Jai Jawan

I just went to this amazing place set in the midst of the Mumbai buzz - Jai Jawan. The one I am talking about is (what I would call) "the real one" - meaning the one off the side of the street with no chairs, a metal counter with the capacity of maybe (maybe) five people. The thing to get there is the prawns, sold by the kilo, and they are just absolutely stomach numbing. Basically, they make you want to eat them, stuff yourself brainless, then throw up a little to empty out the "ole tummy" just so you can repeat the process. I mean, I thought I wanted more after chowing my tandoori chicken and fried rawas and prawns. But really, what you are getting is a choice of four things on the menu - fried prawns (I would say the second best in Mumbai - first goes to Leopold's butter pepper garlic prawns - but I'll get to that later), fried rawas, tandoori chicken, and chicken tikka. All I would say are top notch - just seeing the huge 2 foot by 2 foot bucket of prawns (with the AMAZING masala-y covering), and then watching the "master fryer" plop those in the deep fry is enough to make you want to eat the guy taking orders at the front. It opens at 6:30, but, like what happened to me, expect to wait for thirty or so minutes, because apparently, "6:30" means "7:00" in the busy world of the shoe market street by KFC and Croma. I would say that Jai Jawan is a great place to stop for a quick bite or a take away order of 10 or so kilos of pure goodness - I know I'm gonna stop by for seconds.

Elco

You haven't eaten Indian food if you haven't tried Elco. Luckily, I have the pleasure of being a two minute walk away from this mind-blowing pure-veg South Indian restaurant (set in Bandra West), and I'm very gracious that I have this privilege. The kind of food that you will find here is stuff like dosas (the best in Mumbai), pani puri (again-amazing), and several other kinds of delicious morsels that you will slowly discover as you begin to make Elco one of your regular stops (highly recommended). My favorite thing to get there is pav bhaji, which I would consider a ten out of ten OUTSTANDING meal. The perfect size (though I would definitely recommend getting at least one order of "extra bread"), and it won't stuff you yet will not leave you hungry. The buttery sauce made from the kitchen à la heaven, makes you rethink your past years as a desperate searcher for good Indian food - basically, it means all the years you wasted by settling for average and not going for the gold (or shall I say "platinum" in this case), and how by even reading this blog post you are spending precious time which could be taken up by devouring tasty chaat treats from Mumbai's finest. So get on it!

Moti Mahal's

This restaurant, called Moti Mahal's, is a once in a lifetime find for a local place in Bandra (Mumbai, India), that serves absolutely amazing North Indian food, especially meat. If you are a die-hard meat-lover searching for a great outing that serves the best North Indian barbeque in Mumbai, according to my point of view, you would no doubt go to Moti Mahal's. The automatic order that my father and I immediately place is one special kebab platter - a plate filled with an array of meats that will tickle your taste buds - and one dahl pocari (THE BEST - a darkish brown/black mixture of some type of bean - a delicious and radiant flavor), along with an order of roomali roti (a paper-thin roti - great for wrapping meats with) and two orders of garlic naan (to die for, as usual). And, to finish off the meal, an extra meat or dalh dish is ordered - and is pretty much always something new (and almost always magnificent - something to expect from the food served at Moti's). And that my friends, will present the two of us a belly-filling, not-being-able-to-fall-asleep-on-your-stomach-because-you-are-so-incredibly-stuffed meal that will give us memories throughout the night as we dream about reshmi kabab in all it's glory.