Seek, And You Shall Eat: A Guide To The Food On Offer In Mumbai

It is said that there are two kinds of people: those who eat to live, and those who live to eat. This write-up is unabashedly dedicated to the latter, whose existence and enthusiasm are the raison d'être for all those who consider cooking their passion.

As work took me to the city of dreams, Mumbai, I had prepared my own checklist of restaurants to visit. Mumbai is a city that does not let you down in matters of taste. You will not have a single dull moment here. The city that never sleeps has a lot to offer – from food to entertainment to Bollywood. The most exciting thing about food in Mumbai is that it nowhere claims to carry the tag of ‘authenticity’. It is proud to declare that its culinary flavours are borrowed, interpreted, re-interpreted, and re-served, thereby collectively creating the foodscape that is Mumbai.

After a lot of nosing around and playing food detective, here are some options that will take you bone-deep into the world they call Mumbai.

Street Food

Mumbai’s street food has its own distinctive flavour in comparison with the rest of India. The chaat of Uttar Pradesh has been improvised by those in the city and elevated to an altogether different state. Healthy doses of onion and garlic, plus loads of red chilli powder which are used in various preparations, give the food here an earthy quality. Here, one can find scores of dishes from pav bhaji, vada pav, potato to Chinese bhel as well as Indian-style pizzas. The foodscape here is labyrinthine as one proceeds to discover what all there is on offer. And the best part is that all this is designed not to burn deep holes in your pocket!

So, where does one begin? For starters, the suggestions are Amar Juice Centre in Chowpatty, Juhu, a suburban hotspot for food. Hawkers outside Mithibhai College in Parle are also a great idea.

For those venturing into South Mumbai, the snack shops at Girgao Chowpatty, the Indian-style pizzas and sandwiches, and Homji Street Khao Galli located in Fort are some places that should not be missed. Other places that should be on the bucket list of a foodie are: Cannon at CST and Sardar at Tardeo. Both are famous for pav bhaji. People flock to both these locations and relish the spicy dish like there’s no tomorrow.

Snack lovers can be seen at Sion’s famous Gurukrupa, feasting on samosa ragda, while fruit lovers take shelter at the Haj Ali Juice Centre. Relishing fresh fruits with the sea splattering its waves in the background is a great sight. Do not miss it!

Konkan Food

The Konkani belt starts from Mumbai and goes till Goa. The native cuisine in this area is called Malvani cuisine and is marked by the use of garam masala and red chillies. On the other hand, Gomantak cuisine is the coastal cuisine of areas in and around Goa and is marked by the generous use of fresh coconut and kokum. When in Mumbai, one can find a mix of Malvani and Gomantak cuisines. The curries here are tangy, coconut-filled, and fiery with liberal use of spices and red chillies, accompanied by rice.

The Bombil, prawn, and Surmai fries, fresh and tangy fish curries, and Sol Kadi are a must. Meat lovers can dig into the mutton masala and tisriya (mussels) suke, rice, bhakris and fried, deep-golden wade. You can catch all this at Satkar in Goregaon, Gomantak at Dadar, or Highway Gomantak on the Western Expressway.

The Maharashtrian Meal

For those in constant search of the native cuisine of Maharashtra, the destination is Dadar. You’ll get a meal at lunch time from the very smallest yet unassuming restaurants. They offer dishes such as varan bhat (dal rice) with vegetarian sides that usually include koshimbir (salad), usal (sprouted pulse), and pale bhaji (green leafy vegetable).

Though there are many who relish the meals, the major crowd-pullers are snacks that vary from thaali peeth (a sort of a multigrain pancake or flatbread), kandha pohe (flattened rice snack), sabudana vada (sago and potato fritter flecked with roasted peanuts), misal pav (a fiery curry made of pulses and fried nothings served with bun), kothimbir vadi (coriander leaf and gram flour fritters) among others.

Aaswad, near the Shiv Sena Bhavan, and Prakash in the heart of Dadar are the places for these sacred Marathi dishes.

The Parsi Meal

Irani cafes (Iranis were the second batch of Zoroastrians to come to India from Persia) today offer simple menus with signature Parsi dishes including salli boti (a fantastic dish of melting mutton in a beautifully marinated gravy, topped with crunchy fried potato straws), mutton dhansak (meat cooked in a creamy gravy of lentils and spices), kheema ghotala (curried minced mutton with an egg scrambled in, served with pav for breakfast), all to be washed down with the syrupy raspberry soda.

Finish with the famous lagan nu custard. Pick up a crusty bun, layered with oodles of soft and salty butter. Or you may just choose to drop in for breakfast and splendidly make do with akoori (Parsi-style creamy scrambled eggs) served with freshly baked bread, crisp butter kharis, and sweet milky tea.

The Kyani (near Metro cinema) and Yazdani Bakery, Ideal Corner, Jimmy Boy (try their new Parsi wedding feast), Military Cafe (all in Fort), and Britannia are the best places to relish these Parsi delicacies.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. There are 10,000 hotels in Mumbai and countless other street food stalls in the city that warrant equal attention. If you are planning a trip to Maximum City and are wondering where you should stop by for a quick bite, this ready reckoner, I hope, will come of use.