I am nearing the end of my restaurant reports from Bombay in April. Only two reports remain, both from high end restaurants. The first features a return to a restaurant I ate at twice on my previous visit to the city: The Bombay Canteen, which ends up reliably every year near the top of lists of the best restaurants in India aimed at people less likely to eat at places like Jai Hind (the location I ate at this time is literally just across the street from the old Kamala Mills complex that houses The Bombay Canteen). We first ate at The Bombay Canteen as a family in January 2024 and then a little later I took a few of my students there for a lunch to celebrate their birthdays.  I wrote both these meals up together in 2024—you can go take a look at it to learn a little more about the story of the restaurant; and also to see what I made of those meals. There were a few students on this version of the program as well whose birthdays fell during our time in the city and so I made The Bombay Canteen the site of the birthday celebrations this time as well. Here’s how it went.

We were a party of four and had a reservation for lunch on a Saturday. Reservations are most easily made over WhatsApp and though they’re not hard to come by with just a little bit of advance planning, they’re necessary. The restaurant has been very busy on all my visits, and a few students who tried to walk in a few days later, after hearing reports of this meal from their friends, were rebuffed.

We were seated in the center of the large dining room. Our reservation was on the early side and we were among the first to be seated. The place filled up steadily over the course of our meal and by the time we left it was heaving. As busy as it got though, service was attentive from beginning to end. We selected drinks—beer for me, non-alcoholic drinks for the students—and then perused the menu. The menu is very much in the same vein as previous though not identical. Once again, we skipped the Badas (or large dishes section) and ordered entirely from the Chhotas (small plates). Prices are not the same, however. They have risen quite noticeably since 2024: Rs. 510->Rs. 650, Rs. 595->Rs. 725, and Rs. 800->Rs. 925 to list the increases in three dishes I ate in both 2024 and 2026.

So, what did we eat?

We began with one of my favourite dishes from the two meals in 2024 and another in that same vein. The seabass sev puri was the returning champion and I very much liked it again (though I unaccountably failed to photograph it this time). Also quite good was the cured prawn pani puri from the brunch menu. Normally, I’m skeptical about these kinds of takes on street food but when they work well I am very happy to eat them. Also very good were the carrot thoran and the stir-fried morning glory (another returning champion). The thoran is done as a hummus-like puree and served with a khakhra cracker. I guess they must have a rotation of dishes in this vein as in 2024 we’d eaten a very similar dish with cauliflower instead of carrot.

And then to the meat: we got the tandoori lamb chops (quite good) and the ghee roast chicken seekh (which didn’t get me very much more excited than it had in 2024). Also from the brunch menu we got the choriz and bacon akuri which was rather tasty (and quite decadent). Oh yes, we also got the crab butter garlic kulcha which was excellent again and very much enjoyed by the table. To mop up some of these things we got sides of Malabar paratha and maska-pao.

Finally, dessert. We were quite full but it was a birthday celebration and so we got two desserts: the coffee rasgulla and the black forest cake. Both were fine.

For a look at the summer 2026 menu and everything we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

As I noted above, prices have risen. We paid more for four people in April 2026 than we had for five in January 2024. The total on this occasion (before tip) was Rs. 10,359 or $108 at the current exchange rate. That’s $27/head which is, of course, a steal in American terms for a meal of this kind but quite expensive in Bombay, especially with so little alcohol consumed. Will I be back in 2028? If I once again have students celebrating birthdays, I probably will bring them here: it’s a very different take on Indian food than they would encounter on their own. But I don’t know if I would be in a hurry to go back on my own. This meal was fine but very little of it was anything I wish I could eat again soon (only the seabass sev puri actually). Maybe I’ll take next time’s birthday crew to O Pedro instead (though it’s a longer haul from where the students put up).

Alright, only one Bombay report proper left to come. That’ll be from a restaurant that makes The Bombay Canteen’s prices look like a steal: Masque. I’m probably not going to get to that next week so the next few Indian reports will be from Delhi. Tomorrow I’ll have a Twin Cities report and at least one more Seoul report later in the week.