The faded glass panes have a story to tell. So do the framed posters on the wall that have had many many pairs of eyes rest on them in a moment of distraction.
The crockery brings back memories of birthday parties that you went to as a child, where orange squash would fill up glasses bearing plastic floral prints and sandwiches would be abandoned for second helpings of creamy cake. Trips down memory lane cannot be anything but beautiful, and the Coffee House on M G Road, Bangalore, underlines that thought.
Walk into the place for a feel of what Bangalore would have seemed like almost five decades ago. Nothing has changed in this humble coffee place... not the style, and certainly not the coffee. “I have worked here for 39 long years and I can vouch for the fact that the purity of coffee here has not lessened once,” says head waiter A Chinappan, who adds that a cup of coffee cost a mere Re 1.00 in the good old days.
Whether it’s for the quintessential cuppa or the ‘scrambled egg on toast’ and ‘finger chips’ that are hot favourites of the regulars at Coffee House, this venue is ever abuzz with people. Disparate conversations fall on your ears... old timers on their number one topic of politics, news hounds from news offices in the vicinity taking a breather, silent exchanges here and there, and a college goer or two relieved at the reasonably-priced food that they have chanced upon, and “loving it”.
Different people allied in the affection that they share for this paradise from the past. “It’s a great place to hang out in. Somehow, it gives me a sense of being in ‘Malgudi’,” says Madhu Prasad, a corporate communication person.
Journalist Kapil T is in love with the place for a whole new reason: “It’s not like other coffee places in the City where they’re breathing down your neck to place an order, and after you’ve shelled out a small fortune for a simple coffee, they’re plotting to get you to move from the place.”
Coffee House has had its share of celebrity visitors too - “Annavaru”, S M Krishna, Deve Gowda, Mohanlal, Shivaraj Kumar, and Kannada film producer Ramu to name a few. Coffee House was an initiative of Coffee Board, but in 1958 it came to be managed by members of Indian Coffee Workers’ Co-operative Society Ltd, none other than ex-employees of Coffee Board.
This adorable coffee place, where waiters still march about in old-fashioned uniforms and canvas shoes that have seen better days, is facing threat of demolition and is also involved in a court case in a related matter. “If the Coffee House on M G Road does have to close shop, we have plans to relocate to the head office of ICW Co-op Society Ltd, located on Avenue Road, that also serves coffee but is currently undergoing renovation,” says Nagarajaiah K U, manager, Coffee House.
All that’s left to do is hope that the fate of Coffee House will be a happy one, for it’s one of those precious few places left in Bangalore where time stands still and there’s always room for dreamers.
