Cheap Eats in Mumbai

Kyani and Co

• ★ 4.8
• Irani cafe
• $
• Marine Lines and Dhobi Talao

Order Bun maska and Irani chai; share a mawa cake.

Kyani and Co opened in 1904, making it Mumbai's oldest Irani cafe. Bun maska, brun maska, mawa cake and the sweet milky chai have not changed in a century.

Sassoon Dock Fish Market

• ★ 4.7
• Seafood
• $
• Colaba

Sassoon Dock Fish Market in Mumbai: market room. Mumbai's oldest wet dock (1875) hides at the southern tip of Colaba; the koli morning sees only.

Cafe Madras

• ★ 4.6
• South Indian
• $
• Matunga and Sion

Order Filter coffee and a Mysore masala dosa.

Cafe Madras at Kings Circle has poured South Indian filter coffee since 1940. The idli is steamed in cotton batter; the masala dosa is the benchmark.

Ashok Vaidya Vada Pav

• ★ 4.6
• Street food
• $
• Matunga and Sion

Order Two vada pavs with red garlic chutney and a fried green chilli.

The Vaidya family stall outside Dadar Station has sold vada pav at the same platform since Ashok Vaidya invented the format in 1966. Narendra now runs it.

Sardar Pav Bhaji

• ★ 4.6
• Street food
• $
• Tardeo

Order Cheese pav bhaji with extra butter and a glass of solkadhi.

Sardar at the Tardeo bus depot has been the Mumbai pav bhaji benchmark for decades. Butter swims on the griddle; the masala is hot and the pav is buttered.

A Rama Nayak Udipi Shri Krishna

• ★ 4.5
• Udupi South Indian
• $
• Matunga and Sion

Order The unlimited thali; come hungry.

A Rama Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding has run the unlimited South Indian thali in Matunga since 1942. Banana leaves, ghee roast, sambar refills.

Yazdani Bakery

• ★ 4.5
• Irani bakery
• $
• Fort and Kala Ghoda

Order Brun maska with Irani chai and an apple pie.

Yazdani has fired bread and brun in a small Fort alley off Akbar Ally for more than six decades. The brun is still pulled from a wood-fired oven each morning.

Sassanian Boulangerie

• ★ 4.5
• Cafe
• $
• Marine Lines and Dhobi Talao

Order Bun maska with Irani chai, a fried egg pav on the side.

Mr 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, mawa cake.

Chowpatty Beach Bhel and Chaat Carts

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• Chowpatty and Girgaon

Order A round of bhel puri followed by pani puri.

Chowpatty Beach sunset means dozens of bhel and chaat carts firing up. Bhel puri, sev puri, pani puri, dahi puri from numbered carts down the promenade.

Elco Restaurant and Market

• ★ 4.4
• Street food
• $
• Bandra West

Order Pani puri with sweet and spicy waters, then a ragda pattice.

Elco on Hill Road has been the Bandra chaat benchmark for decades. The pani puri counter is at the front, the seated restaurant at the back.

Juhu Beach Chaat

• ★ 4.3
• Street food
• $
• Juhu

Order Ragda pattice and a round of dahi puri.

Juhu Beach's evening chaat strip runs from sundown until past midnight. Pav bhaji on butter griddles, dahi puri assembled to order, ragda pattice and bhel.

Pancham Puriwala

• ★ 4.2
• Indian
• $
• Fort and Kala Ghoda

Order Pancham thali with the puri-sabzi combo and a sweet lassi.

Pancham Puriwala near CSMT has fried puris and served thali to Bombay commuters since 1848. UP migrants who succeeded in the puri trade opened the room.

Marine Drive Bhutta and Chai Carts

• ★ 4.2
• Street food
• $
• Marine Lines and Dhobi Talao

Order A bhutta (roasted corn with lime and chilli) and a cutting chai.

Marine Drive at sundown means chai-walas, bhutta carts and roasted peanut sellers along the promenade. The chai is poured from a thermos into paper cups.

Fort Vada Pav Stalls

• ★ 4.2
• Street food
• $
• Fort and Kala Ghoda

Order A vada pav with garlic chutney and a samosa pav.

Fort's vada pav circuit runs Horniman Circle, DN Road and Flora Fountain at office-lunch hours. Mill-worker rates have held; the chutney is still made.

Sukh Sagar

• ★ 4.0
• Indian
• $
• Chowpatty and Girgaon

Order Pav bhaji and a sweet lassi.

Sukh Sagar at Chowpatty has run a pure-veg multicuisine menu for four decades. Pav bhaji, sandwiches, dosas and the South Indian counter run all day.