Pav Bhaji, Mumbai

Mashed vegetables cooked down on a flat griddle with butter and a spice mix, served with pav toasted in more butter. It was invented in the 1850s or 60s for cotton-mill workers in the textile district, as a quick midday meal made from whatever vegetables were left.

What separates a good plate from a poor one is the griddle work and the butter. The bhaji should be cooked on the tawa in front of you, not ladled from a pot.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Sardar Refreshments1966	Tardeo, near the Tardeo AC Market	The one the city queues for. The butter is not subtle and is not meant to be.
Cannon Pav Bhaji1980s	opposite CSMT, Fort	A pavement stall beside the station; fast, cheap, consistently good.
Amar Juice Centre	Vile Parle West	Cheese pav bhaji and a long list of variations; a suburban institution.
Sukh Sagar	Chowpatty and Girgaon	All-day Gujarati and street food; the pav bhaji is reliable.
Juhu Beach stalls	Juhu Chowpatty	Pav bhaji on the sand, at sunset, which is a different experience from a restaurant.
Girgaon Chowpatty stalls	Chowpatty	The other beach, closer to South Mumbai, and the older of the two.
Shiv Sagar	Bandra, Andheri and city-wide	A vegetarian chain doing dependable pav bhaji.
Ladu Samrat	Lalbaug	Better known for misal but the pav bhaji is honest.

Worth knowing

• Ask for extra butter if you want it done properly; they will not be surprised.
• Jain pav bhaji — without onion, garlic or potato — is standard at most Gujarati counters.
• Cheese pav bhaji and pav bhaji fondue are suburban inventions, not the original.
• The bhaji should come off the tawa in front of you. If it comes from a pot, go elsewhere.

The other dishes

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