MUMBAI IS MORE HEALTH CONSCIOUS THAN GOA!

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Eating is Fun / Eating is Yuck! - A variety food column, Life & Living, Nov 14- Nov 20 2026 November 13, 2026 , by Tara Narayan

IT’S true, I swear to it. Mumbaikars have becoming far more health conscious than Goans. My last month’s trip to Mumbai I was amazed by the amount of genuinely good food one could access in the local grocery and the upmarket society food retailing centers, say local shopping places like the designer quality Natures Basket down Juhu Tara Road (no longer a Godrej property). Here be bemused by a variety of wholesome bakery breads of pure wholewheat to the millets – loaves of jowar, ragi, quinoa, mixed grain, even sourdough…sourdough croissants! The breads were there also in the popular farsan shops like Heerson’s at Vile Parle East, where may be found a select range of whole grain loaves along with the mainstay of desirable savories of Guju fame — khakra small and mini, bhakri small and mini, thepla of all kinds, dhokla, muthia, handwo, mindboggling pickles (with my Mumbai sister No.2 in love with “athale marcha” – fresh fat green chilis seasoned in salted mustard seed crush)…at Liladhar Devji’s down Juhu Church Road I found jowari bread/jowari burger buns, all kinds of organic gud, all kinds of tempting and no so tempting sweets of mava and dry fruit. What a lot of choice in the No Sugar Mithai everywhere, especially of dry fruit crushed or whole embedded a date or fig base….
And if I remember right fresh dairy cow’s milk and curd at the Shiv Mangal Dairy shop down Juhu Church road (somewhat opposite the Mahadeo temple) is currently priced at Rs104 liter and Rs200 kg, respectively. I made thin buttermilk every day seasoned with black salt, roasted cumin powder, and for good measure the juice of a lemon squeezed in for that je nais sais quo tantalizing refreshing taste. Don’t know about you but I’ve always thought it’s a good idea to end an afternoon lunch with a glass of buttermilk. Not one of our sickly sweet thick lassi which I dislike utterly, especially if heavily creamy and stupidly loaded with dry fruit crumble! Exotica beverages just to peak the senses to hike up prices are a no no with me, not post-lunch, not any time.
What else? Shopping can be a real treat in Mumbai suburbia depending where you go, the more local, the better; including the local wet markets of Vile Parle West and East which are mostly outside the suburban railway stations. Oh, I remember there’s also the well-stocked with fresh farsan item numbers Chedda Stores at Matunga East, along with the much loved south Indian Udupi eateries of Arya Bhavan, etc. Every time I’m in Mumbai I pine to drop in one more time at such places as the Tewari’s/Rama’s farsan and chaat places nearby Juhu, if nothing check out the pani-puri (which is my favorite amongst the chaat range) – hey, one may also buy the day’s fasting food preparations here if one wishes like “sabudana kichadi/pattice,” “farali batata-nu-shaak,” “patra”and various breads leavened and not leavened (e.g. paratha) … not to forget a fascinating collection of freshly made snacks and sweets.

EATING out I did a bit with and without friends but not too much! This time around I was happy to discover the Arya Bhavan eateries catered by Muthuswamy at various places including Vila Parle (East); it’s the Arya Bhavan in Chembur which became my absolute favorite delight place. Hey, I must confess here that what was once upon a time working people’s eateries – without the southern food Udipi eateries I would never have survived my 30 years of life and times in Mumbai. Honey, they’ve all gone so upmarket and fancy, it’s kind of unbelievable and it takes a little while to accept it.
There’re the familiar southern range of Udipi snacks highlighted on the menu of course but there’re more additions apart from several kinds of idli/dosa/wada/utthapam …hey, the “loni” butter dolloped benne or Devnagari dosa are now to be found on most Udupi menus and you have a choice of chutney (standard traditional white coconut chutney, a spicier tomato chutney and a delectable garlic and not to forget “gun powder” or molhapodi powder chutney) – once very affordable is now much pricier. A plate of idli at Rama Krishna (old favorite at Vile Parle-East) is now Rs70 per plate pair of idli! Generous idli though and not like the thin sketchy ones one may find elsewhere which leave one hungry enough to want to order another dish too.

The Udipi range of food is superlative at places like upmarket Juhu where down Gandhigram road is the very high class Dakshinyan (here find a plate of miserly but very good “steamed idli” at Rs100). Then there’re the Banana Leaf chain of restaurants which are doing as well as Muthuswamy’s Arya Bhavans, always packed places. The Banana Leaf restaurants serve Udupi food with more fanfare and there’re several of them across Mumbai, competing with the Arya Bhavans for goodness of southern Udupi snacks and thali meals. Funny, some of these come lately Udupi restaurants also do a chaat range on their menu – Mumbaikar folk think nothing of tucking in pani-puri or samosa chaat, before ordering one of the fancy idli or dosa (described esoterically on the menu)!
Of course, there’s the much prized southern filter coffee served in pure brass “dibba-vati” as at the Arya Bhavan Udupis and I just love this style of cooling and sipping the coffee. Some will even sweeten the coffee with jaggery if you make a request. No sugar, please.
ALL this and there is much more of whatever eating out I did with friends out during my Mumbai return, it’ll keep for another time. But I will note here anew that as far as I am concerned nothing, nothing can match or take the place of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission’s Holistic Wellness Food Court down 12th road, Khar West in Mumbai. For a week during the Durga Puja days I returned every morning to be simply happy with half cup “kadha” (Rs10), portion of red poha or ragi idli, millet vegetable upma, wonderful beans enriched salad, apart with the fragrant hot “kadha” I also took such a shine to the ragi malt cup beverage. One morning I spied a version of “gulab jamun” (namely cooked sweet potato chunks dunked in honeyed syrup). Interesting way to cater to Indian sweet palates. Oh, there’re are other things too so worth investing in to keep one’s mind and body, heart and soul happy the whole day long!

Really, I cannot praise enough the Ramakrishna Math’s Holistic Wellness Food Court and I wish the Ramakrishna Math & Mission in Usgaon in Ponda, Goa, which reportedly has something like a Rs60 crore expansion plan afoot (over something like 9,281 sq mts of estate now)…would also invest in such a Holistic Wellness Food Court or Center, it would be great if this too is promoted in Goa – and a center opens in Panjim! But for this to happen someone would have to go to the Mumbai center to learn how to plan and manage such a desirable sattvic food kitchen and menu. Meet someone by the name of Dr Swami Dayadhipananda who is the medical superintendent of Ramakrishna Math & Mission hospital in Khar, Mumbai. I keep my fingers crossed for this to happen.
Maybe the old GMC complex in Panjim will cease to be for IFFI entertainment and revert to being a health center, some part of it handed over to the Ramakrishna Math & Mission to run a Holistic Wellness Food Court. Tell me I am not dreaming!