, many actors like Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna and director David Dhawan would visit us regularly.”

The eatery had to go through some dark days when the H1N1 virus spread in the city. “Those were the days when for the first time I felt a crunch. The business suffered about 60% to 70 % loss. I had to pay the staff from my pocket to retain them,” says Ghasem.

With rising number of eateries and chains of fast food joints, Ghasem has full faith in his customers. “Competition is always good for the customers and the market. Sometimes I have to invest from my profit. Earlier, we used to revise the prices of the dishes once in three years but with sky-rocketing prices of raw materials, we revise the cost of dishes every year,” says Ghasem.

The restaurant’s USP has been its inexpensive and delicious yet fulfilling food. The café has come up with free home delivery service to areas like Aundh, Kothrud, Prabhat and Bhandarkar roads. The ‘luck’ sure is taking it places.