Not that there was a bad one in the bunch but one of my favourite meals on my last visit to Bombay, back in December 2018, was at Highway Gomantak in Bandra East. I ate there then in the company of the food writer and old food forum friend, Vikram Doctor. I knew I was going to go back there for sure with the family on this trip. As it happens, I went back with the family and 21 of my students (one was out with a bad cold)! We’d had quite a trying day so far. We had a culture walk around Bandra West scheduled from 9 am to 11 am and the plan had been that the students would return to their housing in the coach while we peeled off for lunch on our own. But the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley, especially when the fucking Bombay Marathon turns out to be scheduled on the day of an outing…

Thanks to the damned runners what should have been a 30-40 minute Sunday morning drive from Byculla to Bandra turned into a two-hour nightmare as we tried to find a path for the bus through a welter of unlisted road closures and Google Maps routes that sent us into small alleys in which buses weren’t allowed. Eventually, we did make it to the tour (thanks to our excellent guides from Khaki Tours for waiting an extra hour for us). But we wanted to make sure the marathon was over before anyone headed back south—and so it was that I decided to take the whole damned lot to Highway Gomantak with us.

I know you’ve very worried about whether with a group that size we would have had to endure another long wait, this time for tables for all of us. It’s very nice of you to worry but there’s no need. We arrived at about 12.45 and that’s pretty early for lunch in India, especially on Sundays. While the outer dining room was about half full, the inner was empty and we occupied most of it, sitting 4-6 to a table. The only complicated thing was negotiating everyone’s orders. To simplify matters I told everyone to choose a thali and went around all the tables quickly, letting them know what most of the options were and making some recommendations. In not too much time we had all the orders in. Everyone got a thali and every table got an order of kolambi/prawns fry; a couple of tables, including ours, added on the bombil fry.

A couple of people were disappointed by some of their choices for the centerpiece of the thali not being available (mori/baby shark, mutton sukke, chicken drumstick) but no one was disappointed with their food when it arrived. We ended up with three veg thalis, a couple of orders of chicken masala thalis, one tisrya/clam masala thali, one prawn masala thali, one special fish thali, and then a couple each of the halva curry, pomfret curry, surmai curry and prawn curry thalis. In case you’re wondering, the special fish thali added on a bangda fry and a prep of dried shrimp and onions (very similar to the one we’d tried at Shri Datta Boarding a couple of weeks ago). To mop up the thalis we got a mix of chapatis and bhakris. At our table we added on a plate of wades.

It’s probably accurate to say though that the favourites at most tables (not counting the vegetarians) was the kolambi/prawn fry. Our favourite was the bombil fry, the best of the lot we’ve had so far across a number of restaurants (including a few not yet reported on on the blog). By the way, you’ll probably note that the veg thali offers a far greater variety than any of the fish or meat thalis. The smart move at Highway Gomantak, especially when dining in a group, is to get the veg thali and add on a few fried dishes to share.

The food came out quickly, we ate quickly and with great relish and fucked off. I am happy to say that the roads were clear on the way back and we made it back to our starting point without any drama.

For a look at the restaurant, the menu and what we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down for thoughts on service and to see how much it all cost.

Service was very able, very unflappable and quite friendly (I note this because in my previous report I may have noted gruff service as being the norm). Prices, as you can tell from looking at the menu, are still very reasonable. Back in 2018 they didn’t take credit cards but I’d told the students that if in the intervening period they had started to do so, I would cover all their meals from the program budget. If not, each table would be on their own as I did not have enough cash to cover everyone. As it happens they do take credit cards now, but in a further twist, they are unable to accept international credit cards (perhaps this was the situation in 2018 as well?). So, the students had to pay for themselves; but at the price, I don’t think anyone was complaining. For the four of us—having eaten two thalis, two orders of kolambi fry and one of bombil fry, an order of wades and a bhakri, plus two Thums Ups and a bottle of water—the total after tip was just over $30.

I continue to recommend Highway Gomantak highly if you’re within range when you’re in Bombay (I assume people who live there don’t need my advice on where to eat).

Okay, next up, a report on a lovely meal eaten in an East Indian home as a part of a trip to Uttan earlier last weekend. That’ll be on Tuesday. After that I’ll have a report on another Malvani meal, this time eaten in Dadar.