Walking Around Matunga

Street Food and midnight hunger pangs…..

Matunga is paradise for 3 things Restaurant’s , Clothes Shops and Street food . You will find people well past midnight indulging in satisfying not just their sweet tooth but actually gorging on street food to fill their tummies. In that sense I salute the Gujarati Community for patronizing the dozen odd stalls in and around Matunga and giving these small time vendors, a right to business and livelihood.

The reason for these hunger pangs being their habit or their ritual of having an early dinner some where between 7.30 – 8 pm. They then have to find food to satisfy their growling stomach’s closer to mid-night. On any given day you will find certain areas in Matunga known only to foodies fully lit and busy with people hovering around as if bees hovering around nectar filled flowers. You will be amazed at the variety of food you get at these stalls or shall I say roadside eateries to satisfy every and any kind of taste you may satiate for.

 If you are a South Indian fast food buff, head to the by lane near the Matunga Flower Market. There right across the Nalli’s (Silk Saree Specialist) , you will find a make shift food counter well equipped with the stoves , gas cylinders and the special iron flat tawa’s to make the crispiest Dosas’s and Uttapam (you and me call them Uthapa , nothing related to Robin Uthappa the cricketer) . They also have the aluminum steamers for making the soft and succulent idli’s. And large frying kadai’s for making the crunchy Medu wada’s .All this at a very pocket friendly price of between Rs. 20/- to Rs. 30/- per plate. For that sum you get an unlimited supply of sambhar and chatni or untill you finish your dosa/idli. 

Walking a little further towards King’s Circle or now known as Maheshwari Udyan you have a small food joint by the name of Sai Nath Dosa Corner just next to Soham’s

Soham’s - the all in one shop in Matunga where you get everything from baby diapers to Womens’s latest fashion accessories to melamine dishes to sundry gifting items all under one roof. There are quite a lot of these all in one shops in Matunga I call them as the Google shops. If you can’t find something  at short notice during gifting season like Diwali or just before going to your relatives place for a family function. Which you totally forgot and your wife reminded you on the day you have to visit them….Then head to these shops and you will be pleasantly surprised. Will talk about them in my next blogs .

Coming back to Sai Nath Dosa - Here the variety of Dosa’s is quite large. You may try the Mysore Sada dosa , Mysore Rawa Sada dosa,  the common Masala sada dosa , or the Uttapam’s like Plain , Onion or Masala. Then you have special Schezwan Masala dosa with Schezwan sauce base and filling of beetroot , onion , potato and sometimes the Chinese Cabbage (the purple coloured cabbage which tastes a little funny ) . Then there is the special Cheese Sada dosa for the foodie who is least bother about calories.

Just opposite to this is BB Gupta Chatwalla, famous for his ragda based pani puri , ragda pattice (spelled as patis on his sign board) and dahi puri. The sweet chutney is right in consistency and just the right taste. Even his spicy chutney or red chutney is different. No seating arrangement here, you will have to take your plate, stand and eat or  find a place outside where nearby trees have an embankment . Some line up their cars on the roadside and eat in their AC environment. In Matunga you have definitely many choices for Chat . There is the New Pankaj with his loyal customers for boodiwali pani puri and soft sweet and chilled dahi wada. Then there is the Gupta Chat near the Matunga Railway station I spoke to you about in my earlier blog famous for his Sandwich sev puri besides the regular chat stuff. Also there is Bhola’s Chat behind Kopole Nivas and near Food Arcade (again a food stuff Google store where you get anything and everything related to food . Be it cheesy dips , mayo dips , nachos , taco’s  to Italian herbs like oregno ,rosemary ,thyme etc to the regular kirana stuff like dal , rice , cooking oils and pulses). Bola’s Chat is again famous for his pani puri and aalu tikki chat. He even takes party orders for Birthday’s , Mehndi , Sangeet . With combination of 5 dishes- Bhel puri , Sev puri , Pani puri , Ragda Pattice and Dahi Batata puri @120 per person with assurance for minimum 25 pax.

If you walk back towards the Matunga flower market , just near the newly opened ICICI bank branch is a Dabeli wala. Dabeli if you don’t know is a Gujarati dish similar to the popular Maharashtrian Vada pav and is made of Pav filled with a sweet-spicy filling made of mashed potatoes combined with onions , garlic, meetha chutney , masala peanuts and mixed with Anar dana ( Pomegranate) and grapes . Best eaten hot and greasy with dollop’s of Amul butter on a tawa. You get the regular , butter and jain dabeli anytime of the day and late into the night. But his specialty  is “Chocolate Dabeli” , filled with the usual filling plus  Chocolate syrup. This chocolaty and gooey dalbeli is a hit with his regular customers. Biting into this chocolate filled dabeli and after licking your fingers will make you ask for more if you are the Chocolate loving person.

If you happen to be hungry and its close to mid-night Walk to the pavement near King Circle , close to the VIP bags showroom and choose from variety of fast foods from the street food stalls .Here you will get  butter pav bhaji , Sandwiches , Veg Pizza’s even Tawa Pulav. Something unusual like the roasted Masala Kichdi Papad regular or with Butter and vegetable topping. It has that special smoky taste as the papad is roasted  on Coal Sigdi.

If you feel like having a healthy liquid snack , head to Parag’s Juice Centre at the Dadar TT Circle . Here you will get the freshest fruit juices – Sweet lime , Orange , Pineapple or the all time favourite Watermelon. Or try their milkshakes Mango milkshake in Summers and Strawberry milkshake in Winters.

After all this food if you are still game for some dessert , you can try the sweet and tasty Kulfi from the kulfiwalla on the same pavement as the Khichdi Papad walla or walk across to the opposite side of King Circle garden near the Aarey Milk Centre ,to a Kulfiwalla specializing in Rabdi kulfi with sevian and rose syrup. He has the best variety of kulfi’s – Pista , Mango , Gulkand, Chickoo, Strawberry and the most favoured Malai kulfi. Even though you have Ice Cream parlour’s like Natural’s ,      Havemor and Apsara Ice Cream . People line up in cars double park near the roadside well past mid-night and enjoy a cold and sweet kulfi even in Winters.

A special mention to a new Pizza joint in Hindu Colony specialist in delivery (under 30 minutes across Dadar Matunga Shivaji Park and Mahim) and  the only eatery which takes orders till 3am in the morning. They are the “Barbarian” . If you have friends over for late night party at home and don’t know what to order , try their Fire Zilla (with red bell peppers , jalapeno & BBQ paneer) or their Triplet (with Jalapeno , Zucchinni ,Green Chillies , chilly flakes and Cream cheese) or Spartan (with Green Chillies , Crispy Onion , Chilly flakes and minced garlic)……

So guys and gals one thing is for sure , with all this food available right past mid night , you can never go hungry and sleep on an empty stomach  in this wonderful place called ………………….Matunga.

Whew covered so many food joints today , makes me feel full in the gut, don’t know about you but I am heading out for a long Walk Around Matunga …………