Mumbai (Bombay) Restaurants

  1. Anantashram

    This no-frills restaurant is as renowned for its Spartan decor and surliness of its staff as for its supremely delicious cooking and thali meals. Look for it down a small maze of laneways.

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  2. Bade Miya

    As Mumbai as traffic jams, this street-stall-on-steroids buzzes nightly with punters from all walks of Mumbai life lining up for spicy, fresh grilled treats. Grab a chicken tikka roll to go, or snap up one of makeshift street-side tables to sample the boti kebab (lamb kebab) or paneer masala (cheese and tomato curry).

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  3. Badshah

    Badshah Snacks & Drinks is opposite Crawford Market. It has been serving snacks and fruit juices to hungry bargain-hunters for over 100 years.

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  4. Barista

    The Rs5 chai-wallahs are still out there, but fancy 'espresso-bars' are where Mumbaikars head for their caffeine jolt these days. Barista and Cafe Coffee Day vie for dominance across the city in a race to out-Starbucks each other. Barista Colaba seems to be winning, with slightly more stylish pristine orange- and cream-coloured surroundings, but Café Coffee Day is not far behind.

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  5. Basilico

    A modish, Euro-style bistro, deli and bakery, this place whips up creative fresh pastas, salads and risottos almost as good as mamma used to make. There's lots of veggie options too, like the yummy conchiglie pasta, with roast zucchini, peppers and garlic.

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  6. Café Churchill

    This tiny, packed place with booth seating does Western comfort food better than most, all served in fiercely-arctic AC. Grab a sandwich or a pasta and finish up with one of their 'happy endings.' Um, dessert that is.

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  7. Café Coffee Day

    The Rs 5 chai-wallahs are still out there, but fancy 'espresso-bars' are where Mumbaikars head for their caffeine jolt these days. Barista and Café Coffee Day vie for dominance across the city in a race to out-Starbucks each other. Barista Colaba seems to be winning, with slightly more stylish pristine orange- and cream-coloured surroundings, but Café Coffee Day is not far behind.

    Read more about Café Coffee Day

  8. Cha Bar

    The spiffy Cha Bar at Oxford Book Shop also serves an inspiring range of teas and tasty snacks. Just the thing to wash the dust of a day's browsing and traipsing from your throat.

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  9. Colaba market

    If you're self-catering try the Colaba market for fresh fruit and vegetables. A typical Indian market, it's rambunctious, colourful and teeming with just-picked produce.

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  10. Cream Centre

    With a slick, modern-art-adorned interior, it's only fitting that the fusion menu is equally original. Enjoy pure veg dishes and such hybrids as Indian Mexican cuisine, and of course there's an excellent ice-cream parlour.

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  11. Culture Curry

    Next door to Goa Potuguesa and run by the same folk, this restaurant and offers curries from around India. Guitar-strumming musicians and singers wander between the two connected spaces.

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  12. Delhi Darbar

    There's plenty of competition for your curry on the Causeway but this place is one of South Mumbai's best Mughlai and tandoori restaurants. There's a slightly formal atmosphere, but the standard of food is excellent.

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  13. Gaylord

    Great North Indian dishes served with over-the-top, Raj-era styles dining replete with tuxedo'd waiters hanging on your every gesture. They also serve domestic and imported wines.

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  14. Gelato Italiano

    Flavours like custard apple sorbetto or limoncello - just the thing to cool you down after a hot stroll around Chowpatty, or a mouthfull of fiery snacks from a dhaba (street eatery.)

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  15. Goa Portuguesa

    A visit to this restaurant, which specialises in fiery Portuguese-inspired dishes, is almost as good as making the trip to Goa. Next door, its partner business, Culture Curry, offers all kinds of curries from around India. Guitar-strumming musicians and singers wander between the two connected spaces.

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  16. Ideal Corner

    Mumbai offers a cosmopolitan mix of all the many Indian cuisines, including Parsi. Ideal Corner is a classic Parsi cafe serving a different menu daily.

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  17. Indigo

    The finest eating option in Colaba, and possibly Mumbai, Indigo offers inventive European cuisine, a long wine list and a sleek ambience including a roof deck lit with fairy lights. The appetizer of lobster bisque with Cajun shrimp crackling appetizer is a long-time favourite. Bookings are essential, but if the restaurant is full you can always hang out with the in crowd at the bar.

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  18. Indigo Delicatessen

    This place near Indigo has breakfast anytime (from Rs115 to Rs185 ), more casual meals from an la carte menu and a daily specials menu and a selection of imported cheeses (at imported prices), breads and desserts.

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  19. Kailash Parbat

    Kailash Parbat is nothing fancy, but has become a Mumbai legend, thanks to its inexpensive Sindhi-influenced vegetarian snacks, mouth-watering sweets and extra-spicy masala chai.

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  20. Khyber

    Khyber serves Punjabi and other North Indian dishes in moody, burnt-orange, Afghan-inspired interiors to a who's who of Mumbai's elite. The food is some of the best the city has to offer, with the meat-centric menu wandering from kebabs, to biryanis, to it's pièce de résistance, raan (a whole leg of slow-cooked lamb).

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  21. Laxmi Villas

    Laxmi Villas is a budget eatery that serves great southern specialties in comfortable, modern, AC surrounds. Dosas are the specialty, one reader even wrote in 'we still dream of the meals we ate there.'

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  22. Mahesh Lunch Home

    A modern version of a hole-in-the-wall come good, this is the place to try Mangalorean seafood at budget prices. It's renowned for its ladyfish, pomfret, lobster and crabs, and its rawas tikka (marinated white salmon) and tandoori pomfret are outstanding.

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  23. Ming Palace

    Ming Palace is the place in Colaba to get your East Asian fix, serving a wide range of quality Chinese, Korean and Japanese food in gargantuan portions.

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  24. Mocambo Café & Bar

    Mocambo is a modern, convivial and convenient spot for breakfast, sandwiches, a main meal or a cold beer. The have a huge Indian and Western menu, but the breakfast egg-and-brain fry (with fries!) may only be for culinary adrenalin junkies.

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  25. National Hindu Hotel

    Keralan run, this concealed, no-frills and grittily authentic working-man's eatery serves nothing but finger-licking (there are no utensils), all-you-can-eat thalis. Expect a fast-moving line out the door and rows of benches inside. Just find a spare seat, say hello to your neighbour, and wait for wandering staff to fill your banana leaf to the brim.

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