Mumbai eats in layers: Gujarati farsan in Bhuleshwar, Parsi bun maska in Fort, Malvani seafood in Dadar and Bohri kebabs off Mohammed Ali Road. Three days of markets, Irani cafés and pavement griddles, priced in rupees.
Norman-Gothic stone hall from 1869 with bas-reliefs by Lockwood Kipling. The spice aisles sell Kashmiri chilli, kokum and asafoetida by the kilo; the fruit wing stacks Alphonso mangoes April–June. Roughly 11:00–20:00, quiet before noon, shut Sunday.
Mumbai's oldest working Irani café, opened 1904 in the Jer Mahal building: marble-top tables, bentwood chairs, mirrors and a glass case of mawa cakes. Order bun maska dunked in cutting chai, or akuri — spiced scrambled eggs — on toast.
The dense wholesale grid north of Zaveri Bazaar, where vegetable stalls, ghee shops and century-old farsan counters sit under crumbling chawls. Buy fafda, khaman dhokla and jalebi by weight, plus dried-fruit barfi from the sweet shops on Panjrapole Lane.
A no-frills Maharashtrian canteen near Shivaji Park serving the food Mumbai's Marathi households actually eat: misal pav with fiery rassa, kothimbir wadi, sabudana vada and piyush to cool it down. Expect a queue and shared tables at peak hours.
A wooden-galleried Parsi bakery running since 1953, with a coal-fired oven turning out brun pao — hard-crusted rolls served split and slathered with butter. Ginger biscuits and apple pie sell by weight. Mornings from about 06:30, closed Sunday.
Parsi institution from 1923 in an Art Deco corner building, famous for berry pulao — spiced mutton or chicken rice scattered with tart Iranian zereshk barberries flown in from Tehran. Also caramel custard and raspberry soda. Lunch only, closed Sunday.
The city's benchmark pav bhaji, cooked on a wide tawa and finished with a slab of Amul butter that melts into the mash; the pav come glossy and griddled. Open roughly noon to 01:00, busiest after 20:00, with pavement seating and quick turnover.
Mangalorean seafood in a dim Fort side-street room: butter-pepper-garlic crab cracked at the table, koliwada prawns, rawas in green masala and neer dosa to mop the gravy. Booking essential for dinner; two sittings most evenings.
South Indian breakfast in Mumbai's Tamil quarter since 1940: ghee podi idli, Mysore masala dosa and upma-sheera in one plate, plus filter coffee poured between tumbler and davara. Opens 07:00, closed Monday; expect a token-and-wait queue.
Around midday roughly 5,000 dabbawalas unload home-cooked tiffins from suburban trains and sort them on the pavement by painted colour codes, then fan out on bicycles and handcarts. The sorting is loud, fast and finished in about twenty minutes.
The Dawoodi Bohra quarter behind Minara Masjid: smoked bara handi mutton stews, khiri and boti kebabs off charcoal, samosas fried to order, and Taj Ice Cream's hand-churned mango and sitaphal, made in the same shop since 1887.
The licensed food stalls at the north end of the beach fire up around dusk: bhelpuri, sev puri, pav bhaji on wide tawas, roasted bhutta rubbed with lime and chilli, and kulfi falooda. Cash only, and busiest on weekend evenings.