Rachna Srivastava

It’s no small feat to stay culturally relevant in Mumbai – where restaurants open and shut at tidal intervals, practically – since 2000. As bizarre as it feels for ‘00 trends to trickle into the 2020s, dot com boom be damned, it speaks volumes about the consistency of quality at Olive. Founded by restaurateurs AD and Sabina Singh, the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant feels coastal. Clean. Unjumbled and expensive (it is, indeed, expensive). The blue door, the blue-and-white decor, the pebbled courtyard, the biophilic shade – they all have a sort of timeless charm, helped along by the candles they light at dusk. After clocking 25 years in 2026, under the culinary stewardship of Executive Chef Alessandro Piso, the menu refresh has propped up a new set of dishes, but their thin-crust pizzas remain a benchmark for the city, while the delicate gnocchis and risottos continue to draw in crowds. The bar menu mostly sports botanical-forward cocktails that make drinking here feel like being on a holiday. And the wine list here is as exclusive as its clientele.   With its expansion to two more outlets in the city – BKC and Borivali – Olive is now positioned strategically in the golden triangle of Mumbai’s dining scene. Great for every occasion – brunch, date night, anniversary dinner. You name it. 

Once you reach Bandra’s 15th Road, technically Khar: enter through the doors of HOMM Bandra, head to the main dining area, and take the elevator to the basement. There, you’ll find a spanking new intimate cocktail bar: Adam & Eve.  'Intimate' isn’t a buzzword here – like quite a few emerging spots, it only seats 17-18 people at any given time, leaving space for, say, a couple more people to fit in, barring the staff of three.  Snug and dimly lit, the space is decked in jungle-themed Sabyasachi upholstery on the walls with integrated cove lighting. A bar lies bang in the centre, and low-seated, plush sofas are positioned closer to the deep red and brown-toned walls, utilising every square foot of the 400 sq ft room, and every dimmable table lamp. Interestingly, though, the primary source of light is… the ceiling. Its interactive VFX screen with switching graphics by Alien.vision creates the illusion of a much more expansive setting. A custom gorilla sculpture, crafted by a Jaipur artist, sits atop a back-lit wall of liquor bottles, its wings shining when lit. As the night progresses, the lights get dimmer, and the music starts to surround you. Come the last seat, the energy would shift to a high-octane hum to the beats of DJ Manish Khtri. The cocktail-forward bar has a concise menu created by Pankaj Balachandran and is led on the ground by beverage head Ashish Tamta. Ten items, reading like a grocery list, are the heroes, and the spirits come second. The South American botanic

While most restaurants in Mumbai have a shelf life shorter than that of a sourdough starter, The Table remains the city’s undisputed culinary anchor. In 2011, Gauri Devidayal and Jay Yousuf introduced Mumbaikars to the small plates revolution and the farm-to-table movement – long before these two became buzzwords, mind you. The black-and-white chevron floors are instant identification markers, anchored by the 20-foot Burma teak community table. During the day, there’s loads of natural light filtering through, making the place perfect for breakfast, brunch, or lunch.  Under the stewardship of Chef Will Aghajanian, The Table 2.0’s kitchen has found a fresh rhythm: Californian ingredient-led ethos blends seamlessly with global techniques, powered by daily fresh produce from their own one-acre Alibaug farm. Dishes like duck liver mousse, crumpets Kejriwal, cauliflower & cheddar pithivier, sea bass crudo, French onion soup-inspired burgers, and more are crowd-faves. Their hand-rolled pastas and desserts have a loyal clientele. Their beverages are highly talked about, and in particular, it’s hard not to be mighty impressed by their wine programme, which has more than 120+ labels stacked. 

The Daily All Day has been the city’s most stubbornly optimistic outpost since 2013. Dishant Pritamani anchored this Bandra corner with a monochromatic aesthetic and a ‘good news only’ philosophy.  During the day, it’s a bistro. At night, it’s a high-octane evening haunt where partying all night seems to be the vibe. In addition to the stylish interiors, the ceiling is papered with positive news clippings serving as a literal canopy of optimism; this in particular is most suited for a brunch date, I feel. Over the latter part of the last decade, subtle design changes have only accentuated the space further.  The culinary team is now led in-house by Dishant himself. The food can be deemed cuisine-agnostic. While they have had tiny pivots over the years, a couple of near evergreen dishes are still the most ordered. The DFC (Daily Fried Chicken), drunken prawns, charred broccoli, risottos and pizzas are those winners. The bar programme leans into craft cocktails that are balanced, potent, and mercifully devoid of unnecessary frills. Whether you are heading here for a boozy Sunday brunch or a mid-week reset, the hospitality (anchored by the legendary Bablu bhai, Deepak, or really, any one of their staff) ensures a good time.

Getting a table at Papa's is a competitive sport. Every first of the month, at 11am sharp, thousands of hopeful diners scramble for one of just 12 seats in this attic hideaway above Veronica's deli in Bandra. Within minutes, most walk away empty-handed. Next month, they’ll be back. If you haven't clocked it yet, Mumbai is having a major micro-restaurant moment. 'We purposely limit the availability to 12 seats so we can give every guest our full attention,' says Hussain Shahzad, executive chef at Hunger Inc. Hospitality. Dietary preferences are noted. Drink pairings considered. 'Fine dining had started to feel solemn, with the white tablecloths, hushed voices, an air of intimidation and what not. At Papa's, we wanted to bring the fun back.' The city has always moved fast, but right now there's a particular buzz around intimate, chef-led spaces where the menu is fixed and the seats are few. Take BARE, for instance: an 11-seater doubling as a cocktail bar, art gallery and espresso bar, it opened recently to the same kind of feverish interest. 'Chef's tables work because they bring dining back to something deeply personal,' says founder and creative director Pooja Raheja, who adds that it’s ‘not just about the food’.    Image courtesy of BAREBARE is an 11-seater chef’s table, a cocktail bar, an art gallery and espresso bar rolled into one But what’s driving it? Two things, I think. The fact that sky-high rents make large spaces a financial gamble, and that Mumbai diners are inc