Whether you live in Mumbai or are traveling there, I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t be having great food every day while you’re in tinsel town. The city is full of yummy street food at every corner, and exquisite restaurants that fit any budget, and dabbas and take-out joints and what not.
I love European cuisine, so I made a list of my 10 favorite restaurants in south Bombay and what I recommend eating there. And, well, I’m a vegetarian so my recommendations are in veg food! It was hard to choose because Bombay has so many great places, but I did it anyway!!
Bandra
1. Yellow Tree
A bit pricey, but I like yellow tree because- good food, good sangria, and also it was the first Italian restaurant I tried when I started living in Mumbai. Yellow Tree is a small restaurant with yellow and rustic turquoise interiors, and both indoor and outdoor seating. Service takes a bit of time, but the staff is friendly and nice. I recommend the sundried tomato pesto risotto.
2. Salt Water Cafe
A local favorite, the Salt Water Cafe has mixed European cuisine, with a large menu and a big selection of vegetarian options as well. The restaurant is in south Bandra near Lilavati Hospital, and has a spacious seating with wooden and beige minimalistic but chic interiors. I recommend the asparagus +roasted garlic emulsion ravioli and open grilled vegetable and pesto sandwich.
3. Olive Bar and Kitchen
Olive is a fine dining restaurant in Bandra near Carter Road and has mixed European cuisine. The ambience is nice with white earthy interiors and pebble flooring and candle lighting, so it’s a great place to celebrate an anniversary with your loved one. I recommend the house mixed salad, feta and pine nut stuffed mushrooms and vegetable skewers. Spinach, oven-dried tomato, olive and feta pizza is also good.
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Lower Parel
4. The Tasting Room
This classy fine dining restaurant sits hidden next to the bustling Phoenix Mall in Lower Parel. You could easily miss it, but once you go in, you enter an splendid place with antique interiors and gourmet food that places a lot of importance not just on taste but also on presentation. Kinda expensive, though. I recommend the mushroom cappuccino, marinated watermelon salad with feta and arugula, and wild mushroom risotto. My friends also praise their basa.
5. Smoke House Deli
This charming restaurant is in the busy courtyard of Phoenix Mall, and has great interiors with white walls that have black hand-drawn sketches. I recommend the black olive croquetas and spinach and ricotta ravioli. Pair it with sparkling white Sula wine. Gorgeous!
6. Quattro
I love this place! It’s an all-vegetarian Mexican and Italian restaurant across the road from Phoenix Mall and has a huge menu that confuses you because everything sounds awesome and unusually appealing. I’ve been there a lot and have had the pleasure of trying a lot of their amazing items. Great selection of starters and non-alcoholic drinks (mocktails). Plus they also give you an array of complimentary dips that go really well with bread and it becomes sort of a tasting session. I recommend the canelloni Florentina and torta formaggio with watermelon and basil cooler.
7. Indigo Delicatessen
Indigo Deli is a modern Italian restaurant with unforgettable wooden interiors. The walls, ceiling and columns are covered with an undulating interlocking and seamless grid of wooden panels that double as wine shelves near the entrance. It has both indoor and outdoor seating. Food is just as good, although I have seen its bad moments. Since it is a deli, I recommend the sandwiches – roasted vegetable and mushroom sandwich, and fresh buffalo mozzarella with tomato and pesto focaccia sandwich with some sparkling water. Don’t forget to try one of their desserts. And finish it off with one of their many exotic teas.
Churchgate
8. Pizza by the Bay
This restaurant is great for your early dinners when you want a great view while you eat, possible on a rainy day, because as the name suggests it’s at a corner at Marine Drive with a nice view of the sea. I have spent many an evening having a nice pizza here with friends. I recommend jalapeño cheese poppers, veggie lover pizza with a glass of Sauvignon blanc and tiramisu.
Colaba
9. Le Pain Quotidien
This quaint place just takes you out of Mumbai and right into a restaurant in one of the tiny streets of Rome. This is my favorite European restaurant in the city. It is situated in Colaba at walking distance from the Gateway of India, and has charming beige interiors, soft lighting and a great ambience. The restaurant has a deli-like sandwich bar on ground floor and extra seating on the mezzanine floor that offers great view of the whole interiors. I recommend the Mediterranean platter, mushroom and spinach quiche, grilled asparagus and ricotta cheese tartine and red velvet eclair. Guy also says their pan seared basa was “very awesome”.
10. Cafe Basilico
This place has old style wood and paint interiors, and food comes with great presentation. I recommend their asparagus and truffle oil soup, fresh tomato and basil bruschetta and Sicilian pizza.
OMG. Delicious. All this talk about European food is surely making me hungry. But sadly I’m not in Mumbai at the moment to eat any of these, so I’m just gonna go to my kitchen and fix myself a white sauce penne pasta. See ya! 🙂
Shilpa Ahuja the editor-in-chief of ShilpaAhuja.com, which she founded with the goal of inspiring confidence in the modern working woman through fashion. Other than defining the direction of the magazine, she also writes about fashion & beauty trend forecasts, industry analysis, and opinions.
Shilpa’s work has been published in the University of Fashion blog and Jet Airways magazine. She is also an artist, illustrator and cartoonist. She is also the creator of Audrey O., a comic series that represents the lifestyle of millennial women. She enjoys creative writing and world travel. Her art has been exhibited at Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Aroma Hotel, Chandigarh and been published in Chandigarh Times.
Originally from Chandigarh, Shilpa also has a degree in architecture and has worked in interior project management. She is also the author of the book “Designing a Chinese Cultural Center in India”. Shilpa has a Masters in Design Studies degree from Harvard University.
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