Meet Prem Koshy, The Iconic Face of the Legendary Koshy’s in Bengaluru

Heres a glimpse of the journey of Prem Koshy as a restaurateur and that of Bengaluru's iconic Koshys. 

You may not be a Bengaluru resident but chances are that you have heard of Koshy’s, the 82 year old iconic restaurant. Now meet the driving force behind it -- Prem Koshy, 63, also a well-known pianist, jazz musician and actor, known for his love for wildlife rehabilitation. 

Koshy believes that the restaurant business is a genetic thing for him. “This is a family legacy started by my grandfather in 1940. I belong to the third generation of this legacy. Granddad was a banker but moved into the restaurant business during the second World War when banks had collapsed.  He started by baking bread and did a lot of odd jobs till he built Koshys. It started on MG Road right next to the LIC building. In 1952 we expanded and moved to the present location at St. Mark’s Road and around the 1960s, we started on MG Road as well. It was around the same time we started with our Bakery on Wellington Street and all of these are running with glory even today. We make the best cake in the world.”

Over the years, Koshy’s has served many icons. “We’ve served The Queen of England, several Prime Ministers and Presidents, members of royalty, all the Chief ministers of Bangalore, film stars, Indira Gandhi had been a frequent visitor to Koshys.”

Wrapped up in  a legend

Prem Koshy’s life has been inseparable from this legendary cafe. “My earliest memories about Koshy’s were about a time when I was two to three years old and I would visit the restaurant with my grandfather and father and walk around. Everybody would greet me. My fondest memory was about playing the piano when I was young. Koshy’s had one of the best Jazz bands playing music in the 1960s and I too would play on the piano.”

“As I grew a little older, during the summers and the Christmas holidays, I would visit the restaurant and hang out in the British Council Library that was on the top floor of the building that housed our restaurant. We would get many visitors from the Library, I would get acquainted with them, spend quite a bit of time trying to understand how the kitchen worked, about our customers, the customer relationship that my grandfather and father maintained, how they behaved with the staff and so on,” he recalls. 

Koshy believes that one of the most beautiful things that a human being can do for another, after letting them breathe, is serve them with good food that nourishes and satisfies them. It was ingrained in him from a young age and is something he has followed lifelong. And though he moved overseas to study, home for him has always been in the restaurant his grandfather started.

Koshy graduated overseas from the American Institute of Baking. In 1979, he was made the director of Koshy’s by his father when he was just 18-year-old. 

“I came back home as I wanted to work for my own family. Meanwhile, Koshys continued to remain a hot spot for high school and college students during my youth. Anybody who went to College in Bangalore had to visit Koshys as it was the platform for igniting ideas, adding wings to passion, taking music and arts to greater heights and more.” Koshy’s was also unique for another unusual reason. “Several customers visited us to get acquainted with and pick up the European dining etiquettes and table manners of the British. A lot of Indians learnt to use the forks and knives in the right way while eating at Koshys. It was like--go to Koshys, learn the European ways of life and then be whatever you want to be,” he says with a hearty laugh. 

You give out more and you receive more is Koshy’s principal

“Our principal at Koshy’s is based on the basic law of life, as my grandfather would say - you first give wholeheartedly and then  you receive your rewards. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing at Koshy’s till now and that’s what makes it an iconic destination in Bangalore for both older adults and millennials alike. We are known for very hygienic food, healthy food at a reasonable price with optimal quality service. We work as a family and we are all equals. Be it our customers or the chefs or the other staff or those running the institution, we’re all one big family and that’s what keeps us growing and going. Everybody has a sense of ownership. Some of them have been working for us since even before I was born. We have 100 staff altogether with  about 20 years of experience.”

Why is it a go to place for millennials as well? 

“Because once you enter Koshys, you drop everything. There’s no colour, no creed, no religion, no authority, no code and you are left alone. Nobody bugs you for anything. There’s no hurry and you can enter at 9:30 AM in the morning, sit all through the day, leave at 6 PM in the evening and no one will ask you to leave. You can drink coffee or not, you can read a book or not, you can do anything you want. I also have a policy for those who come to Koshys but can’t afford a meal. If they let us know, we serve them for free but all are welcome to Koshys. “

For Koshy’s not changing is the only constant

“We don’t change and we’re comfortable the way we are. A lot of people have accused me of not being progressive. They have said that by now Koshys should have had franchisees all over the world. But we don’t want to change. The interiors, the service, the food quality and even the food taste have remained the same over the last few decades. That’s our USP, I guess. We have visitors who have come to us in the 1950s or 60s and then again in 2020, ordered the same dishes, found the taste to be exactly the same and have tweeted and got us everywhere. Our attitude towards customers, the sense of comfort that people get and about five generations sitting on the same table and enjoying the same dishes remain and will remain the same forever.”

What else does Prem Koshy do to keep himself active apart from running the iconic restaurant? I do my own stuff like taking care of the wildlife, saving snakes, teaching Yoga, playing piano, and taking up the stage. I do dramas and have been doing Broadway musicals for the past 22 years. I also have a keen interest in paranormal research. This endeavour of love - Koshys helps me to do all of these,” he says.

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