Bombay food, a location-agnostic procedural guide
🚉 🛺 🥔 ☕️ 🌊
Note: This guide is NOT for fellow Mumbaikars. It’s to help people coming from outside make good decisions regardless of which part of Mumbai (BOM) they visit. As someone born and brought up in this cherished, energetic city, I can recommend things here with good confidence. This might just be the most important post I’ve written for Indians and India-visitors so bookmark it.
Vada Pavs
The most authentic way to have the iconic Vada Pavs in Mumbai is to spot small Maharashtrian street stalls or food carts instead of shops. Usually they won’t be making Samosas. Only Vada Pavs and Pakodas/Bhajjis, and sometimes potato-bread cutlets. If they’re making Samosas too, avoid the vada pav there. Also, do not have vada pavs at restaurants.
If you’re unsure of the hygiene of the stall you stumble upon, there’s a branded option with street-food-like taste. Mumbai is famous for its efficient local railways. You probably will end up experiencing one. Outside most stations is this branded shop called Jumboking. Grab only the “Classic” vada pav from there. The rest are burgers; avoid ruthlessly.
If you really want to avoid street food and street shops, the costlier but still authentic option is to go to franchise outlets across the city like HAS South Bombay, which offer some of the best vada pavs, and Kailash Parbat.
The Bombay Sandwich
The rule of going to street stalls or shops, not restaurants or brands, applies to the famous Bombay Sandwich too. A telltale sign of authenticity is they will typically have packets of Wibs bread loafs lined up on their counter. Specifically, ask for:
- Veg (cheese) toast sandwich, or
- Masala (cheese) toast sandwich (I love this one even more)
These venerable Bombay Sandwiches are filled with more sliced veggies than every other sandwich in existence. It’s filling, and tasty in layers. No Subway sauce can beat the Bombay Sandwich’s green coriander-mint chutney and butter duo. The bang to buck ratio of the sandwich is incredible. 5/5 ⭐️ for the concept and execution. 🥪 🥔 🌿
Note: A Bombay Sandwich is not supposed to be a grilled sandwich. If any “Bombay sandwich” is being offered grilled, stay away. If you don’t like toast as a concept itself, get the non-toasted “kaccha” version which preserves all the other fractions as intended.
Chaats
For chaats, dedicated shops are the best instead of street stalls or restaurants. They tend to be more hygienic too, an important consideration considering the nature of chaat ingredients. The Bombay sev puri, pani puri, and ragda patis are a must. To identify authentic dedicated chaat shops, look for packets of puris hanging on shop counters. If restaurants with chaat counters do the same, avoid them.
The aforementioned Kailash Parbat has decent but pricey chaats if you want a branded non-street experience with hygiene assurance. It’s also a decent place to have Pav Bhaji. But the best Pav Bhaji palette is, of course, found at dedicated stalls in areas like Borivali and Vile Parle.
Chai
Roadside chai shops that have local, unbranded biscuits on display tend to be the authentic ones offering firm masala chai. Another indicator of authenticity is if they offer a ‘cutting’ (half portion) chai option. Among branded outlets, any Tea Post will serve you an excellent kadak masala chai as well as its spiced or tempered variations. You can also visit a Chaayos if you know exactly what you want because here you can customize every single bit of your chai. ☕️
Irani Chai & Bun Muska: South Bombay is famous for its smooth Irani chai. Pair it with a Bun Muska at Kyani & Co. in Marine Lines. Mumbai trains make it quite easy to reach this place from nearly anywhere in the mega city.
Bonus: Bombay-infused Western cafe
If you want a break from the local food, here’s a one-of-a-kind western cafe to relax in. The Bombay to Barcelona Library Cafe in Andheri offers the standard cafe menu but with additional variations infused with Bombay vibes. What makes this cafe really special though is its model of employing previously homeless people. The owner, who was once homeless too, provides such staff shared homes, and trains them in cooking and general professional conversation, helping them be employable in long run beyond the cafe as well. I quite like the cafe’s garlic bread and Cafe Bonbon.
Did you bookmark this peak pragmatic post already?
