A Look At The Most Iconic Street Food Of Mumbai

Mumbai is known for its diverse food scene. On one hand locales like the Bandra Kurka Complex, Fort, Bandra and Marine Drive have luxurious, fine dining restaurants with top chefs. On the other hand, the city’s streets are graced with a plethora of street food vendors selling bhutta, chaat, kebabs, dosas and sandwiches. Indeed, a visit to Mumbai is incomplete without sampling some of the street food it has to offer. With that in mind, here are the most iconic types of street food in Mumbai; how many of these have you tried?

Vada Pavs

Vada pav is arguably the most popular type of street food in the city. It is made by boiling and mashing potatoes which are then spiced, coated in flour and deep fried. These vadas are stuffed between ‘pavs’, a special type of bread similar to a slider and coated with a chili mix.

Get the best vada pavs at Graduate Vada Pav, Aram Vada pav and Shivaji Vada pav; head here for more information. 

Chaat

Mumbai has an intense love affair with chaat which has countless variants like Aloo chaat (potatoes tossed with spices), Bhel Puri ( a combination of puffed rice, potatoes, chopped onions and tamarind sauce), Dahi puri (a puri shell stuffed with potatoes and topped with yogurt) and Pani Puri (puri shells are dipped into a spicy water and had whole). Head here for more information on the best street stalls to enjoy chaat.

Sandwiches

No, we’re not talking about you regular ham and cheese or tomato sandwiches. Street food vendors in Mumbai get a lot more creative with their sandwiches; at many a stall you’ll find sev puri sandwiches, chocolate sandwiches, jungli sandwiches and even ‘Bombay’ sandwiches which have cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and cheese.

Kebabs

While Mumbai doesn’t have much to offer in terms of non-vegetarian street food, some areas do serves some pretty mean kebabs. Head to Mohammed Ali Road for succulent tangdi kebabs or to Sarvi in Byculla for delicious seekh kebabs. Another famous spot is Bademiya in Colaba.

Omelet Pavs

Omlette pavs stuff deliciously spiced omelets into freshly baked pavs. They’re easily found outside train stations and in khau gallis; one of our favorites can be found just outside Churchgate station.

Dosas

Mumbai boasts a large South Indian population and therefore a host of dosa stalls which serve thousands of hungry customers a day. We particularly love Sai Swad Dosa in the Gatkopar khau galli which serves over 25 different types of dosa (including a Maggi Cheese Dosa) and the Anand Dosa stall in Vile Parke which serves the Gini dosa, which is horizontal rather than vertical.

Golas

While they’re not actually considered ‘foods’, golas are Mumbai’s go to snack during the hot weather we suffer through for much of the year. They’re essentially crushed ice lollies and are available in a multitude of flavours.