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Another legend from South Mumbai temporarily got the boot: decades-old Olympia Coffee House in Colaba – popular for its chai, kheema pav and Irani cafe charm – has had its food business licence suspended by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after discovering multiple hygiene and food safety violations during inspection.
If you aren't familiar with Olympia Coffee House or the fact that it's one of the most iconic Parsi cafes in Mumbai, that's just one more thing you don't have in common with filmmaker Christopher Nolan. The cafe went viral a few months ago, when Nolan and Hollywood actors Tom Holland and Matt Damon went to this 108-year-old institution to have bun maska and chai during their visit to Mumbai for the India premiere of The Odyssey in July this year.
For loyal customers, it means one of South Mumbai’s cherished breakfast spots will remain closed until it complies with food safety norms and receives regulatory approval to reopen.
What did the FDA find during inspection at Olympia Coffee House in Colaba?
During the inspection at Olympia Coffee House premises, the FDA inspectors found serious sanitation and food handling lapses, including cockroach infestations, a urinal located adjacent to the food storage area, and unhygienic kitchen conditions. They also found utensil-washing facilities and food preparation processes lacking adequate hygiene measures, plus food handling done directly on the floor with the use of unclean water. The refrigerator also contained meat and blood residues, and raw non-vegetarian and vegetarian food lacked segregation, risking cross-contamination.
To resume operations, the restaurant needs to rectify the deficiencies before applying for its licence to be restored under the Food Safety and Standards Act – till then, it will remain suspended.
The licence suspension of 1918 established Olympia Coffee House in Colaba comes amid the ongoing citywide crackdown by the FDA on restaurants, cafes and other eateries, with several prominent food joints facing regulatory action. Recently, Cafe Mondegar at Causeway lost its licence over multiple food safety and hygiene lapses. Similarly, popular kebabs and rolls spot – Ayub’s – in Fort also got its licence suspended last month over several high-risk food handling issues, including inadequate pest-control measures, among other reasons.
For now, one of Mumbai’s nostalgic cafes joins the growing list of iconic eateries getting temporarily shut under the intensified food safety drive by Maharashtra FDA. It is a timely reminder that while heritage gives a restaurant its character, maintaining hygiene remains non-negotiable.