Dadar

Dadar is the middle of Mumbai in every sense. It is the only point where the Western and Central railway lines meet, which is why half the city passes through it; and it is the one locality that belongs equally to the north and the south.

It was also the city’s first planned suburb. After the plague years of the 1890s emptied the crowded southern wards, the Bombay Improvement Trust drew up the Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme in 1899, laying out roads and plots for around sixty thousand people. The grid you walk through today is that plan. Before it, this was Lower Mahim — farmland and coconut groves, with the Portuguese Church standing here since 1596.

What the Trust built, the Marathi middle class filled. Dadar became the centre of Marathi Mumbai: the theatres, the publishers, the sweet shops, Shivaji Park. Vada pav was invented outside the station in the 1960s for mill workers who needed to eat with one hand. And on 6 December every year several lakh people come to Chaitya Bhoomi, where Dr Ambedkar was cremated in 1956, and the locality gives itself over to them.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Shivaji Park 1925	Dadar West	About 112,000 square metres of open ground. Sachin Tendulkar and a long line of Indian cricketers learned here, and Maharashtra’s politics has held its rallies on it for seventy years. It is a public ground, not a stadium — you can walk in.
Chaitya Bhoomi 1956	Dadar Chowpatty, Dadar West	Where Dr B. R. Ambedkar was cremated in December 1956. On 6 December several lakh people come, and the locality gives itself over to them.
Shivaji Mandir	Dadar West	The home of Marathi commercial theatre. A run here is still how a Marathi production proves itself.
Portuguese Church 1596	Dadar West	Our Lady of Salvation. It stood here when this was Lower Mahim — farmland and coconut groves — three centuries before the suburb was planned.
Kirti College 1954	Kashinath Dhuru Marg, Dadar West	One of the Marathi-medium-feeding colleges that made Dadar a student locality; the vada pav lane outside it is a consequence.
Hindu Colony 1920s	Dadar East	An Improvement Trust colony, tree-lined, and home to much of Marathi literary and professional Bombay.
Five Gardens 1920s	Dadar East	The five garden squares at the centre of the Parsi Colony, laid out under the same 1899 scheme.
Plaza Cinema 1933	Dadar West	A single-screen Art Deco cinema, still running.
Kabutarkhana	Dadar West	The pigeon-feeding plaza at the centre of the market area; the landmark everyone navigates by.
Dadar Chowpatty	Dadar West	The beach; quieter than Girgaon and used for Ganpati visarjan.
Chitra Cinema 1950s	Dadar East	The other old single screen, on the east side.
Dadar Parsi Colony 1920s	Dadar East	Laid out under the same Improvement Trust scheme; one of the largest Zoroastrian enclaves in the world, with the Five Gardens beside it.
Bengal Club Durga Puja 1930s	Shivaji Park, Dadar	One of Mumbai’s oldest and largest Bengali Durga Pujas.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Dadar Phool Galli	under the railway bridge, Dadar West	The city’s wholesale flower market. Opens around three in the morning and is finished by seven.
Dadar Market	Dadar West	The vegetable and fish markets beside the flower market; mornings.
Sahakari Bhandar 1960s	S. K. Bole Road, Agar Bazaar, Dadar West	The Maharashtrian co-operative department store; groceries, household and provisions.
Ranade Road	Dadar West	The shopping street — clothing, hosiery, household goods. Impassable before Diwali and Ganpati.
Hindmata	Dr Ambedkar Road, Dadar East	The wholesale and bulk cloth and readymade market; sarees and dress material well below high-street prices.
Kohinoor Square 2010s	Dadar West	The tower on the old Kohinoor Mill land; retail arcade and offices.
Nakshatra Mall 2000s	Dadar West	The locality’s mall; chain stores and a food court.
Dadar jewellers	Dadar West	Family jewellers serving the Maharashtrian population.
Dadar school book and stationery trade	Dadar	Textbooks, stationery and the wholesale paper trade.
Mohanlal S. Mithaiwala	Dadar West	Mithai and halwa; a Dadar sweet shop of long standing.
Chheda Dryfruits	Shivaji Park, Dadar West	Dry fruit, mewa, nuts and festive hampers; one of the better-known mewa shops in the city.
Dadar and Matunga mithai houses	Dadar, Matunga	Maharashtrian and South Indian sweets.
Farsan shops	Dadar West, Prabhadevi	Khaman, patra, fafda; busiest before festivals.
Akash kandil	Dadar, Matunga, Girgaon	The Diwali lantern market; runs a fortnight on the pavements.

Name	Where	What it is known for
Aaswad 1980s	Gadkari Chowk, Dadar West	Pure vegetarian. Misal pav, kothimbir vadi, piyush. An award-winning misal and the Dadar benchmark.
Prakash Shakahari Upahar Kendra 1980	Gokhale Road, Dadar West	Pure vegetarian, family-run and unchanged. Thalipeeth, sabudana vada, piyush, batata bhaji.
Panshikar & Co.	Dadar West	Maharashtrian vegetarian; piyush, kothimbir vadi, sabudana and a sweet counter.
Mama Kane 1930s	Dadar West	Mama Kane’s Swacha Upahar Griha; one of the oldest Maharashtrian vegetarian eating houses in the city.
Visava	Dadar West	Maharashtrian vegetarian thali and snacks.
Shree Krishna Batatawada	Dadar West	Batata vada and Maharashtrian snacks over the counter.
Shree Krishna Boarding	Dadar	Old-style Maharashtrian room, unlimited meals.
Gypsy Corner	Dadar West	A Dadar fixture; Chinese and snacks, largely vegetarian.
Pritam Da Dhaba 1942	Pritam Hotel, Dadar East	Opened by a Punjabi family five years before Partition; butter chicken, dal, tandoori roti.
Sindhudurg	Dadar West	Malvani seafood; plain room, strong fresh masala, bangda and surmai.
Malvan Katta	Dadar and Prabhadevi	Malvani thali with bhakri and sol kadhi.
Gomantak rooms	Dadar, Parel, Lalbaug	Gomantak fish thalis serving the mill-belt population.
Ashok Vada Pav 1970s	Kirti College Lane, Kashinath Dhuru Marg, Dadar West	The most famous vada pav stall in the city; chura pav is the variation to order.
Shankar Vada Pav 1975	Dadar	Started from a handcart; masala vada pav, moong dal bhajia, mirchi bhajia, nothing else.
Samrat Vada Pav	Dadar and Thane	Coconut in the mixture, which is unusual; also a grilled and a butter version.
Dadar station stalls 1960s	Dadar East and West	Where vada pav is generally agreed to have been invented.
Dadar and Sion tandoor houses	Dadar, Sion, Matunga Road	Neighbourhood Punjabi kitchens, family-run.

Worth knowing

• Dadar is the only station where the Western and Central lines meet, which is why it is always crowded.
• The flower market works between three and seven in the morning. There is no afternoon trade.
• 6 December, Ambedkar’s death anniversary, brings several lakh people to Chaitya Bhoomi; plan around it.
• Ranade Road before Diwali and Ganpati is effectively impassable. Go in July.
• Shivaji Park is a public ground, not a stadium. You can walk in.
• Dadar East and Dadar West are different places; the station footbridge is the only easy crossing.
• Dadar is not a fine-dining locality by design — it eats well and plainly. The restaurant floors at Lower Parel and Worli are fifteen minutes south.

Related pages on this site

Check the current position

Shops close, kitchens change hands and addresses move. These open a search in a new tab.

A note on this page. This is an independent reference page compiled from published information and verified addresses, current as of 2026. WelcomeToMumbai.in is not connected to any shop, restaurant or institution named here, takes no commission and does not rank or endorse. Check addresses and hours before you travel.

Names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.