Eating out in Mumbai could mean a quick snack on the move, munching a corn on the cob while gazing at the sea or a long slow dinner in one of the city’s myriad restaurants.

Street food which started off as a necessity has evolved into an integral part of the Mumbai ethos and it is heartening to see that the boundaries of snobbery and class are broken down in search of the ideal kabab.

Restaurants are scattered throughout the city with the more upmarket ones generally located near the city centres of Colaba, Nariman Point and Marine Drive, or in Bandra, Andheri and Juhu.

Most of the budget restaurants are open early morning until 11.30. The more upscale restaurants usually serve only lunch and dinner. Thus eating out is a good way of exploring the culture of the city.

Despite finding western fast food joints in all areas, in Mumbai fast food still means bhelpuri - a puffed rice sweet and spicy savoury snack of onions, boiled potatoes and crumbled deep fried breads.

pav bhaji - a pot-pourri of cooked and spiced vegetables such as potatoes, peas and tomatoes accompanied by a hot buttered tasted bun and

Panipuri – lightweight puffed semolina or flour cakes eaten with a filling boiled pulses, spices, tamarind chutney and spicy water.

Though these distinctly Mumbai delicacies are available from street vendors at every corner, it is thoroughly recommended sampling them at good quality restaurants only.

Mumbai’s seafood speciality is pomfret. My favourite fish restaurant which makes some classic Western Indian fare is Trishna located at 7 Sai Baba Marg, Kala Ghoda, near Rhythm House. Tel 9122 2270 1623.

Located on Princess Street in the Kalbadevi area is the Parsin Dairy Farm, this isn't a restaurant in the true sense of the word, but rather a take-out shop which offers clean and top quality Indian cream sweets such as badam burfi (a milk fudge made with crushed almonds) or rabari (a decadently rich dessert). Or try the Falooda (an exotic milk-shake enlivened with vanilla ice-cream, saffron, falooda seeds, vermicelli and rosewater) in particular.

If you fancy fine dining for a formal occasion, there are a number of quality restaurants including the Copper Chimney which now has branches all over the city and China Garden at Kemps Corner that serves spicy food.

Colaba Causeway is the main tourist stretch lined with cafes and cheap eats with good and varied low budget menus.

Picture by Jason Lowe