India, March 17 -- Perched unobtrusively on the first floor of the municipal market right outside Matunga (Central) station, A Rama Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding - founded in 1942 by the pioneering Udupi restaurateur A Rama Nayak - remains one of Mumbai's most cherished culinary institutions. Here, a simple, homely South Indian thali, astonishingly affordable even today (between Rs.120 and Rs.300), continues to draw generations of students, office-goers and families who value its steadfast refusal to abandon its founding ethos: honest, nourishing food served on banana leaves.

Now run by his son Satish Rama Nayak, the old-world eatery finds itself grappling with the ongoing LPG crisis, which has led to deep-fried puris and papads-fa...