A soft white Irani bun split and slathered with thick salted Amul butter (maska). Served with sweet milky Irani chai at every Irani cafe in Mumbai.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Bun maska is the canonical Irani cafe pairing for Irani chai, born from the Persian Zoroastrian migration of the early 1900s that built the city's cafe culture. Kyani and Co (founded 1904), Sassanian (founded 1913) and Yazdani still serve it the original way: a soft, slightly sweet bun split and slathered with cold white butter that melts on contact. The price has barely moved in a decade.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. The bun must be at room temperature so the butter stays cold and unmelted; that contrast is the dish.
Kyani and Co in Mumbai: irani cafe room. Mumbai's oldest Irani cafe (1904) hides behind a faded yellow facade on Marine Lines; the regulars.
Why locals love it: Mumbai's oldest Irani cafe (1904) hides behind a faded yellow facade on Marine Lines; the regulars at the counter have outlasted most of the city's restaurants.
Tip: Bun maska and Irani chai, share a mawa cake; cash easiest. Cash and card both accepted.
Rustom K Yazdabadi opened Sassanian on 1st Marine Street in 1913. The bakery oven has stayed lit ever since; bun maska, brun, fried egg pav and mawa cake.
Order: Mawa cake and a brun with butter.
Tip: Mawa cakes sell out by lunch; arrive early. Cash and card both accepted.
Worth the queue: Mawa cake
Yazdani Bakery in Mumbai: Tucked in a tiny Fort alley off Akbar Ally, no signage, easy to miss; the wood-fired oven has stayed lit for six decades.
Why locals love it: Tucked in a tiny Fort alley off Akbar Ally, no signage, easy to miss; the wood-fired oven has stayed lit for six decades.
Tip: Brun maska with Irani chai is the order; closed Sundays. Cash and card both accepted.
More cities are in research. Want bun maska covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.