The Bombay Canteen — Restaurant in Mumbai

TL;DR Cozy atmosphere, delicious modern take on Indian food, drinks that pack a punch, and friendly service staff. A must try place!

We went in for a lazy Sunday lunch. The seating and ambience was so cozy that we felt comfortable instantly. The staff was courteous and friendly. They made great recommendations for food and drinks. We started off with Corona beer and Negroni, which was deliciously bitter and packed a punch.

We dug into a few small plates. Chettinad Prawns Ali-Yolio with Pao - This was absolutely delicious. Although it looks spicy it isn’t and is full of flavours of ginger, garlic and tamarind. The pav made a perfect accompaniment to dip it into the prawn oil and carry all that flavour.

Tandoori Marrow Makhani - You rarely find this on the menu and we usually try to get every bit out of the nalli when we have mutton. But here, it is presented well for you to easily scoop out the butter of gods and spread it on a toast to savour. It comes with a mint chutney and the makhani sauce, but frankly you don’t need any of that to mask the flavour of the marrow.

Butter Garlic Crab Kulcha - It’s a crunchy kulcha topped with soft scrambled eggs with texture of a cloud and Narthangai (citron) zest. It’s creamy and the sweet crab flavour comes through. The pickled onions bring freshness and adds contrast.

Beef Pastrami Sandwich - This is the only place I could find a good beef pastrami sandwich after New York City. The meat is tender and falls apart easily, perfectly blushing pink in the middle. The Indian touch of kasundi in place of mustard sauce is great. The bread is nicely golden toasted with the Maillard reaction. My partner found it to be a little dry but that’s pastrami sandwich! It comes with a side of steak juice as a dip which can help with the dryness and add flavour.

With all those amazing small plates, we had space only for two mains. Pork & Bacon Rista with Steamed Rice - A Kashmiri dish traditionally made of mutton or lamb meatballs in a thin red non spicy curry. The meatballs have spongy texture as the meat is finely pounded to a paste to form the meatballs. It went well with steamed rice with mild flavour of whole spices.

Shetty Hotel Style Fish Pullimunchi with Malabar Paratha - A delicate fish in tangy tamarind-chilli masala, baby methi & topped with radish salad. We were recommended to get neer dosa with it but we went for Malabar paratha. It was lip-smacking good!

Even after eating all this we could find some place to a have a dessert. Coffee Rasgulla Sundae - Indian tiramisu! Refreshingly cool, not too sweet and coffee to start your sobremesa. :)

This whole meal costed us Rs. 7594 including taxes and service charge and it is well worth it! I hate the fact that I didn’t visit this place when I was staying in Mumbai. But now, whenever I am Mumbai I will make sure to get a...

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Ambience: brick walls with thick putty slapped unevenly to give it a rustic vibe. Wooden furniture that reminded me of a teacher's lounge where many a vivas were given! The space is huge with an assortment of music playing at a volume that allows for conversation and some solo dancing seated on your chair, if you want to do that! The service is extremely courteous and they are well aware of the menu - do go for what they suggest - we did that and benefitted a lot. Food: I'll be honest - the menu at first glance may either look underwhelming or just bizzare. That's what we felt and similarly our friends when we took them out for our first tryst with TBC. It's imp to keep that part of your brain, which looks for something familiar, aside and be ready to experiment. I'd really recommend, you double down and pick anything - veg or non-veg. You won't be disappointed! Here's what we tried, in order of what we'd recommend. Some are veg but they knocked our taste buds right out of the park. Garlic Handova toast: so unexpectedly good - the 'toast' is a mix of lentils, baked with a cluster of gooseberries etc on top. That toast with the sour lemon chutney was finger-licking delicious! Loved it. Pumpkin Launji : another dish that was a delight to it palate. I'm surprised at the freshness of the hurda and just how well it went with the pumpkin puree - the plating was exceptional. Chicken kebab & prawns with pav: bundling then here because we could have skipped these. Also after living in Delhi and Konkan, tasting kebabs & seafood, these two dishes were pretty mainstream. Hence the suggestion to go for the quirky ones/ or what your server may suggest. Drinks: Both the cocktails we had tasted nice but nothing to rave about, but didn't disappoint either. I think you can go with any of the cocktails, and you will get what's promised. Dessert: Christmas ball - good but we have tasted similar things before. It was a delicious dish, but nothing that makes it standout or unique. The only (initial) downside is the quantity is truly per plate, including the cocktails. So do be ready to shell out since the price and quantity don't match. Of course you are paying for the ingenuity of the dish, the fresh ingredients and overall uniqueness that can't be found anywhere. That's important to remember so you don't miss out on trying this place. Their menu changes to reflect what's best of the season - follow their insta to check...

Having heard about this place a lot, I gave this place a try for a dinner outing with a friend on a weekday.

The place is not hard to find, as you can see the board right from the entrance of Kamala Mills.

We found the ambience quite lively, jumbled voices and hysterical laughs visiting our ear drums every once in a while. The decor was vivid yet subtle.

We started with Pork Seekh Kebab, which was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, delicious inside-out. We followed that with Charcoal Grilled Calamari, which was a tad bit extra chewy to my liking, but was tasty nevertheless. For main course we ordered a Virar Chicken Bhujing because why not? Kanda poha BIRYANI? Served with chicken and grilled POTATOES? Fusion gone too far? Or not? I had to check this out. The very first bite sent signals to my brain that we've come home. The dish had a unique tang to it, thanks to the perfect blend of its ingredients and the complimentary stuff. Tip: Ask a staff member about how to eat it the right way, will help. We ended our meal with Gulab Nut, an abnormally sized gulab jamun with a tinch of Old Monk and pista cream. The combination was too good to describe in words, try it to know it yourself. Tip: If you don't like Old Monk, you nay skip it as the flavour might be too strong dor you.

Last but not the least, the staff's hospitality was the cherry on the cake. We were attended by Chitrankan and Pramod, both extremely polite, humble, swift and having a good knowledge about the stuff. Special shout out to Chitranjan for greeting us with that infectious smile everytime, compelling us to smile back involuntarily.

Final verdict: Worth a visit. Come here for the reputation, stay here for...