Heres the place you need to eat this Independence Day weekend in Mumbai

Independence Day falls on a Friday this yr. Yes, the lengthy weekend kicks off with a dry day — however that simply means it can save you your bar tab for Saturday and Sunday, when Mumbai comes alive. From new eating places, menus and limited-edition pop-ups to visitor bartenders taking up the faucets, Mumbai’s eating places and bars are pulling out all of the stops. Whether you’re within the temper for a lingering dinner, a one-night-only cocktail experiment, or a full-blown meals crawl, right here is tips on how to profit from your extra-long break earlier than Monday rolls again round.

Drift

Perched above The Orangery at Nilaya Anthology in Lower Parel, Drift is Mumbai’s latest all-day café and bar from EHV International — the sort of place that glides effortlessly from breezy brunches and mid-afternoon caffeine fixes to cocktails and candlelit dinners. The temper is European café cool, with a menu that’s all about high quality elements in an area that’s as design-led as it’s inviting.

Chef Sumit Sawardekar attracts on his classical European coaching to create a lunch and dinner line-up that’s equal components comforting and curious. From 11 am to 11 pm, you can find breakfast classics, sandwiches, burgers, sizzling canines, and an enviable unfold of pâtisserie and viennoiseries. Come mealtimes, count on crisp salads, shareable starters, hearty pastas, and indulgent à la carte desserts. Standouts embody the tender gourd, beetroot and fennel salad, blue and goats cheese mille feuille, sunchoke and truffle agnolotti, and smoked chilli prawns. The pâtisserie counter tempts with the Basque cheesecake, chocolate fudge cake, and tiramisu, whereas the bread rack — stacked with house-baked loaves — provides each aroma and appeal to the café’s every day rhythm.

Entrance by means of Comorin at Nilaya Anthology, Peninsula Corporate Park, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai; for reservations, name 022 35387627

Waarsa

At Waarsa, the highlight is on Women of Awadh — a limited-edition culinary showcase celebrating the ladies who’ve preserved, formed, and quietly innovated Awadhi delicacies for generations. Curated by author Anubhuti Krishna (whose pop up ended on August 10) and residential chef Sheeba Iqbal of Naimat Khana, the collection is as a lot about tales and reminiscence as it’s about flavour, bringing the heat of dwelling kitchens to the tables of this contemporary Awadhi restaurant on the NCPA.

From August 15 to 24, Sheeba will take over with a richer, extra celebratory unfold impressed by her professor-mother’s sensible cooking and her marital haveli’s royal daawats — assume ghutwan kebab, mutton yakhni pulao, rooster qorma, achhari machli, baingan ka raita with besan ki tikiyan, and desserts like qiwami siwayin, zarda, and ande ka halwa. Each dish will permit diners to style Awadhi heritage in all its unapologetic abundance.

Waarsa, NCPA Gate 2, NCPA Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai; for reservations, name 95949 43555

Ekaa

Ekaa flips the script on small plates with a tapas menu from Chef Niyati Rao — six dishes that mix reminiscence, area, and method into moreish bites. Highlights embody Belly, a cured and slow-cooked pork stomach glazed with bacon fats and served with house-made salsa macha, and Sassoon, a Malwani-style barramundi fritter topped with flying fish roe tartare and spiced shrimp crumble. Comfort takes a sublime flip within the Home Alone–impressed mac & cheese, with potato dumplings in a white wine-butter sauce.

There can be the colourful Tomato Tomato, a carpaccio of six heirloom tomato varieties dressed with kokum and Thai coriander; the smoky-spicy Embers, that includes cured rooster thigh and house-made basbaas; and Pudding, a heat corn dessert wealthy with caramel and buttered corn mud. Pair them with Dwadash — Ekaa’s Ayurvedic-inspired cocktail lineup — for a desk stuffed with stability, depth, and flavour.

Cs-1397, 1st Floor, Kitab Mahal, Dr. D.N. Road, Fort, Mumbai;

Seven Kitchens, St. Regis Mumbai

Seven Kitchens at The St. Regis Mumbai goes all out with a one-day-only feast on August 15. Expect an indulgent unfold with a contemporary twist, paired with limitless premium drinks to maintain the celebrations flowing. Expect interactive meals stations, reside leisure, and a Vande Mataram string artwork set up setting the temper. On the menu is a mixture of Indian and world flavours, assume Tibetan thukpa, a grazing desk, asparagus and gruyere ravioli, Bordeaux-style barramundi with haricot and citrus emulsion, Goan grills, Agra ka chaat, and a hearty serving to of Parsi bhonu. And as a result of no celebration is full with out dessert, there shall be a lot: lagan nu custard, sutarfeni, and different candy treats.

462, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai; For reservations, name 8657522956

JW Café, JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar

This weekend, head over to JW Café at JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar for Kashmiri wazwan delicacies with Whispers of Wazwan, a competition curated by celebrated chef Tahrik Ahmed Parray. The 10-day showcase features a Kashmiri-inspired Sunday brunch on August 17, providing a heat, flavour-packed tribute to the valley’s culinary heritage. Start with shorbas — the fragrant rooster yakhni and aromatic vegetarian zafrani — earlier than diving into wealthy mains like mutton rogan josh, gushtaba, rista, and gaad te mujj. Vegetarians should not neglected, with dum aloo, palak nadru, and nafru yakhini all on the desk. The finale is simply as indulgent: creamy phirni and nutty, spiced shufta, sealing the expertise with a candy style of Kashmir.

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, IA Project Rd, Navpada, Vile Parle East, Vile Parle, Andheri, Mumbai; for reservations, name 7710009250

Ode

Ode in Worli is beginning a brand new chapter with a refreshed menu that’s nonetheless true to Chef Rahul Akerkar’s soulful, memory-driven type. About 22 new dishes be a part of the line-up, with extra vegetarian choices and the identical stability of creativity and luxury.

Highlights embody the Bhavnagri chili tempura with candy potato and romesco, the bucatini peperone carbonara with roasted yellow peppers and ricotta, and the grilled miso napa cabbage caesar with croutons constituted of Maharashtrian dhondas. There isalso the playful Ode to Prawn cocktail, fig mostarda–topped pulled duck and arugula, and a lobster risotto begging for a cocktail pairing.

Desserts hold issues understated however indulgent — assume darkish chocolate Basque cheesecake, vegan chocolate fudge cake, and truffle crème brûlée. Beloved classics just like the BBQ black sesame wings and peruvian spiced rooster stay firmly in place.

Gate No. 4, Raheja Altimus, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, reverse Doordarshan Kendra, B Wing, BDD Chawls Worli, Worli, Mumbai; for reservations, name 90760 31111

KOKO

KOKO in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad is shaking issues up with the second version of its Polar Menu — a month-long cocktail assortment impressed by the peaks of Japan and the sun-kissed deserts of Mexico. Curated by Akash Singh of Pebble Street Hospitality, every pour is a crafted distinction. Sip on First Frost, a crisp sake-mezcal mix topped with rainbow meringue; Smoke Blossom, all floral smoke and rosemary whispers; and North by South, lush with coconut, mezcal, and a salty-smooth end. There’s the fragile Desert Snow with jasmine foam, the martini-inspired Kimonotini, the fiery-sweet Liquid Fire, and Yin Juan, a jackfruit-shishito chilli creation that dances between warmth and concord.

KOKO Mumbai, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Mumbai; For reservations, name: 77159 63030 (Mumbai)

Pass the Salt

Pass The Salt in South Mumbai turns one, and it’s celebrating with a primary anniversary limited-edition menu (obtainable until August 15) that’s as heat, playful, and private as chef Kruti Sanghvi’s personal meals journey. Think hearty sandwiches with house-made potato wafers, daring pizzas that journey from the Amalfi coast to fiery Italian kitchens, and Chicago-style deep dish creations constructed for pure consolation.

The sandwiches are little tales in themselves — the picnic is a grown-up nod to tiffin sandwiches and in-flight meals; the something was an improvised high-tea hit that caught; portobello and patty soften packs umami and indulgence for mushroom lovers; and albeit sizzling! turns buffalo-sauce nostalgia right into a fiery cauliflower quantity.

On the pizza entrance, limone e tartufo brings lemon peel, confit onion, habanero, candied jalapeño, and truffle cheese collectively in a sunny, spicy, earthy concord, whereas fiamma dials up the warmth with chilli-spiked San Marzano passata, candy onions, garlic, oregano, and additional virgin olive oil. Deep-dish lovers can dive into the wild shroom — a triple-mushroom, gruyère, and mozzarella forest fantasy — or the firehouse, loaded with three cheeses, chilli-kissed sauce, jalapeños, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Desserts are pure pleasure: coconut panna cotta with salted maple caramel popcorn and lychee sorbet, froot loops tres leches topped with white chocolate chantilly and cereal crunch, chocolate and cherry kiss that nods to black forest decadence, and a playful affogato with chocolate boba.

8/10 Calcot House, Mudhana Shetty Marg, Behind Bombay House Fort, Mumbai; for reservations, name 9892843983

Journal

Journal, the leafy-lane café identified for quiet corners and inventive comforts, has a brand new all-day menu that pairs completely with the monsoon’s shifting moods. From chilled in a single day oat jars in banana cinnamon, mocha crunch, and berry contemporary to hearty bowls just like the buddha bowl with couscous, chickpeas, avocado, and broccoli, or the asian crunch salad with edamame and pan-fried tofu in creamy peanut butter dressing, each dish is a stability of texture and heat. Sandwich lovers can go for katsu sandos — avocado katsu with pickles, asian slaw, and tonkatsu unfold in Hokkaido milk bread, or rooster katsu glazed in sweet-spicy gochujang — whereas the shakshuka puff and cottage cheese puff make flaky, hand-held companions to a sizzling drink.

Journal’s coffee-first philosophy carries into its drinks menu with seasonal infusions. The jamun espresso tonic blends espresso, jamun pulp, and tonic for a tart raise, whereas the blue pineapple lemonade provides a tropical brightness. The orange vanilla chilly brew is crisp and aromatic, the woody brew warms with orange, elderflower, cinnamon, and cardamom, and matcha variations — matcha yuzu fizz, coconut matcha with jaggery and coconut water, and strawberry matcha — provide grassy, citrusy, or creamy consolation. With flavours that really feel acquainted but considerate, the brand new menu is made for gray mornings, humid afternoons, and the quiet after the rain, greatest loved with a good friend, a guide, or your individual ideas.

396-3, North Ave, Potohar Nagar, Santacruz (West), Mumbai; for reservations, name 90046 99654

Mokai

At Mokai, the Asian-inspired all-day eating and coffeehouse in Bandra, the brand new Travellers Monsoon menu collects tales from throughout Asia, the place conventional recipes meet fashionable twists: the flaky, curry-laced massaman pulled shroom croissant, the deeply satisfying spicy tofu broth bowl, and Samui’s rooster curry noodle bowl with crispy wontons and tender drumsticks in a flavour-rich Thai broth.

Drinks vary from the glowing watermelon cooler with lime and sesame, the collagen matcha with spirulina and ceremonial-grade matcha, and the cereal killer almond latte with espresso, almond paste, and a cereal topping. Mokai is among the many first to supply marine collagen as an add-on for a wellness twist. Desserts spherical off the journey, from the gooey nostalgia of sizzling chocolate french toast made with Hokkaido milk bread and Valrhona sizzling chocolate, to the lighter strawberry mochi — chewy, fruity, and eggless.

Chapel Rd, St Sebastian Colony, Ranwar, Bandra West, Mumbai; for reservations, name 9820062166

Social’s new menu

Social has rolled out The Big Drop, its new menu, throughout 55+ retailers in 10 cities, together with a lot proper right here in Mumbai. It is an all-day menu refresh that brings creative flavour, playful new codecs, and presentation-forward plates, all whereas maintaining the cult favourites. Think contemporary additions like ramen bowls (sure, with a desi spin), breakfast sandwiches, thalis, dunkables for chai time, and a complete new slate of snacks, burgers, and desserts.

Start your morning with buttery avocado toast, anda kheema ghotala, or one of many new breakfast trays. Slurp your manner by means of Kerala prawn stew ramen or nihari mutton ramen. Graze on golgappa, toast-e-galawati, popcorn rooster momos, or gochujong glazed mushrooms. If you’re after one thing hearty, the vegetarian and non-vegetarian tiffins, pulled mutton nihari, or pepper rooster with black rice congee will type you out. And don’t skip the candy endings — banoffee pie, dessert nachos, or a slice of basque cheesecake.