A Day of Eating in South Mumbai
Irani chai to seafood dinner, walked off between meals
- Duration
- 1 day
- Theme
- Food
- Budget
- About 2,000 rupees a head for the whole day, less if you skip the seafood dinner
- Best for
- Food lovers, Second-time visitors, Anyone who would rather eat than sightsee
Mumbai is a city of migrations and the food maps them: Parsi cafes, Gujarati thalis, Udupi breakfast counters, Konkani seafood, all within a few kilometres of each other. This is a day built around six meals and the walks between them, running roughly north to south so the traffic is with you. Come hungry and pace yourself: the portions are larger than they look and nobody here is trying to serve you a small plate.
The plan
Breakfast at Cafe Madras: Cafe Madras®️
Start where Mumbai's South Indian breakfast tradition is at its best: filter coffee, and whichever dosa the counter recommends. Matunga has been a Tamil and Udupi neighbourhood for a century and this is its canteen. Expect a queue on a weekend morning; it moves.
Crawford Market: Crawford Market (Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai)
A Victorian market hall with friezes by Rudyard Kipling's father, still doing what it was built for. Walk the fruit and spice aisles, buy something you can carry, and resist the guides at the entrance.
Gujarati thali at Shree Thaker Bhojanalay: Shree Thaker Bhojanalay (Since 1945 )
An unlimited Gujarati thali served since 1945: a dozen small bowls, refilled until you stop them. This is the meal of the day, so arrive hungry and do not plan anything strenuous for the hour after it. Shree Thaker has been closed for repairs since August 2026; until it reopens, Golden Star Thali near Charni Road station serves a similar unlimited thali.
Walk it off in Kala Ghoda: Kala Ghoda Art District
The crescent of galleries, cafes and Victorian buildings between the museum and the Fort. Free galleries, a synagogue open to visitors, and shade when you need it.
Chai and bun maska at Kyani & Co: Kyani & Co. | Legendary Irani Restaurant, Bakers
One of the last Irani cafes, open since 1904: bun maska, brun maska, and tea, under ceiling fans and marble-topped tables. Parsi cafe culture is disappearing from the city and this is one of the places holding on.
Sunset and bhelpuri at Girgaon Chowpatty: Girgaon Chowpatty
The beach at the top of Marine Drive, at the hour it is meant to be seen. Eat at the licensed food plaza rather than the loose stalls, and walk south along the promenade afterwards.
Konkani seafood at Mahesh Lunch Home: Mahesh Lunch Home
Finish with the coast: bombil, prawns, crab, cooked the Mangalorean way. It is busy and unfussy and has been the answer to "where should we eat seafood" in Fort for decades. Book, or expect to wait.
Before you go
- Do not order a full portion at every stop. Share, taste, move on.
- The thali is unlimited and the servers will keep refilling until you fold your napkin over the plate or say bas.
- Carry cash. Several of the best places here have never taken a card and are not about to start.
- Trains are faster than taxis between Matunga and town in the middle of the day.
- Most of the old cafes close between lunch and evening. The timings in this plan work around that.