Milling Around Central Bombay

What was once mill land is now a bustling dining hub with a plethora of high-end restaurants. The mills are truly alive with the sound of eating 

Text: Mohan Krishnan

Many of us who drive on the Eastern Express Highway and “sail” over the city seamlessly, may be unaware of history of the steel and glass enclaves that dot both sides of the road. This was the grimy 'mill area', home to over 80 textile mills, that employed about 2,32,000 workers.

In the early 1980s, union leader Datta Samant led a strike against the textile mills, that led to most mills shutting down, almost one and a half lakh workers losing their jobs, and seeing their families destroyed. It’s a grim tale that’s been harrowingly documented by sociologists.

For the mill owners the strike was a gift from heaven. Their mills were making losses. The laws would not let them shut down; but in the face of a strike they were fully entitled to declare a lockout. Years later, the laws “changed”, and mill owners were allowed to “redevelop” their land for commercial and residential use. From 2001 onwards, this area became Bombay’s prime location for top offices, luxury homes, retail and restaurants. Datta Samant had converted the mill owners’ lemons into champagne, and turned his union members lives into dust.

The Kamala Mills compound is home to some of Bombay’s best dining. Shakti Mills has brilliant food and shopping, to delight your senses and lighten your wallet. Palladium is where we go mall-ratting and eating after doing our 3000 steps. The glitzy Gourmet Garden has a stack of restaurants, to satisfy any food craving you might have. Todi Mills once housed Blue Frog, now has great restaurants, and a vibrant gallery scene.  

Raghuvanshi Mills is home to Good Earth, and imported furniture and appliances is heaven with Amex Platinum. Mathuradas Mills is full of corporate offices, and Nilaya Anthology, where Italian sofas, dining tables and kitchens can set you back many millions. The design space segues into spiffy bars and restaurants.

The mills all have this grimy past. And a gleaming present in the form of corporate parks, malls and gated residences.

Each corporate park has signature buildings, where the ground floor is packed with high-end restaurants. These restaurant clusters offer a great variety of choice of diverse cuisines with prices that reflect the high rentals, the purchasing power of the corporate honchos, and residents of the high-end gated communities. Each cluster is a destination in its own right.

They do brisk business at lunch, happy hour, and dinner. It’s a sound business model, as long as the food is high quality. Their common complaint is: 'The lunch crowd does not drink, so it’s low revenue per guest'. How they must long for the return of the three-martini lunch. I feel their pain. I have memories of being an adman in the '80s. What fun it was to go back to work with a real buzz on. Our clients were equally wasted – no harm done.

The 'mill area' is proof that if you build it, they will come. Look up at the skyscrapers; don’t look down at the road you have to traverse. Watch out for potholes and cracked roads that can cause fractures and broken axles. And yet people have forked out gazillions to work and live here, and mega thousands to eat here. It sums up the eternal hope of the Bombay wallah – “things will get better”, “this too shall pass”, “the commissioner told me it will be finished before the next election.”

Some of the most talented chefs and restaurateurs have set up shop in this area, and made it a dining destination par excellence. The diversity in cuisine leaves one spoiled for choice – from Modern Indian, to Asian, Italian pizza and pasta, melt-in-the-mouth BBQ, Kerala, Japanese, Thai, gorgeous Conti. Many of the chefs wear Asian and global awards proudly on their lapels.

Just look at our Top 10 restaurants in this sprawling area.

We begin with Gallops, frisky at 40, at the edge of the race course. An indispensable part of the racing scene, Navjote, wedding and celebration events, and home to what may be the best Butter Chicken, and Chicken a la Kiev in the world.

Let the mind’s eye take you to the other side of the race course, where you bump along a road to land at Masque, Bombay’s first tasting menu restaurant. They’re now No. 15 on Asia’s 50 Best list, and a new entrant to the World’s 100 Best restaurants.

Drive into Palladium, enter the Gourmet Garden, and take the escalator up to two of our classic Bombay eateries. There’s the upscale version of Fountain Sizzlers, still serving up the crackle and hiss of drama, as each hot pan is brought out to salivating guests. Right around the corner is Cream Centre, for me the permanent home of the Chana Bhatura, and the sizzling brownie with ice-cream on top. Pure veg, and pure indulgence.

Drive down the road to the Kamala Mills compound – home to The Bombay Canteen, successful beyond belief, and eternal legacy of Super Chef Floyd Cardoz.  There’s also Koko, the Tham family’s Asian relaxed vibe – fine-dining outpost, with the sexy long bar and trendy food.

Drive a little further, and there’s an amazing bungalow, pink on the outside, and hearty Mallu on the inside – Kerala Quarters, serving authentic food, not just at Onam and Vishu.

Hang a left, GPS your way to Nilaya Anthology, and start a conga line around Comorin’s curvy space, and knock back a shot each time you pass the bar.

And finally, enter the Altimus complex opposite the BDD chawls. On the ground level, you are spoilt for choice with pâtisserie and viennoiserie, and two fabulous restaurants Donmai and Ode. Donmai is the latest entry into the Japanese food scene, and Ode is Rahul Akerkar making a triumphant return to his roots.

This entire journey should take about 15 minutes, but on “that” kind of day, you could be on the road for an hour and a half – such is the traffic. In this tightly-packed space, there are two 10-year-old restaurants, where you really have to hustle to get a table, and forget about last minute weekend plans, Masque and The Bombay Canteen.

The interesting thing about Central Bombay is that it also has such an abundance of fine vegetarian dining – both 'Madrasi' and 'Gujju'. Mukesh Ambani enjoys his forays to Café Mysore in Matunga, and Swati Snacks in Tardeo, so you’re in excellent company. Not to forget, most of the high-end dining restaurants get over 60% of their revenue from the veg menu.

The bar scene also rocks around the clock, and some of them have found their place in Asia’s 50 Best.

Central Bombay has seen massive erasure of its history, and what has come up is often labelled as soulless steel and glass edifices. Say what you will about the architecture, the food is full of soul, inviting, pleasing, challenging and satisfying. The “mills are alive” with the sound of eating.

The Bombay Canteen	Cream Centre	Fountain Sizzlers

Comorin	Donmai	Gallops	KOKO

Kerala Quarters	ODE	Masque

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