Mumbai Street Food Guide: What to Eat and Where to Find It
Mumbai eats on its feet. The city’s best-known dishes were made to be eaten fast and cheap, between trains and shifts, and most of them still cost less than a cup of coffee in a cafe. This guide explains the dishes worth knowing, where to find them, and how to eat them without regretting it. Places we list link to their full pages, with hours and directions.
The dishes
Vada pav. A spiced potato fritter in a soft bun with chutneys and a fried green chilli: the city’s signature snack, sold outside almost every station.
Pav bhaji. A buttery mashed vegetable curry with toasted bread rolls, cooked on huge flat griddles. Ask for “extra butter” and you will get it.
Bhelpuri and sev puri. Puffed rice or crisp puris with potato, onion, sev and sweet and sour chutneys, assembled to order. The classic beach snack.
Pani puri. Hollow puris filled with spiced water, eaten in one bite. The water is the risky part for visitors, see the tips below.
Misal pav. A fiery sprouted-bean curry topped with farsan, eaten with bread: Maharashtrian breakfast at its best.
Kheema pav. Spiced minced mutton with bread, the breakfast of the Irani cafes.
Kebabs and malpua. The food of Mohammed Ali Road, especially at night during Ramzan.
Where to eat it
Girgaon Chowpatty and Juhu Beach
The two beach food courts. At Girgaon Chowpatty, the licensed food plaza is the safe bet for bhelpuri and pav bhaji; at Juhu Beach, eat at the stalls near the Juhu Chowpatty end, where the crowd is. Both are best at sunset.
Cannon Pav Bhaji, opposite CSMT
Cannon Pav Bhaji has served pav bhaji from a stall on Dadabhai Naoroji Road, opposite the station, since the 1970s. Regulars come for the generous butter and the speed, and it stays open until 1 AM. Most people eat standing.
The Girgaum Kitchen, Girgaon
For the Maharashtrian side of street food in a sit-down room: The Girgaum Kitchen near Khotachiwadi does vada pav, misal pav and kothimbir vadi, and reviewers are close to unanimous about it.
The famous stalls
Three names come up in almost every Mumbai food guide. We have not yet reviewed them for our own listings, so check timings before you travel:
- Ashok Vada Pav, near Kirti College in Dadar, for vada pav.
- Anand Stall, near Mithibai College in Vile Parle, for vada pav and sandwiches.
- Sardar Pav Bhaji, Tardeo, for pav bhaji with a great deal of butter.
Mohammed Ali Road
The lanes around Chor Bazaar and Mohammed Ali Road are where the city goes for kebabs, biryani and sweets, and they are at their liveliest after dark in Ramzan. For a sit-down meal, Noor Mohammadi is known for its nalli nihari, though the Maharashtra FDA suspended its food licence on 14 July 2026, so check it has reopened before you go.
Kheema pav at the Irani cafes
The cheapest good breakfast in south Mumbai is kheema pav with chai at an Irani cafe, such as Cafe Excelsior near CSMT or Olympia Coffee House in Colaba. See our guide to Irani cafes in Mumbai.
Eating street food safely
- Choose busy stalls. High turnover means the food has not been sitting.
- Prefer what is cooked in front of you, fried or griddled hot.
- Be careful with water and raw garnishes. Pani puri water and uncooked chutneys are the usual culprits for visitors; drink bottled water.
- Start slowly if you are not used to the spice.
When to go
Evenings are when most stalls are busiest and freshest, and the beaches come alive around sunset. In the monsoon, hot bhajias and corn roasted on the street are part of the season.
More food guides
Header photo: Vada pav by Planetvyom, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
