Time Out India News Desk

  Cockroach infestations, mouldy vegetables, expired food products and dirty kitchens. And those are only a few of the violations that prompted the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to suspend the FSSAI licences of five prominent Mumbai clubs. And it's been a long month of suspensions including the iconic K Rustom & Co, known for its ice cream sandwiches, as well as the equally illustrious Parsi Dairy Farm, among many, many others. FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said to city’s leading publications that strict action will be taken if food safety norms are violated, be it at a prestigious club or any food establishment.  Which clubs have lost their licences? It's the posh clubs' turn this time. Between July 24 and July 27, the officials inspected seven food establishments, which included clubs, canteens and restaurants. The officials found serious food safety and hygiene violations at The Cricket Club of India Ltd, RK Juhu Gymkhana, MIG Cricket Club, The Aparna Juhu Gymkhana, and The Willingdon Sports Club, leading to the suspension of their FSSAI licences until further notice. At the 92-year-old establishment CCI, there were live cockroaches and flies, expired food products, mouldy vegetables, poor food storage, improper food labelling, grease, dirt and sludge accumulations, and no clear non-vegetarian and vegetarian segregation, among other violations. At The Willingdon Sports Club, which is more than 100 years old, the kitchen had slippery and insanitary floo

If you like strolling through the streets around the Gateway of India, Colaba, and Kala Ghoda and peering through crowds and admiring the beautiful architecture, you may soon get better opportunities to be out and about to do just that – only this time, from the city's first open-air museum. The famous Regal Junction (Regal Circle), which has the iconic art deco gem Regal Cinema on the corner, is due for a thorough beautification, and Mumbai might soon get its first-ever open-air museum as part of the pedestrianisation plan for the Kala Ghoda-Regal Junction-Gateway of India precinct. The plan After making Kala Ghoda more pedestrian-friendly over the weekends and announcing Kala Ghoda Art Avenue plans, according to reports, as part of the beautification project, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a massive tender to renovate and beautify Regal Junction in Colaba as well. The bids for which are currently open. The plan is to redesign traffic islands, lay basalt and granite cobblestones, install heritage-style street lighting, lay down new footpaths with ramps for persons with disabilities, relocate the Vikrant Memorial, increase green cover, and overall improve South Mumbai’s public spaces, which will ultimately strengthen its appeal as a tourist attraction. But the biggest development is the one-acre public plaza opposite the director-general of police’s office. That is the art museum in question, and more details are yet to be revealed. One can expect, ho

It's been an awful, menacing month for iconic Mumbai eateries. The latest joint to bite the dust after K Rustom & Co lost its food business license last week is Parsi Dairy Farm, another iconic Mumbai establishment located in Marine Lines. And that's not all! During an inspection drive on July 14, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found multiple lapses at the 110-year-old institution, established by Nariman Ardeshir in 1916 and presently run by fourth-generation Parvana S Mistry, Zeenia K Patel, and cousins Sarfaraz and Bakhtyar K Irani. The institution's known for its high-quality, pure dairy products like thick sweet curd, creamy malai kulfi, gigantic jalebis, and authentic pure cow ghee.  What happened? During the inspection of the Marine Lines branch, food safety officials found fungal growth on walls in storage and production areas, raw materials stored near the same walls, and there were discrepancies at the raw milk reception dock. What's more: there were swarms of flies, no pest control or rodent nets or measures in place, and no effluent treatment plant. To top that, the medical records of food-handling staff were missing, and the expiration dates or use-by dates on several items were missing.  The FSSAI licence was suspended with immediate effect. The team noted that microbiological food contamination could pose a serious risk to consumers. On July 16, the FDA inspected the Palghar branch and took samples of their ghee, butter, paneer, figs, kulfi,

Mumbai's relationship with sandwiches needs no introduction, whether it’s through the roadside stall you've trusted since college or the delis multiplying across the suburbs. Bandra's latest entrant, Angry Toast, joins a crowded field on July 16. Its point of difference: it roasts its own coffee. What's the space like?  At 450 sq. ft, Angry Toast leans into its name with a palette of rust, orange and red, tempered by neutral tones so the whole thing doesn't read as a fire hazard. Seating is limited; this is built for grab-and-go. The brand's mascot, Ziko, appears throughout the space  permanently, understandably, angry. The bigger draw is the micro-roastery on-site, a fairly direct statement of intent in a neighbourhood where coffee opinions run strong. What's on the menu?  Sandwiches and coffee. The sandwiches come in three-inch portions of two or four pieces, on in-house milk bread (egg or eggless) or sourdough, with a fairly even split between vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Vegetarian: Mumbai toastie, spinach and ricotta, Thai paneer, edamame croquettes, paneer tikka, olive and mushroom tapenade, four cheese and vindaloo, basil pesto burrata, and avocado chipotle. Non-vegetarian: Anda ghotala, fluffy egg, chicken katsu, Korean chicken, avocado and chicken, smashed lamb, Angry Toast spicy chicken, and jerk chicken. For dessert, the honey butter toast is what to go for. The coffee program is led by Suhas Dwarakanath, a World Barista Championship semi-finalist. Beyond

Mumbaiwalo, keep those umbrellas and caps handy, crank up that air-conditioning, and dress in light, breezy clothing. Temperatures are set to SOAR. While Mercury is in retrograde, the other mercury is about to blaze to 33°C (and possibly higher). What is the weather gonna be like? The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted almost no heavy showers this week, so that means the air will be humid and warm. The dry westerly winds are flowing; there’s moisture, but no cyclonic circulation to carry it over. Between Sunday and Monday morning, the IMD recorded 0 mm rainfall in the island city, western and eastern suburbs.   At the same time, the maximum temperatures ranged between 32 and 33°C at the Santacruz and Colaba observatories. That is about two degrees above the normal levels for July.  The skies will remain partly cloudy, and there may be isolated showers at best. The weather is likely to remain muggy. At the same time, the city is likely to witness a high-tide spell. In the afternoons, the tides are expected to be more than 4.5 metres.  The city’s monsoon report card is some saving grace Thanks to above-normal rainfall in the first eight days of July, Vihar and Tulsi lakes are full and overflowing, and the drinking water reserves seem to be at a healthy level. So your main job is to brace yourself. Keep sunscreen handy, and maybe drown your humidity sorrows in a swimming pool or two?

In a statewide enforcement drive by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 7 and July 8, several eateries in the state have lost their food business licences. Sadly among the lot is K Rustom & Co, a legendary ice cream parlour that even multi-award-winning chef Gaggan Anand swears by. Best known for their ice-cream sandwiches, which have earned spots in global rankings, K Rustom has been around for seven decades, which means that this is a fairly big hit for nostalgic Mumbaikars. What happened? The drive conducted under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 found that the establishment allegedly violated various hygiene norms, with live rats and houseflies allegedly found inside the premises. The cold chain storage norms were also in violation. The team found mandatory records missing and found expired food products at the Churchgate outlet. The officials have also collected ice-cream samples for lab testing. As a result, the old-school Iranian ice-cream parlour was forced shut because the department suspended their food business licence until further notice. The licence will be reinstated only after the establishment complies with food safety norms, and that could take a while. When did K Rustom & Co. start selling ice creams? Where the present outlet stands at Veer Nariman Road, opposite Ambassador Hotel, once stood a department store where Khodabux Rustom Irani and family would sell medicines, cotton, wool, etc. In 1953, they started selling homemade

India's one of the fastest-growing aviation markets, and almost all international carriers want in: especially when it comes to India’s financial capital, Mumbai. The newest airline soon to be spotted over the Mumbai skies is Saudi Arabia’s youngest airline, Riyadh Air. On July 6, 2026, Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, announced plans to foray into the Indian market. The first destination on their roster is... Mumbai. Riyadh Air's India debut Riyadh Air plans to connect with over 100 global destinations by 2030. Mumbai is its 10th destination. Starting August 4, 2026, a direct flight between Mumbai and Riyadh is expected to begin operations. The airline will deploy a 787-9 Dreamliner on the route with a four-class configuration: business elite, business, premium economy and economy. The first flight is scheduled to arrive in Mumbai at 8.35pm IST after departing from Riyadh at 2.05pm AST. From Mumbai, it will take off at 10.05pm IST and will reach Riyadh at 11.50pm AST. What’s interesting is that the same flight will also provide onward connectivity to London, Madrid, Jeddah, and Cairo. The bookings for the new route are open, and there are special deals to snag for the inaugural flight. What's the much-talked-about business elite on Riyadh Air? Well, Riyadh Air’s headline product is the business elite class, which is its ultra-premium cabin class. A luxury first-class equivalent, if you may. The Dreamliner that's set to ply on the Mumbai-Riyadh route will have the exclusive s

If you're running out of things to experience in a city like Mumbai, then chances are you haven’t looked closely enough. You needn't be an aesthete to have an eye for art, but if you're just starting out, this exhibition at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) is a good one to hit. Second Nature, inaugurated by Isha Ambani, debuted at NMACC on July 3, and it’s where you become part of the art itself. What is Second Nature? Curated by Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst and Margot Mottaz, Second Nature is brought to India by Superblue, a global platform marking its Asia debut with this. The exhibition explores the possibilities (and blurring) of boundaries between humans, nature and technology through nine immersive installations. It taps into the psyche, interrogating the point at which technology starts to feel organic and like second nature to observers. And it urges people to reflect on the systems that are shaping how we experience the world at present.  In partnership with NMACC, the exhibition unfolds across four floors of Art House as a multi-sensory journey. The five artists and collectives making their India debut as well are Random International, teamLab, A.A. Murakami, Simon Heijdens, and Es Devlin.  Several works are, interestingly, adapted for Mumbai and its audiences.  What installations can one experience? There is Presence and Erasure, Our Future Selves, and Audience by London-based Random International. teamLab, a Tokyo collective, is presenting Flowers and People

Mumbai – grappling with intense monsoon conditions and heavy downpours – has already received 80% of the average July rainfall in about four days. What that means, other than regular disruptions, is that inter-city travel between Mumbai and Pune has taken a big hit. The six-lane busy expressway, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, that connects the two cities and other regions of Maharashtra, has been shut. Videos of landslides on the newly constructed 'Missing Link' part are doing the rounds.  E-way operations suspended On Monday, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC) announced closure of the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway (its official name). A post on their official social media platforms read: 'Due to landslides and continuous heavy rainfall, traffic on both the Pune–Mumbai Expressway and the old Mumbai–Pune highway has been severely affected. Traffic in both directions—Pune–Mumbai and Mumbai–Pune—has been completely closed until further orders.' Asking for cooperation, they've even urged citizens to not travel between the two cities until further notice. 'In case of absolutely essential travel, please follow the traffic advisories and updated information issued by the administration from time to time.' Train services impacted It's not just the expressway and old highway. The local train services between Karjat and Khopoli remain suspended, and because of the landslide between Lonavala and Karjat, some trains have been diverted and rescheduled, and their

Is the skyline at Mumbai’s southernmost tip, Cuffe Parade, about to change? Well, not immediately, but perhaps in the near future. Up for a waterfront redevelopment, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has approved a proposal for a super-luxe marina complex at this prime real estate location! What’s the plan? Proposed by Rashmi Developments Private Limited, on the cards are a state-of-the-art inland water transport terminal, a marina with luxury service apartments, an art gallery, luxury retail outlets, seaplane facilities, a yacht club, a helipad, and…wait for it…an offshore seven-star floating hotel. It’s giving Dubai.  Floating two nautical miles off Nariman Point, the proposed hotel will have about 520 keys, a theatre that can seat about 1,530 people, multiple F&B options, and more luxurious facilities that would make it comparable to a global seven-star hotel standard (even though officially, there exist none). Since it's off the coast, arrival at this proposed hotel will be in style via a seaplane, a speedboat or a helicopter. The waterfront development plan also proposes an eight-storey structure equipped with two basements and six upper floors spanning 35,000 square metres. And what's the catch? Since this project is proposed within the Coastal Regulation Zone through reclamation in a CRZ-IV area (covering territorial water bodies and tidal-influenced zones), the developers are mandated to seek CRZ clearance. And they require a statutory environm