A deep-fried spiced potato fritter (vada) inside a soft white pav with red garlic chutney and a fried green chilli. The Mumbai mill-worker sandwich, invented 1966.

Ashok Vaidya ran a snack stall outside Dadar railway station selling poha, batata vada and tea to mill workers and commuters. In 1966 he slipped the deep-fried potato vada inside a pav with red garlic chutney and a fried green chilli. The format spread across the city within years; Mumbai now counts more than 20,000 vada pav stalls.

3 editor picks for Vada pav in Mumbai, ranked by editorial score. All Mumbai signature dishes · Vada pav across every city.

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Vada pav makes more sense with someone from Mumbai explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

Book food experiences in Mumbai

See all 353 bookable experiences in Mumbai