Cream Centre

Text: Mohan Krishnan

Iconic restaurants have their iconic dishes. For Mina and I, it was the Chana Bhatura at Cream Centre. It was a joy to place an order for two plates, then pop the fully-blown bhatura with a fork, and watch the steam rise. Wait for the cool-down, attack.

I reprised the performance at their swish Palladium outlet last week. Nothing has changed. Nothing ever should. The pickled onions and carrots, the sliced onions, the tame green chilllies, and the sense that all is right with the world. I was gobsmacked to learn that the chana is imported from South America for its unique size and flavour, the masala for the chana has 23 ingredients, and the formula is guarded like a state secret.

Ramesh Chona, came to Bombay after partition, and his first venture was a very successful ice-cream factory, called Cream Centre. In 1958, he opened a restaurant with the same name, featuring North Indian food, on the Chowpatty sea front. It was a Jain buiding, so the food had to be vegetarian.

"So, by choice, or destiny, or luck, a new vegetarian restaurant was born," says Sanjiv Chona. He lost his father Ramesh in 1976 when he was 18 years old, and took over the reins. Today, he presides over an all-India brand, with 33 locations in 17 cities. He’ll be in 50 locations in the next two and a half years.

It is the largest premium family dining restaurant brand across the country. It is 68- years-old now, proof of its longevity. They are used to families coming in a group – grandparents, parents and grandkids – all of whom remember the Cream Centre outings as a happy event in their lives.

Sanjiv has been a serial entrepreneur, and in his early years started many brands with diverse cuisines – New Yorker, Spaghetti Kitchen, Bombay Blue, Noodle Bar, Gelato Italiano – to name a few. But his destiny always lay in Cream Centre. The various foods he has pioneered – nachos, sizzlers, pasta and noodles, gelatos, have all come full circle in the multi-cuisine restaurant that the mother brand is today.

The Cream Centre menu draws its roots from the Punjab, and then takes you on a trip around the world. Sanjiv is very proud of his Best of Chaats platter, the Delhi Baked Kulcha, the tandoor dishes. The nachos, with secret cheese sauce especially made for him, are the gateway to a range of Tex Mex food, the Back to China section has the usual suspects including baos. And don’t forget the rice bowls, sizzlers, and the Italian section with pizza and pasta. The “OMG, I’m going to burst” Sizzling Chocolate Brownie headlines the desserts and ice-cream section.

There is also a green-coloured Jain menu with over 70 items. A nice departure from the usual Jain items at the end of the ‘regular’ section. A tribute to an important and high revenue group of guests.

I ask if the Cream Centre menu isn’t a bit too wide. "We get our revenue spread out nicely across the board. Of course, the Chana Bhatura accounts for about 20% of our sales, but each of the main sections like nachos, chaats, sizzlers, pizza and pasta are in the 10% range. We are a family dining restaurant, and people come in groups. We make sure we have something for everyone, and no one rises feeling left out."

How have you maintained quality so consistently over the years? "We are a completely family-owned business. We have no outside investment, and no pressure to expand and compromise, in order to achieve sales growth. We now have an active franchisee network of 20 outlets in different cities outside Bombay. My son Rishi pioneered this move. We find partners who are as committed to quality as us, we have strong training, and surprise audits to ensure that the Cream Centre values are being followed. You can only apply for a franchise through our website – I have 4400 franchisee applications on my records."

"It is not easy to maintain consistency across the country. The water is different, the chillies are different, the flour, the sugar… we have to constantly be tweaking, to achieve the same quality in each outlet. We want everyone to have the same Cream Centre experience everywhere."

Sanjiv is by nature an enthusiastic man. But if you want to hear him bubble over, get him talking about his ice-creams. Ice Cream Works with zero sugar added, sweetened by Stevia and monk fruit, has always been part of their menu. But right opposite at Palladium, they have Ice Cream Works Gold. Look at the menu to add a few calories, and a big smile to your face.

It’s a project that’s been three years in the making, in collab with his daughter. It’s premium priced, and Sanjiv is happy to offer a taste test against a globally beloved brand that’s one floor below. There’s Oreos, Kunafa, Spaghetti Ice Cream, Japanese “snow”, Froyo, and of course Ice Cream Works.

What makes Cream Centre so vibrant after 68 years? For me, it’s the taste memory I go looking for, and find every single time.

For Sanjiv, it’s embodied in a few principles. "I understand trends, and I keep up with the times. I focus on what is important – quality and consistency. I only use the best globally – whether it’s machines, or tomatoes. Cream Centre will always be the best vegetarian multi-cuisine restaurant chain in India."

I’ll down a whole tub of ice-cream to that!

3rd Floor, Phoenix Palladium, Opposite PVR, Gourmet Village, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013