Sneha Nair

Where you ate South Indian food in Mumbai was once dictated by migration maps. Udipi joints rested at the heart of the city, Kerala and Tamil food clustered around Fort before spilling into Chembur and Andheri East, while Mangalorean GSB cuisine stayed hidden in Maharashtrian lunch-home menus. It was functional, vaguely comforting, and reminded communities of home. Over time though, South Indian food has shed that slightly cloistered identity. Nostalgia still holds, but cafés now compete over regional specificity and authenticity. This guide is still chasing a serious Hyderabadi biryani and misses Andhra heat but for now, here’s where to start for some gorgeously spiced South Indian flavours in the city. 

It’s taken a while for food from India’s easternmost states to reach Mumbai. Now that it has, a handful of restaurants are quietly expanding the city’s palate with fresh ingredients and deceptively simple cooking. There may not be large queues lining outside them yet, and most diners may just stop at momos and king chilli chutney, but those who look further are rewarded with zesty snacks, lip smacking fruit juices, wholesome seasonal vegetables, the joy of smoked pork and the aroma of nutty black rice. The flavours are vast, underexplored, and if you ask us, very much worth a detour next time you're eating out.

Reaching Sunny means braving the dingy lanes near Tilak Nagar railway station, but locals flock here anyway, even though the place has barely grown since the 80s. One reason is their special chicken stew, which is a Sunday ritual for many. Their regular menu is extensive but a quick way to navigate it is to completely eliminate the Chinese, Mughlai and North Indian choices, even if you’re called in by the familiar.  Instead, get the chicken chettinad to dive into a heady blend of spices, or the buff roast for a rich concoction brought alive by fried coconut bits and curry leaves. Both go well with a crisp parotta or a fluffy appam. The seafood thali, with fish and prawn options, is a real party. Served with parotta/appam, matta rice, seafood curry, and a fry, it’s rounded off with pappadum and a payasam. The thali has two vegetable sides too – one Malayali, and the other usually a dal or rajma (possibly as a nod to the large number of non-Malayali patrons), sadly out of place. A more apt addition is the warm glass of cumin water they serve – accept it to help pace your appetite. If you would prefer not to brave the spice at all, try the mild coconutty fish moilee. It’s sublime when paired with an appam. For the vegetarians: don’t shortchange yourself by ordering the paneer or mushroom version of the meat and seafood preparations. Instead, give a chance to the vegetarian kurma with parotta, iddiyappam (rice noodle) with spicy kadala (horsegram) curry, or the Kerala rice thali

There are some secret bangers hidden between the 17 odd-paged menu of Kerala Quarters. Particularly ones that pay an ode to the spicy, tangy flavours found in a toddy shop.  Don’t pick the usuals. A ChatGPT scan won’t lead you to the tangy injulipuli wings (chicken wings coated in a tamarind pickle). Find a parotta literally anywhere else. Here, you should go for the ney pathiri (crunchy pancake), really good when paired with kozhi varutharachatu (chicken in a spicy brown coconut curry) and The Picate Curry, a tequila-based drink. The idiyappam (rice noodles) with khao suey, a Burmese dish, is a neat little fusion worth trying too.  The ‘Touchings’ (Kerala drinking snacks – oh, I love the name) replace salted peanuts with fish achaar and acchappam (sweet rice and milk cookies) while you down alcohol in 30 ml or quarter servings. The spicy kudampuli curry (tangy kokum gravy) with some nei chor (ghee rice) is perfect once the drinks have kicked in. The interiors are earthy, lit to make you feel warm and welcome. The atmosphere and the menu are made for friends to gather and be a little adventurous with their palette.  

‘Come any time, there’s always space’ is the kind of response you’ll get when you call Maasli for a reservation. They’re busy alright – but you’re always going to be accommodated. The food here’s lightly spiced, generously portioned, and locals can try a version of their favourite seafood and vegetarian dishes in a less fiery avatar compared to traditional Maharashtrian and Goan fare. It’s nourishing, indulgent, and absolutely delicious.   Begin sensibly with the solkadi – a thick, cooling drink that’s salted well enough for you to taste each distinct spice used in it. If you don't arrive hungry, the solkadi’ll get you there. If you want to try the bombil (Bombay Duck – beloved local fish), go for their speciality, the stuffed bombil. It’s crunchy, flavourful and filled with tiny prawns and coconut.  The prawns fry and the kothimbir wadi are marvelously snacky. The prawns lasooni fry arrives aroma first so it gets a double thumbs up even before it hits the table.  For the freshest fish, try the pomfret and surmai fry, served whole. The mandeli fry is delightfully crisp and also a little tangy. The ghee roast – available in mutton and mushroom – will be sure to have you coming back for more. You’ll find this popular Mangalorean preparation style on every menu serving indulgent Indian food, but it has never, ever tasted this good. Its bold red appearance can make you sweat but the delicate spiciness goes well with every accompaniment. Paired with a rice bhakri elevates it to a

Yes, they go big on skits with celebrities online. But you know what? I’m going out on a limb to say that’s not even the most interesting bit about this place. Mokai at first feels classically Bandra – easily blending wabi-sabi calm, Harajuku touches, a skylit balcony (in the middle of Bandra!), and an upstairs matcha bar. That’s all very good and decent. What I like are the funny little interruptions. Say, the wall of photos celebrating collaborators, or cushions by the window that read ‘what nonsense’. What could have felt overly curated (the too-pretty-to-touch trap that swallows too many spots whole) instead feels lived-in, even affectionate. The staff match the mood, entirely. At 9am, they are unhurried, warm, and happy to walk you through a menu that includes, without any apparent irony, a pistachio tiramisu that arrives as an iced latte. Curious? Good, there’s more where that came from.  The menu offers plenty for a meaningful early start (and who isn’t trying to snatch one of those), but the real highlights are the drinks. Specialty coffees and matchas are thoughtful and varied here, crafted to suit every snob, morning person and casual drinker. The bowls are substantial and will carry you through the day, but come early and order the eggs: European bakehouse fare with Asian egg techniques. Fear not if you’re vegan or vegetarian, they’ve proudly got picks for you too, some even gluten-free. Also – a chilli oil on the side that… well. Someone bottle it and get it to me

Singju mimics the dish it’s named after. Like the traditional snack (a mixture of vegetables and herbs, heavily customised), the restaurant too brings together a delightful variety of flavours and ingredients from the Northeast and across the Himalayas.  Til Gahori pork (Assamese dish with pork in sesame paste) or ooti (Manipuri style gruel) nestle side by side with crowd pleasers like thupka and pork momos. The focus is on keeping the ingredients authentic even while adding modern twists – for instance, the smoked pork (a delicacy in states like Manipur and Arunachal) is imported, but served with coleslaw. Sour, crunchy, brothy notes sing through most of the meals on offer here, like the Sangpiau, a simple congee from Mizoram served with a variety of toppings including fried noodles and humble, local green chillies. With the Manipuri thali, not all flavours necessarily blend with each other, but there’s potential to pair within the plate. As the restaurant grows, it seems to be branching out into finding newer ways to bring exciting culinary experiences from the Northeast to Mumbai.

You have to squint to find Luithui Kitchen. The frosted glass facade only adds to the air of mystery. Step inside and the restaurant settles into the warm, unhurried vibe of a Manipuri rice hotel, not unlike a Maharashtrian lunch home. It's never packed, but the ones who come always come to stay awhile. Page two of the menu alone is reason enough to keep coming back. The chicken is soft and juicy, the fish is fresh, the pork cuts are indulgently fatty (cooked until almost creamy), and the escargot – along with some of the vegetables in the Kangshoi – is brought in fresh from Manipur. The Kangshoi itself is a nutritious vegetable stew, available with or without dried fish. Bamboo mildly underlines almost every stir fry and curry, and the meats are tender and deeply flavoured. Don't just stick to what you know. Appetisers like Bora (Manipuri vegetable fritters) and the fiery Naga Chicken Salad are fun entry points, but ask about the specials and point freely at the menu. That's how you find the Hoksa Sausage: crisp-skinned, generously stuffed blood sausages that are rich, fatty, and addictive. The Seisa (buff) salad delivers crunchy, citrus-bright bites of meat, while the Iromba (fermented, funky, available with mushroom, yongchak beans or snail) pairs beautifully with sticky black rice. The curries are light but full of flavour, and the vegetarian dishes are gems: yams, leafy greens, and vegetables you won't find elsewhere in the city. If you order one thing, make it the Hoksa

In its revamped form, Naga Belly’s decor combines Naga artefacts with a cosy backdrop. That, and the extensive appetiser menu which includes some banger bar snacks from Nagaland, is possibly the reason the restaurant seems so popular with young couples looking for a low-effort date spot.   Bring a curious appetite and try the axone chicken wings for some juicy chicken marinated in the traditional umami flavours of Naga style fermented soybean. The Naga pork bhujia – fried strips of marinated pork, served with a super spicy king chilli sauce – is dangerously moreish, and so is the crispy pork belly. The Naga-style singju, made with spicy chilli and axone, is fierce, but they can mellow it down if you like. It also gives you the perfect excuse to try the fruit ferments. The gooseberry, pear and roselle ferments are refreshing and not too sweet. The Naga rice ferment drink has been a popular choice since it made an appearance on the menu a couple of years ago – you’ll spot it on almost every table when you walk in.  Originally started as a home kitchen to cater to the homesick, the axone and anishi preparations continue to be the pride of Naga Belly. The perilla seeds chicken curry and anishi black curry with pork are star dishes, served with black rice which is fresh, fragrant and flown in from home. Pair it with some veggies for a wholesome meal.