HAZRATGUNJ-A Foodie’s Dream !!
Gunj has always been, is and shall always be a haven for the foodies and there was a time that restaurants and eating joints in Lucknow, existed only in gunj, except for the ones in old Lucknow.
Chaat ,sweets ,kulfi and veg food of Motimahal and Choudharys were very attractive in the yester years and in fact the best in the city, specially famous for chat, milk pudding and nans. So were the meetha pans outside Chowdhary ,folded in a cone, decorated by a silver foil and coconut powder, placed over a ice slab and which could match any dessert. The old Capoors and China bar which was near Mullicks,served drinks and the latter was very famous for its mutton cutlets. Capoors was the only restaurant serving liquor and hence was avoided by families generally.
The three most visited restaurants were, Kwalities,,Royal Cafe and Ranjanas. Kwalties was the costliest and classiest restaurant, located in the Mayfair Building. Besides food it was famous for its snacks, confectionary and ice-creams. Inclusion of pineapple pastries from Kwalities, priced at a rupee a piece even in late sixties was the gold standard for any party. Besides business luncheons, it was used for match-making and often for couples for the dream date or the proposal place. Royal café was then located in the Halwasia Court, just before Halwasia building and was considered as the only fine-dine restaurant of those days.I ts dim light, live oechestra and antique furniture, gave it a look of an English reataurant. Baked vegetables, Non veg mixed grill and fish tomato with butter naans were its speciality .For year’s dad use to take all of us, there for dinner after the ritualistic Saturday movie, a habit which we have followed to date, of having dinner out on every satureday. We would however first go to Choudharys, for mummy to have her vegetarian food, unless she had had chat before the movie. Ranjana, was located where Barrista is today, and was the busiest restaurant throughout the day.Its Dosas, grilled sandwiches and cutlets were all time favorite. Ranjana was the only restaurant serving Chinese in sixties and it was there, where I tasted chinese for the first time in 1968,and that too, with chop sticks.
Anapoorna, was located to the side of Ranjana in the Prince-Filmistan building and resembled the Irani restaurants of Pune and Mumbai serving tea and snacks, specially good potato patties and small vanilla pasteries. The Indian Coffee House located next to Ramlal Brothers, had its coveted identity. Haunted by poets ,journalists and artists it was the place were all the national and international issues were discussed over a cup of coffee. The strong aroma of the filter coffee mixed with that of crisp masala dosa and cigarette smoke, lingers in my mind even today. Talking of Dosa,I cant resist talking about Madras Mess, working out of a house ,located inside, from the lane next to Gandhi Ashram.I can never forget that,since I was always taken there by my brother,to patch up, after he had bashed me or had a fight. Madras mess served typical south Indian soft dosas for 50 paisa, with sambhar and chutney served in saucers from buckets. Extra sambhar and chutney was free and hence we would often have several plates of them. The building next to the hanuman mandir had a pure vegetarian restaurant which changed many names,including Anapurna and Bantoos.It served thalis for meals at throw away prices and was frequented by office workers for lunch. It probably also had few rooms too,on the first floor.
Once Anapoorna, closed down from its original place, it re opened as Krishna Sweet house, next to Ramlala Brothers and was later converted to a restaurant , called Kayz Kozy Korner. Jone Hing came up as the first exclusive Chinese restaurant opposite the Hanuman mandir and most Lucknowites were introduced to chinese from there. For two years ,during my intermediate,76-78,every evening without fail, me and my dear friend Harsh, shared a plate of hakka noodles and a bowl of chicken sweet corn soup here,all for ten rupees. Rovers, at the petrol pump, opposite GPO, came up the same time and was the first fast food joint of Lucknow, serving burgers and roles.
There was King of Chart in Halwasia Market,Prince of chaat,on Shahanajaf Road and then the tikki and golegappa stall at the LIC Building before Lovers Lane. Besides these established eating joints there were few fixed hawkers too. The biryani and Kababs in the lane next to Prince, the boiled matar outside halwasia market,the chana Joor garam,on the varendah outside Bata, the Dahi wada outside GPO gate and the innumerable tthelas all along gunj,selling moongfali in winters and jaljeera in summers,in huge earthen pots, decorated with raw mangoes and mint leaves. A redi outside the Hazratgunj thana,attracted a big crowd for the omellete,of desi eggs made in amul butter, served with bread on newspaper. Not to miss the Rita and Gogo ice cream with an occasional Kwality ice-cream vender too, which introduced two special icecreams, Bon-Bon-,three ice ream balls coated with chocolate in a box, and Ball ice cream, where the ice-cream was sold in a plastic ball shaped cup, both for a rupee each.. Cold water was sold too, in the yesteryears, initially three paisa a glass and later five paisa and finally ten paisa for unlimited quantity, to cater to the students coming from Univ and for players returning from Stadium after evening games. All along gung there were hawkers selling fresh cucumbers, molis, fruit chat, sprouts, coconut, aamras, and boiled singhadas
Today ,Gunj has all this and more,with very few changes.Kwalities,Motimahal and Choudhary are less popular.Royal cafe in its new location is the busiest restaurant,not only of Hazratgunj bit also of the city,which is popular not only for its multi cuisine food,but for the chat too and specially the basket chat.Coffee House had closed down,but has been revived as a fast food and confectionery joint.Cafe Coffee day and Barista have been established and many older small restaurants,including ranjana have closed down
From the roadside fresh cucumbers to the pastry tray of Kwalities,all had their special charm, and catered to the pockets, needs and taste of one and all. What I have always found very surprising, is the fact that, till even today, no one from the old city, ventured to open a exclusive Lucknow Mughlai kababs, biryani and food outlet in Hazratgunj proper.
The variety of food available , even today is vast and no one who visits Lucknow, can ever forget them, specially the chat and kulfi.
Dr Sanjay Kapoor
Thursday, January 20, 2011
GROWING UP WITH HAZRATGUNJ-------A shoppers delight!
! GROWING UP WITH HAZRATGUNJ-------A shoppers delight!
Have been wanting to write on Hazratgunj since long, When I returned to Lucknow in 2008, then when it was being revamped, but finally cudnt resist now, when it has taken another new avtar, recently. After my house, what attracts me most to my beloved Lucknow, is Hazratgunj ! Gunj, as what Hazratgunj is popularly and lovingly called, is the main market of Lucknow probably the only market which has a noun to itself-gunjing, which is strolling in Hazratgunj, shopping, eating, and meeting friends or even just whiling away time. Its a unique market, complete in itself and just very few markets in the country, like CP in Delhi, Brigade Road in Banglaru and Main Street in Pune have been designed on this pattern
My romance with Gunj goes back to almost five decades, and my first memory of the area is, as a small child, being carried on the shoulders of my neighbour, for Milk-Badam, from the Sardars soft drink shop ,located between the LIC and Mayfair buildings,which was also the first to later introduce 7 Ups in Lucknow..As I grew older the visits became more frequent and became a daily ritual from 76-78.In spite of such a long duration, and with innumerable additions and deletions, the basic structure of Gunj has remained the same since eternity. Gunj has seen its ups and downs but has come out a winner each time .It underwent a similar do-up with uniform painting and sign boards in early seventies during the time of V R Mohan as the Mayor of Lucknow. With the expansion of the city and developement of areas like, Mahanagar, Gomtinagar, Aliganj and Indranagar, which created their own local markets, Gunj lost its charm for some time, and this was further added to by the coming up of the Malls in the city. But the die-hard spirit of gunj, did not give up, and over the last decade or so, with the establishment of shops like, Saree Bhawan, Calcutta-in -Style, Sugnamals and the showrooms of branded goods,like UCB,Van –Heusan, Allen Solly, Fab India, Life style and others and the regained popularity of Royal Cafe ,Gunj has regained its charm, and attracts crowds as before. Gunj is frequented usually for various purposes, shopping,eating, entertainment or just whiling away the time.
At one time gunj was the trendy market with almost each and everything available on one straight road. Modern Silk House and Ramlal Brothers, the corner shop,where Cafe Coffee day ,is today, were the laeding shops for sarees. Mercury and Back in a Day, popular dry-cleaners and Rupani and Vohras the clock and watch stores. Vohras was also the leading shop for prizes, trophies, momentoes, silverware and goods of white metal. B N Rama, British Pharmacy and Solomans were the drug stores and Mullicks was the leading shop for electric appliances and crockery and cutlery. Kaysons came up in mid seventies as the one stop store for trendy menswear and Lila Brothers were the fashioable mens tailor. Kohlis and GD Pun were the authorized tailors for army and police uniforms, respectivly. British and Universal Book stores were patronized by people of all ages, but specialy by children of public schools for their books and stationary. The good old Universal, which stood as the corner shop in the building between Gandhi ashram and Sahu, was huge and busy, giving the teenagers opportunity for shop lifting, and I cant resist from confessing that I have walked away with an Enid Bliton once, only because the wait to make the payment was getting unbearably long.. Gandhi Ashram stood as it is today, with Bata and Balujas being the shops for footwear.Kohli Brothers was a Photo studio and Famous Coat House opposite Mayfair, made the best ladies coats .Ram Prakash Brothers,which was earlier in Halwasia market, has provided school uniforms and Sitals sports goods to generations. Avadh Cocogem and Sahu Kirana were the Grocery shops and Kashmir fruit Mart was the stylish dry and fresh fruit shop, also selling tinned and canned food .Sahu chit fund and local bank opened in the same buiding in late sixties,and gave small savings an organized shape. Halwasia Market,an identity in itself, basicaly with shops for clothes and accessories for ladies and kids has existed for over half a century and its first shop, Button House has been the most haunted place for buttons and laces all these years. Janpath Market was established in early seventies to cope with the increasing demand of shops and shopping craze of Lucknowites and this brought the Chickan from Chowk and Aminabad to Gunj,mainly for the tourists. Stealing a part of Halwasia’s popularity. Devi Gramaphones, sold the good old Record players and Radiorgams along with the LPs and EPs of Indian and English music ( many may not have even seen a radiogram and the LP & EP records) As the craze of record players and records dwindled, Northern Refrigeration came up in the same shop, the corner shop beyond Mullicks, which is now the Provouge showroom.they were the first to sell fridges, on instalments in a lottery system, but the fridge was delivered after all the installments were made, We won the 165 Lltres Kelvinator fridge worth Rs 2700,in the tenth month for Rs 2000 only,in 1974.They were also the first to bring TVs in Lucknow,and in fact had advance booking for a year prior to its arrival,at Rs 50 for the booking of a Western B&W TV.
Talk on the shops of gunj is incomplete without the mention of Lovers Lane,the market in the buliding opposite the DRMs building. The market was named so, not because it had spots for couples to sit, but because it had the glamour of trend and fashion, which attracted the teenagers for shopping of sweet nothings and was what Janpath of Delhi is today. The most popular shops here were Cheap Stores, the general merchant and grocery shop and Modern Novelty, the stores for modern food, frozen poultry stuff and goods for birthday parties. The salami burger of Modern novelties was and still remains the tastiest burger I have ever had and even today I never miss an opportunity to grab one, whenever I am in the lane. The Lovers lane was famous for the shops it had in its verandah, which sold trincklets, sweet nothings, cards, gifts and smuggled imported clothes and perfumes. Fashion in Lucknow those days started from Lovers Lane. From James Bond cufflings, to bead strings and footwear introduced by Zeenat in Hare Ram Hare Krishna, broad belts with huge dragon buckles brought by Rajesh Khanna and huge goggles with changeable coloured glasses,popularized by Praveen Baby. The erstwhile Stretchloon cloth was introduced too here, in early seventies, which was used to make the bellbottoms with 32 inch bottoms. Hobbies Corner, the joint that not only sold story books but also gave them on rent,25 paisa a day ! There were few permanant persons here, the sweetman, who sold toffees and chocolates on a cycle,a mad man, who would keep repeating, Woh Ayegi and an elderly beggar who use to speak english, and beg while eating grapes. Lovers lane was the place which got the first Softy ice-cream plant,and sold at a shockingly high price of a rupee per cone. One thing that I miss the most today in Gunj,is the Lovers Lane
A large number of shops have changed, some have closed down, some have undergone partitions, some have been replaced by shopping complexes, but the aura of gunj persists and shopping in gunj is still and shall always remain a treat
Dr Sanjay Kapoor ,Lucknow
Have been wanting to write on Hazratgunj since long, When I returned to Lucknow in 2008, then when it was being revamped, but finally cudnt resist now, when it has taken another new avtar, recently. After my house, what attracts me most to my beloved Lucknow, is Hazratgunj ! Gunj, as what Hazratgunj is popularly and lovingly called, is the main market of Lucknow probably the only market which has a noun to itself-gunjing, which is strolling in Hazratgunj, shopping, eating, and meeting friends or even just whiling away time. Its a unique market, complete in itself and just very few markets in the country, like CP in Delhi, Brigade Road in Banglaru and Main Street in Pune have been designed on this pattern
My romance with Gunj goes back to almost five decades, and my first memory of the area is, as a small child, being carried on the shoulders of my neighbour, for Milk-Badam, from the Sardars soft drink shop ,located between the LIC and Mayfair buildings,which was also the first to later introduce 7 Ups in Lucknow..As I grew older the visits became more frequent and became a daily ritual from 76-78.In spite of such a long duration, and with innumerable additions and deletions, the basic structure of Gunj has remained the same since eternity. Gunj has seen its ups and downs but has come out a winner each time .It underwent a similar do-up with uniform painting and sign boards in early seventies during the time of V R Mohan as the Mayor of Lucknow. With the expansion of the city and developement of areas like, Mahanagar, Gomtinagar, Aliganj and Indranagar, which created their own local markets, Gunj lost its charm for some time, and this was further added to by the coming up of the Malls in the city. But the die-hard spirit of gunj, did not give up, and over the last decade or so, with the establishment of shops like, Saree Bhawan, Calcutta-in -Style, Sugnamals and the showrooms of branded goods,like UCB,Van –Heusan, Allen Solly, Fab India, Life style and others and the regained popularity of Royal Cafe ,Gunj has regained its charm, and attracts crowds as before. Gunj is frequented usually for various purposes, shopping,eating, entertainment or just whiling away the time.
At one time gunj was the trendy market with almost each and everything available on one straight road. Modern Silk House and Ramlal Brothers, the corner shop,where Cafe Coffee day ,is today, were the laeding shops for sarees. Mercury and Back in a Day, popular dry-cleaners and Rupani and Vohras the clock and watch stores. Vohras was also the leading shop for prizes, trophies, momentoes, silverware and goods of white metal. B N Rama, British Pharmacy and Solomans were the drug stores and Mullicks was the leading shop for electric appliances and crockery and cutlery. Kaysons came up in mid seventies as the one stop store for trendy menswear and Lila Brothers were the fashioable mens tailor. Kohlis and GD Pun were the authorized tailors for army and police uniforms, respectivly. British and Universal Book stores were patronized by people of all ages, but specialy by children of public schools for their books and stationary. The good old Universal, which stood as the corner shop in the building between Gandhi ashram and Sahu, was huge and busy, giving the teenagers opportunity for shop lifting, and I cant resist from confessing that I have walked away with an Enid Bliton once, only because the wait to make the payment was getting unbearably long.. Gandhi Ashram stood as it is today, with Bata and Balujas being the shops for footwear.Kohli Brothers was a Photo studio and Famous Coat House opposite Mayfair, made the best ladies coats .Ram Prakash Brothers,which was earlier in Halwasia market, has provided school uniforms and Sitals sports goods to generations. Avadh Cocogem and Sahu Kirana were the Grocery shops and Kashmir fruit Mart was the stylish dry and fresh fruit shop, also selling tinned and canned food .Sahu chit fund and local bank opened in the same buiding in late sixties,and gave small savings an organized shape. Halwasia Market,an identity in itself, basicaly with shops for clothes and accessories for ladies and kids has existed for over half a century and its first shop, Button House has been the most haunted place for buttons and laces all these years. Janpath Market was established in early seventies to cope with the increasing demand of shops and shopping craze of Lucknowites and this brought the Chickan from Chowk and Aminabad to Gunj,mainly for the tourists. Stealing a part of Halwasia’s popularity. Devi Gramaphones, sold the good old Record players and Radiorgams along with the LPs and EPs of Indian and English music ( many may not have even seen a radiogram and the LP & EP records) As the craze of record players and records dwindled, Northern Refrigeration came up in the same shop, the corner shop beyond Mullicks, which is now the Provouge showroom.they were the first to sell fridges, on instalments in a lottery system, but the fridge was delivered after all the installments were made, We won the 165 Lltres Kelvinator fridge worth Rs 2700,in the tenth month for Rs 2000 only,in 1974.They were also the first to bring TVs in Lucknow,and in fact had advance booking for a year prior to its arrival,at Rs 50 for the booking of a Western B&W TV.
Talk on the shops of gunj is incomplete without the mention of Lovers Lane,the market in the buliding opposite the DRMs building. The market was named so, not because it had spots for couples to sit, but because it had the glamour of trend and fashion, which attracted the teenagers for shopping of sweet nothings and was what Janpath of Delhi is today. The most popular shops here were Cheap Stores, the general merchant and grocery shop and Modern Novelty, the stores for modern food, frozen poultry stuff and goods for birthday parties. The salami burger of Modern novelties was and still remains the tastiest burger I have ever had and even today I never miss an opportunity to grab one, whenever I am in the lane. The Lovers lane was famous for the shops it had in its verandah, which sold trincklets, sweet nothings, cards, gifts and smuggled imported clothes and perfumes. Fashion in Lucknow those days started from Lovers Lane. From James Bond cufflings, to bead strings and footwear introduced by Zeenat in Hare Ram Hare Krishna, broad belts with huge dragon buckles brought by Rajesh Khanna and huge goggles with changeable coloured glasses,popularized by Praveen Baby. The erstwhile Stretchloon cloth was introduced too here, in early seventies, which was used to make the bellbottoms with 32 inch bottoms. Hobbies Corner, the joint that not only sold story books but also gave them on rent,25 paisa a day ! There were few permanant persons here, the sweetman, who sold toffees and chocolates on a cycle,a mad man, who would keep repeating, Woh Ayegi and an elderly beggar who use to speak english, and beg while eating grapes. Lovers lane was the place which got the first Softy ice-cream plant,and sold at a shockingly high price of a rupee per cone. One thing that I miss the most today in Gunj,is the Lovers Lane
A large number of shops have changed, some have closed down, some have undergone partitions, some have been replaced by shopping complexes, but the aura of gunj persists and shopping in gunj is still and shall always remain a treat
Dr Sanjay Kapoor ,Lucknow
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