Mumbai, India's financial capital and one of the busiest cities in Asia, also happens to be amongst the favorites for tourists. And with the kind of growth that it has witnessed in the recent past only means that joints and cafeterias and places for refreshments and relaxation are mushrooming like never before! Some of them are known for their global presence in multiple countries and then there are some who despite having little or no presence outside of one city, somehow manage to capture the imagination and love of people. People, who've been loyalists for years now and some for decades!

Welcome to Cafe Mondegars, or Mondys, as its popularly known , a highly popular joint situated next to Regal Cinema, Colaba, just a stone's throw away from the Gateway of India.

I met Mr. Huxley Pimenta, the Manager of Cafe Mondegars and discussed a few things about Mondy's and came out with a lot more data than I had known previously about this cafe.

One of the most popular attractions of Mondys is the jukebox out there. And well, I did realise that they probably dont say 'Old is gold' for no reason after all! It happens that 'Hotel California' continues to be the favorite tune of people even today! Also, much like the famous 'Sports Bar' situated next to Mondy's, this place too enjoy quite a bit of crowd during important cricket and soccer games. And apparently, its very difficult to take a call as to which is the more popular sport amongst the two. Pimenta himself preferred soccer though and the fever that Euro'08 generated was quite something to behold!

Another important feature about Mondy's is the Mario Miranda cartoons that can be seen on its walls. The ace cartoonist was a very good friend of Rusi Yezdegardi, one of the five owners of the joint and that special bond meant that getting those special cartoons on the walls was never a problem.

Foreign tourists do take an instant liking to the place and a lot of them happen to have their breakfast, lunch, dinner, all three of them at Mondys during their stay at Mumbai. The kind of memories that they take of the city are also special and fond in nature, to say the least! Infact, the Manager was of the opinion that he's hardly met anyone in his 4-year stint so far that had anything bad to talk about the city. The kind of bond that some of the foreign tourists have formed with the place can be judged from the fact that they tend to even buy in lots Mondy's T-Shirts . Moreoever, some even go to the extent of "bidding" for the uniform that the waiters at Mondy's wear! Time to make a special mention then of 3 Britisher friends of Mr. Pimenta who work with a leading airline company and stay at suburban Andheri. Despite staying so far away (Andheri's a good 40 min drive from Colaba and in peak traffic hours, could take even more than that) those friends make it a point to frequently visit Mondy's. Now thats not just a tribute to the place in itself but also to the kind of mateship that the Manager and the staff tend to develop with its customers!

A place that started off as an Irani restaurant more than 90 years ago surely has come a long way since it was revamped by the Rusi family and some of their friends somewhere in the early 70s. Mr. Huxley Pimenta who's spent all his childhood at Colaba and who's now managing the place which he claims was one the areas around which he loitered most of his early teenage years cant praise the cafe enough! 4 years into his job now and he proudly exclaims that he's never found this kind of job satisfaction ever in his previous years of work experience. The sheer love that his owners shower on him and the raw passion that he has for his job quite clearly reflects in his work ethic which inturn motivates him to make the already popular place an even better one for all its customers!

Good for us, infact great for us all in Mumbai! Kudos to a lovely place that just seems to be getting better and better and is now an icon of the city in itself.

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