Anup Nathu, a second-generation immigrant and first-generation entrepreneur, holds the distinction of introducing Indian cuisine to Christchurch and operates two hugely popular and trend-setting Indian restaurants in the heart of the city.
Besides being a veteran restaurateur and having a solid reputation of building the business from scratch, Nathu is also a seasoned cricketer, having played first-class matches for Canterbury and Wellington. Nathu remains active in cricket and is president of Canterbury Cricket.
Nathu grew up in the Wellington of the 1960s and 70s in an ethnically diverse community with a sizeable Pacific and Indian migrant population. Sports played a big part in Nathu’s childhood, with cricket dominating his life growing up. Early on, he realised he was good at the game and spent considerable time playing and practicing during school and university. Just in the typical Indian tradition, Nathu not only played excellent cricket but was also great at studies, especially in math.
After university, Nathu spent a year in England on a scholarship to play cricket. In 1983, he moved to Christchurch to play for Canterbury and spent the next eight years playing at various levels along with cricketing legends such as Sir Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe. He played as an opening batsman with John Wright, another legend who was also the first foreign coach of the Indian national cricket team. Nathu played 45 first-class or List A matches.
At the same time, Nathu joined KPMG, having graduated with an accounting degree.
He married Sadhana a laboratory technician, and life was generally good with a young family, a steady job and cricket still a big part of his life. His entry into the hospitality industry happened by chance. He credits his entrepreneurial journey to his friends who pushed him to set up a restaurant on a commercial property they had bought but could not lease out due to the recession. With no background in the industry, they did their homework right, and when they opened Tandoori Palace in 1990, it immediately gained popularity. It was the first proper restaurant in Christchurch offering Indian cuisine back then.
Within three months of opening the place, Nathu quit his job to focus on running the restaurant full-time. While the place was doing well, there were various challenges as well, and the couple put in long hours at work streamlining the operations, interacting with the customers and improving the services based on their feedback.
Nathu remembers those days as full of excitement and hard work. Customers were happy, business was booming and soon, they had eight outlets, including in Rotorua and Queenstown.
Then the Christchurch earthquake happened, which devastated the city. It also eliminated three of Nathu’s outlets. It turned out to be a big turning point for Nathu, who decided to restructure the business, consolidate the operations and evolve their offering to the next level.
Mumbaiwala was the result of this evolution. It opened on Hereford St in 2016. Nathu says he was impressed with UK’s iconic Dishoom restaurant. The couple decided to adopt its concept for the Christchurch market, offering a fresh take on Indian cuisine. Mumbaiwala is not your usual curry place but an upmarket restaurant that serves street-style Indian food in a unique setting. As always, Nathu’s focus on customer service is unmissable.
Says he, “We felt a sense of pride as Mumbaiwala was the first licensed restaurant to come back in Christchurch CBD after the earthquake. In our offering, we intentionally moved away from having lots of curries on the menu. We also chose the location carefully to be at the hub of tourism in the city.”
Sadhana Nathu is the creative member of the partnership; she drives the menu and the design aspects of the restaurant and is capable of stepping into the role of a chef if required.
Mumbaiwala gives its patrons a different ambience and makes you feel as if you just walked on a Mumbai street. The rustic, old-world charm of the great city has been painstakingly recreated with many authentic artifacts, etc., brought in from India.
The last two years have been challenging with the pandemic-induced lockdown when they suddenly found they had no revenue. They managed to weather the storm with a few timely and smart decisions like promoting takeaways, click-and-collect etc.
Nathu also thanks his patrons and community for supporting them during the hard times. He also maintains that the next 3-4 months will also be little challenging before things settle down and go back to pre-covid levels.
The couple has three daughters who have been involved in the business at various stages. They have seen the hard work their parents put into the business and also learnt the ropes.
During the peak of Covid, his daughter Aneri opened the Auckland branch of Mumbaiwala at the busy Ponsonby Road. Nathu says it was difficult to open amid a raging pandemic, but we did not want to let the opportunity go as the location was great and now we are happy with its progress.
Nathus also set up Permit Room in Christchurch, which is a colonial-India-themed restaurant located in Isaac House opposite Victoria Square. It is a historic building built in 1920s that has been empty since the earthquake. The restaurant offers South-Indian food with shared plates, vegetarian/vegan and seafood. It has a small menu but done well.
Located near Christchurch’s new convention centre, surrounded by various tourist attractions, the place has a great future once tourists return to the country.
Nathu is content with life and says, “I am grateful for cricket as it opened many doors for me and connected me with people who became friends for life and were instrumental in turning me into an entrepreneur. I am happy to be associated with Canterbury cricket as it keeps me in touch with the young generation. We love Christchurch and believe in this city. The rebuilding work which is going on is terrific, and the city will grow immensely, becoming truly world-class in the next few years.”
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