What I plan to do in Bombay this vacation season.
I've an annual trip coming up to Bombay - my hometown, the charismatic place where I grew up and bred. I have nostalgic memories of Bombay - the flavourful paani puris belted by the roadside vendors, the bun maska & chai at quaint old parsi cafes, the south Indian dosa and idli fare in local suburban neighbourhoods and the home cooked meals made by my Mom and aunts. I savour it all.
Since the nostalgia factor is so high, I've made a list of places (restaurants, cafes, bars) I want to visit and the food I want to gorge on when I finally land in Bombay. Let's make it a trip to remember!
Parsi cafes -
Britannia and Co Restaurant (Wakefield House, 11 Sprott Road) - Britannia and Co is open for lunch only, 12-4pm every day except Sunday
Yazdani bakery and cafe (Fountain Akbar Ally, Saint Thomas Cathedral)
Kyani and Co (JSS Road, Dhobi Talao, Kalbadevi)
Café Excelsior (Fort)
Ideal Corner (Fort)
Café Military (Fort)
Jimmy Boy (Fort)
Merwan & Co. (Grant Road East)
Sassanian Boulangerie (Grant Road East)
Paradise (Colaba) Irani cafe(koolar co.) and cafe 792 are popular food joints around serving Parsi style cuisine
Radio (Building No 10, near Crawford Market)
Parsi food -
Brun maska, hot toasted white buns slathered in melted butter with crunchy crusts that you dip into hot chai
Caramel custard
Chaat (savoury snacks) -
Paani puri
Sev puri
Dabeli
South Indian places -
Cafe Madras, Matunga - Idli Podi
Cafe Mysore, Matunga - Khotto idli
Arya Bhavan, Matunga - Brahmin idli
Hotel Ramashray, Matunga
Mani’s Lunch Home, Matunga
A. Ramanayak, Matunga
Anand Bhavan, Matunga East
Udipi Idli house - Kanchipuram idli
Ayyappan Idli house - Thatte idli
Speakeasies
The Little Easy in Bandra West
Remo’s in Todi Mills
Please Don’t Tell (PDT), Lower Parel
Other bars -
Escobar, Linking Road
Masala Bar, Carter Road
145, Kala Ghoda
Woodside Inn, Colaba
Farzi Cafe, Lower Parel
Sea facing restaurants
Pizza by the Bay, Marine Drive
Estella, Juhu
Dome - Intercontinental, Marine drive
Razberry Rhinoceros, Juhu
Mandy’s - Pan Arabian bistro, Colaba
Seaside patio, Citizen hotel, Juhu
I'm raring to start wandering around the city that I called home for the first 25 years of my life. Sit in those auto-rickshaws, battle the crowds, drink cutting chai and feel cozy with my close friends and family.
