What ‘Maha’ Mumbai eats

Mumbai was recently bestowed with an award for best destination for food and drinks in the country. The city synonymous with vada pav and misal is a place where you can spot the best of Maharashtrian as well as Malvani dishes from all around the state. We speak to some of Mumbai’s chefs to see what their favourite joints for the best Maharashtrian fare are.

Mackerel stuffed with chutney at Highway Gomantak I especially enjoy Malvani food. Two of my go-to restaurants for Maharashtrian food are Highway Gomantak and Potoba. The food at these places speak for itself. The dishes are absolutely exquisite and reason enough to keep visiting these places. I love the mackerel stuffed with chutney at Highway Gomantak and the misal and thalipeeth at Potoba. The home-cooked feel of the thali is absolutely superb. One of my Mahashtrian friend’s mom makes a great thalipeeth and only Potoba comes really close. A glass of sol kadi is always welcome with a meal. (Chef Ajay Chopra, Celebrity Chef and Freelance food consultant)

Piyush at Prakash Uphar I often visit Prakash Upahaar in Dadar for its piyush, Shree Datta Bhojanalay for its kombadi vade and other chicken dishes. They have managed to retain the uniqueness in their preparation. I love the Maharashtrian cuisine as my mother cooks it, so I’ve grown up relishing it. I also love it for the variety in taste that the cuisine offers and the fact that it is mostly based on the produce around the region. (Chef Kshama of The Bar Stock Exchange)

Amti and Varan at Satkar Rice Plate House Maharashtrian cuisine has been close to me all throughout my child hood. I grew up in a neighbourhood surrounded by a lot of Maharashtrians and I had an opportunity to sample a lot of Brahmin and Malwani foods. One of my favourite restaurants is Satkar Rice Plate House in Goregaon. They serve both Malwani and Maharashtrian food. One can savour the amti and varan, which is a very homely dish, and not available easily. I have a lot of lot of nostalgia associated with it. It goes very well with rice, tup or ghee, methkut, which is a type of dry spice powder and a piece of fried fish which is like a cherry on top. (Chef Gaurav Gidwani of The Bar Stock Exchange)

Misal pav at Aswaad Aswaad in Dadar, Vinay Health Home Charni Road and Malwani Katta are my go-to joints for Maharashtrian food. I like the misal at Aswad as it’s very light and yet superbly aromatic. The kothambir vadi at Vinay Health home for a perfectly sweet-sour-spicy combination. The lunch thali at Malwani Katta too is perfect to induce the pure Mumbaikar feeling. (Chef Ranveer Brar of English Vinglish)

Bhareli Vangi at Diva Maharashtracha The restaurant outlets located at Mahim and Andheri are quite central and easily accessible. It’s a personal favourite restaurant of mine when it comes to Maharashtrian food as I have been visiting the place since it opened and I am yet to be disappointed. My favourite dishes there are Tomato Saar and Bhareli Vangi. I like these dishes because the mix of masalas are just right and they bring out the brilliant and unique flavour of the dishes, which is seemingly simple. I also like the Mattha, which is buttermilk flavoured with ginger, cumin and green chillies. The drink is very refreshing, especially in this heat. (Chef Rakesh Talwar of The Playlist Pizzeria)