South India: Mumbai: Bademiya

Bademiya Seekh Kababs
Colaba, Mumbai

On our last night in South Mumbai, DJKung was daring enough to try some street fare. Bademiya is a well-oiled joint that is actually based on a single food cart, but nevertheless, it manages to serve quite a few tables set up on the sidewalks and has a number of busy waiters ready to take your order. It is a popular late night joint.

DJKung ordered three different kebabs to try: chicken, special kebab and beef. As well as a side of freshly made roti. The kebabs were like the Turkish kofta, where the ground seasoned meat is shaped onto metal skewers. They were all tasty and definitely gamy.

It was nice hanging out in the sidewalk and feasting on these juicy meaty morsels.

Here's another shot of the kebabs.

Here's the view of the street.

And guess what--- DJKung was relatively unscathed with the street food! So much or the infamous Bombay belly! It is just really unfair that I got stuck with the diarrhea and fevers on the way back home despite avoiding the street food. I think next time, I will take DJKung's approach and get for street eats.


Let's not forget the other half of the UFC, who eagerly awaited our return:

Chibby and Babams obviously cannot contain themselves upon seeing us return home.

South India: Mumbai: Shiv Sagar

Shiv Sagar

Nagin Mahal, 82 Veer Nariman Road

Churchgate, Mumbai



Our friend Varum from Siolim House recommended Shiv Sagar as a not-to-be-missed pure veg place. Shiv Sagar was pretty packed on some nights that we passed by, so we knew that the had serious food here.

Fried baby corn with chili sauce. The corn was crunchy, fresh and sweet.

Dosa paneer tikka masala. This dosa was massive and just lip-smackingly good.



DJKung taking a slice of the paper-thin dosa. (I wonder where we can get it back home.)

Veggie lollipops. These are cauliflower florets with a masala mix, breaded and deep-fried. It was ok, but not comparable to the chicken lollipops according to DJKung.

Chili garlic potato. French fries with loads of garlic and pepper. This was a spice explosion in your mouth.

Kulfi falooda. Kulfi ice cream layered with yellow rice noodles, cashews and almonds and drizzled with rose syrup. Deeelish.

Three-in-one falooda. I think the other two flavors were mango and pistachio.

Shiv Sagar was definitely a veggie lover's place. It was too bad that we only checked it out once; the menu was vast enough that we could have eaten several times here.

South India: Mumbai: Naval Restaurant

Naval Restaurant


Colaba, Mumbai





Naval Restaurant is a no-frills eatery close to our hotel. It is frequented by locals and the prices are very reasonable. We actually went here twice.

Prawn fried rice.


Vegetable chop suey. This was a very interesting interpretation of this faux Chinese dish. There was a layer of bright yellow noodles at the bottom. The handful of veg that they did put in was swimming in a thick cornstarch-based sauce, as you can see. Nevertheless, the sauce went well with the rice.

Veggie fried rice.

Roasted chicken. DJKung said that this was excellent.

Like with most other no-frills places, some of Naval Restaurant's items (mostly the little snacks) are only available at lunch time.