Best Business Lunch Restaurants in Mumbai
Where to take a client to lunch in BKC, Lower Parel, Nariman Point and the eastern suburbs, and how to get out again in an hour.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A Mumbai business lunch is decided by whose office you are closer to, because crossing the city in the middle of the day can cost an hour each way. BKC is where the banks and the consultancies are. Lower Parel took the media and the startups. Nariman Point and Fort still hold the older firms and the law practices. Andheri East and Powai serve the eastern corridor. Pick the district first and the restaurant second.
Read our full guide to business lunches and dinners in Mumbai, district by district
- Average cost
- ₹1,200 to ₹3,500 per person
- Duration
- 1 hour, 90 minutes at most
- Dress code
- Business casual to formal
- Best times
- 12.30pm, before the rush, 2.15pm, after it, Avoid Friday, when everyone is out
Our picks (24)
Lake View Cafe
The Bombay Canteen
O Pedro
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Maaslli
Trishna
Yauatcha Mumbai
Copper Chimney
The Clearing House
Ummrao
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Persian Darbar, Lokhandwala
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Shenoy's
Americano
Bayroute Palladium
Bougain Villa
Copper Chimney, Kala Ghoda
Dobaraa
Hitchki Powai
Malhar Tribes Restaurant Bar
Moti Mahal
Naga Belly
Nav Chaitanya
Oh! Calcutta
Pondichéry Café
Punjab Grill
Where in the city
- Bandra Kurla Complex
- Purpose-built and full of expense accounts. Restaurants here are used to an hour-long lunch and will pace it for you.
- Lower Parel
- The mill compounds, walkable from most of the offices, and the widest choice at the mid price point.
- Nariman Point and Fort
- Older, quieter rooms and the hotel coffee shops, which are the traditional place to meet someone senior.
- Andheri East and Powai
- Convenient for the airport and the eastern offices, and far easier than dragging a client south.
What to expect
Efficient service that understands the clock, a set menu at a fixed price, and rooms designed to be talked in. Expect to be offered the bill quickly once plates are cleared.
Highlights
- Chosen by district, not by cuisine
- Set and express lunch menus
- Rooms you can hold a conversation in
- Valet parking where it matters
Tips
- Between 1pm and 2pm every table in the district is taken. Book, or meet at 12.30 or 2.15 instead.
- Ask for the express or set lunch if there is one. It is priced for this and it arrives quickly, which is the point.
- Assume vegetarian. Plenty of colleagues and clients do not eat meat and some avoid onion and garlic, and a restaurant with a real vegetarian menu keeps the conversation on the work.
- Ask for a corner table or a banquette. Mumbai dining rooms are hard rooms and the middle of one is no place for a conversation about numbers.
- Confirm valet parking if anyone is driving. In BKC and Lower Parel it is the difference between arriving on time and not.
- Settle the bill discreetly at the desk on the way in if you are hosting.
Booking tips
- Book under your own name and mention it is a business lunch; the table you get will be better.
- Say how long you have. An hour is normal and staff will work to it.
- Ask whether there is a private or semi-private table if the conversation is sensitive.
- Check the restaurant is actually open for lunch: several of the best dinner rooms are not.