Mani’s Lunch Home to reopen in October

A traditional meal at Mani’s Photograph via Mani’s Lunch Home

The propreitor of Mani’s Lunch Home, KS Narayanaswamy is busy prepping for the launch of his restaurant, which downed its shutters in Matunga in July. In fact, he even had a date in mind. “I was hoping it would be open by September 7th,” says Narayanaswamy of his restaurant, which will reopen in Chembur in October.

The menu will remain exactly the same – medu wada, uppuma, sheera and pongal, in the am and kela bajji (savoury banana fritters), rasam wada, dahi wada, onion pakkoda and Mysore bonda among other snacks in the evening besides the meals during lunch time – but there will be a marginal difference in the prices. “They will be slightly higher,” says Narayanaswamy. Unfortunately, while Narayanaswamy wanted to reopen his restaurant in the suburb where it was originally located in Matunga East, it was a challenge finding the space that he needed, and real estate in the eastern suburb of Chembur came at a higher premium, which explains the rise in prices.

The Matunga landmark, which was opened by Narayanaswamy’s father VS Mani Iyer in 1937, had turned into a regular meeting and eating place for Mumbai’s Malayalis to celebrate Onam in the city. While it would have been ideal for the restaurant to have reopened before Onam day, fans of the restaurant will turn up in droves (just as they had when they heard news of Mani’s shutting down was announced in June) when it reopens. “We should be ready before Diwali,” who adds that the delays have been caused mostly due to the repair work being done to set up the restaurant.