7 Best Restaurants in Mumbai, India

Among the most beloved lunch spots for South Mumbai's workaday crowd, this quaint little café is the ideal spot to grab a soy latte and a quick bite while resting your feet. The fresh juices and salads are cheap but clean and safe for foreigners, the Wi-Fi is free, and the interior, while a bit cramped, is bright and pleasant---and best of all, the sandwiches, like the KGC Special (arugula, vegetarian mayo, and Padano cheese on grilled flat bread), are light but extremely tasty when snuggled up to a hot (or more preferably iced) cup of joe. It's in a popular neighborhood, just a stone's throw from Jehangir Art Gallery and Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue.

Bandra's beautiful people—Bollywood stars, expats, creative types—flock to this hip, casual café on tony Pali Hill. The laid-back style, plentiful outdoor seating, and excellent quality food more than make up for the fact that the bagels are just round bread, not the standard boiled-then-baked variety. Order a whole-wheat bagel with Goan-style chicken sausage and cream cheese, and one of the wonderful seasonal fruit smoothies, as you lounge on one of the rattan couches.

Always packed, Mondy is a great place to grab an ice-cold Kingfisher draft and watch the crowds roll in—though unlike nearby Leo's, Mondy's doesn't have a full liquor license. Avoid the characterless air-conditioned room and instead post up at one of the cramped tables in the main space, where the jukebox plays at full blast and the walls are covered with cartoon murals of Mumbai life.

When it defiantly reopened just four days after the first shots of the 2008 terrorist attacks were fired and 10 people were killed, the crowds were so big the police had to shut the place down all over again (the ownership has preserved bullet holes from the attack on its upstairs windows for people to see). Order a bottle of ice-cold Kingfisher beer to wash down the hearty, typical bar food—chicken tikka, french fries, that kind of thing, or go with the Chinese food that is actually the better bet.

At this airy cafe full of sunlight, you can find comforting breads and French baked goods, as well as an assortment of savory breakfast items. There are branches in Lower Parel and Bandra.

Serving the best fruit-flavored ice-cream in town, Natural—milky, creamy—seems to be everywhere. All of the ice cream is made with fresh fruit or nuts, and contains no preservatives; highly recommended are the tender coconut, roasted almond, or seasonal Indian fruit flavors like cinnamon-tinged chikoo (a caramel-flavored fruit also known as sapodilla), custard apple, or mango.

A short walk from the blue Knesset Eliyahoo synagogue is The Nutcracker, a tiny, pretty vegetarian restaurant with pink and white bougainvillea tumbling down its wooden windows, and mosaic tiled floors. Go for breakfast (or lunch, or dinner), and order any of the delicious egg concoctions.