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Best cafés in Mumbai

Quick answer

Locals recommend Britannia & Co. (Ballard Estate), The Nutcracker (Kala Ghoda), Mag St. Cafe (Bandra West), Subko (Bandra West), Boojee Cafe (Fort), Prithvi Cafe (Prithvi Theatre), Candies (Pali Hill), Yazdani Bakery (Fort), Cafe Military (Near Flora Fountain), Sassanian Boulangerie (Marine Lines), The Bake House Café (Kala Ghoda).

Two café cultures share this city. The old Irani cafés, with marble tables, bun maska and berry pulao, are a dying breed that locals still defend. The new wave in Bandra and Kala Ghoda roasts its own coffee and bakes serious sourdough. This chapter keeps the best of both.

Britannia & Co. Ballard Estate, Fort

The Irani café people mean when they say Irani café. Britannia's berry pulao, fragrant rice studded with sweet-sour barberries, is the dish locals send every visitor for, with dhansak and a bottle of Pallonji's raspberry soda on the side. The room is old, a little worn and full of character, and regulars still talk about the old owner who charmed every table.

The Nutcracker Kala Ghoda, Fort (more outlets citywide)

The Kala Ghoda café locals recommend more than any other, usually without a single caveat. It's low-key and casual, and best known for brunch: scrambled eggs with emmental, truffle and burnt garlic, buttermilk pancakes, and desserts that make other people's lists. It isn't cheap on a student budget, but at its price, regulars say, it's 'damn good'.

Mag St. Cafe Bandra West

A Bandra café-bakery with a cult following on r/MumbaiFood, where fans have half-seriously proposed a Redditors' meet-up. The sourdough pizza is the headline, light enough that it 'never feels heavy', and the truffle fries, breads, croissants and tiramisu each have a fan club of their own.

Subko Bandra West (also inside Kitab Khana, Fort)

Mumbai's homegrown specialty roaster, and the café locals name first when someone asks where the good coffee is. The flagship is in Bandra; the Kitab Khana branch sits inside a Fort bookstore, where one regular has spent 'countless hours' reading. Pair the coffee with a croissant or the pistachio sea-salt cookie.

Boojee Cafe Fort (also Bandra)

The buzziest new-wave café in town, with branches in Fort and Bandra. Ask r/mumbai for just one café and you'll hear 'Boojee', and one breakfast-loving couple puts it first on their list. The hype cuts both ways, though: regulars report mixed visits, so go for breakfast and judge it yourself.

Prithvi Cafe Prithvi Theatre, Juhu

The open-air café beside Juhu's Prithvi Theatre, under the trees, where you might share a show with Naseeruddin Shah and only notice on the way out. Order the Irish coffee, then aloo kulcha with chole or what one regular calls the best affordable fish and chips around. Book a play next door and make an evening of it.

Candies Pali Hill, Bandra West

A rambling, multi-level Bandra café, budget-friendly and chill, that locals put on almost every visitor's list. Opinions on the wider menu are split, but one well-travelled commenter rates its shawarma as the only one in the city that matches the real thing in the Middle East. Come for the vibe, and stay for the shawarma.

Yazdani Bakery Fort

Fort's old Irani bakery, where the menu is short because the bread does the talking. Regulars come for brun maska, a crusty roll split and slathered with butter, dunked in Irani chai, and for a mawa cake one fan says nobody else has ever matched. It's baked goods only, served the old-school way.

Cafe Military Near Flora Fountain, Fort

A Fort Irani café with old-school manners and serious kheema pav. Regulars come for the kheema, the cutlet gravy and the rare luxury of a cold beer in the middle of the day. The owner can be gruff, so be nice to the waiters, and bring cash.

Sassanian Boulangerie Marine Lines

A Marine Lines bakery-café from the old Irani world, with a dining room behind the bread counter. Locals recommend it for akuri, soft spiced Parsi scrambled eggs, for kheema, and for whatever is fresh from the bakery. It even keeps old-era sizzlers on the menu, served the old-fashioned way.

The Bake House Café Kala Ghoda, Fort

An old-school Fort favourite with vintage decor and fair prices, the café plenty of locals remember from their college days. It's a place to linger rather than rush: the service is slow, and nobody seems to mind. When r/MumbaiFood asked for good cafés that don't burn a hole in your pocket, 'I love Bake House Cafe' was one of the most upvoted replies.

Last checked: October 2026