Dishoom’s Kavi Thakrar on why Mumbai is his inspiration
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Beautiful, noisy, messy Mumbai is one of India’s best-kept culinary secrets. And nobody knows it better than Kavi Thakrar. The restauranteur has been coming here for years to take inspiration for Dishoom, and here he shares some of his tips for making the most of a visit.
![[Beautiful Sunset view of the Gateway of India]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/09/12/28/Beautiful-Sunset-view-of-the-Gateway-of-India-td6cjg28.jpeg?trim=0,272,0,272&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Mumbai. It’s been so inspirational to me. I’ve been going there since childhood with my grandparents — it’s long been a really big part of my life. And, of course, it’s a really big part of what I get to do for work as well, for Dishoom. I absolutely love it.
![[Bus crossing a bridge on chorna river, Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/09/12/09/Bus-crossing-a-bridge-on-chorna-river-Bombay-Mumbai-Maharashtra-India-pnbk8omw.jpeg?trim=80,0,81,0&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Sitting on Girgaon Chowpatty — a beach on Marine Drive — in early childhood, at around six or seven, while my grandparents took a sunset stroll. They would leave me with a kulfi seller, and I’d get unlimited ice cream!. I’ve been four or five times this year, most recently just a few weeks ago with my co-founder, my cousin Shamil, and our executive chef, Arun. We had a lot of fun eating delicious stuff.
![[Colourful garlands artificial flowers beads pearls decorate idols of lord Ganesh, Ganapati festival, Dadar, Bombay Mumbai]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/09/12/47/Colourful-garlands-artificial-flowers-beads-pearls-decorate-idols-of-lord-Ganesh-Ganapati-festival-D.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
That’s really hard. I’ve been going to Mumbai for the past 10 years for work and I’ve probably been more than 40 times, and whenever I do, I discover new places to eat. So I don’t have a favourite restaurant per se in the city, because there’s so much on offer. But I’ll recommend two places: Mohammed Ali Road for late-night treats and eats; you walk up and down the road and there’s amazing kebabs, curries and sweets. And for lunch with a friend or two, or 10, is a thali place called Shree Thaker Bojanalay and they have amazing thalis.
![[Mumbai, Victoria Terminus railways station]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/09/13/24/Mumbai-Victoria-Terminus-railways-station-63c4riaj.jpeg?trim=155,0,157,0&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
