Mumbai Life Series-Mumbai Food

What is a city without its peculiar cuisines and food habits .. Life in Mumbai where the action is on round the clock is unthinkable without its special food and related habits . Mumbai is a bundle of contradictions as far as its food habits are concerned .There are extremely high end places which serve a variety of international cuisines .Most of these specialty restaurants are attached to the five star hotels . Then there are the stand alone ones which have created a name for themselves not just because of the food but also because of the ambience , the celebrity quotient etc . Olive bar , Indigo , Athena ,Mainland China would be some of them . But if you closely look at the ones that serve specialty Indian cuisine then one should mention Mahesh Lunch home which serves one of the best sea food specialties , Gaylords for the Mughlai and North Indian kind of cuisine and the list goes on .Then there are the ones like Samovar (which is attached to Jehangir Art gallery ), Tea centre , Yokos which belong to a different league and probably have an old world charm around them .

But you cannot simply miss the road side food which is available everywhere in Mumbai . The growth engine called Mumbai probably runs on a fuel called the vada pav . The vada pav(combination of bread and fried potato balls ) is economical , tasty and easily available . Millions and millions of people eat it all the time . Then there are the ubiquitous tea stalls and the juice vendors who also make brisk business all the while . But Mumbai without a visit to Juhu beach or Elco market and a sip of the legendary ice gola and bhel is unthinkable . Then there are the typical Mumbai specific food varieties like pav bhaji , dabeli , different kinds of chats and the unforgettable gol gappas ( light round crispies dipped in flavoured water ).The list goes on and on . The common characteristics being that this kind of food is spicy , dripping with oil or butter, tangy , sinful and terribly tasty ….There are also some spots which are renowned for authentic cuisines. A special mention has to be made of Mohammad Ali road which is well known for its kababs, rolls and lot of other meat preparations .Also hats off to all the Udipi joints who promptly serve dozens and dozens of idlis and dosas to a hungry city .

Mumbai thrives on this kind of tangy and tasty food . And in fact this type of food is perfectly integrated with the texture of a dynamic and vibrant city like Mumbai ..What say you ?