Homegrown's Munchie Trail Through Mumbai

4.20. The most highly (oh yes, pun intended) anticipated day world over is finally here, and we’re as ready as we could ever be. We’re ever grateful for the internet spreading it’s wings and carrying the wonder that is 4.20 all the way to India - for all those who wanted to know why this day of all days, read the history here.

No, today is NOT Bob Marley’s birthday. As a giveback to the internet, and to all those partaking in today’s festivities, we’ve compiled a Reefer’s Guide to Food on this sacred occasion - it really was a joint effort. We’ve taken into account all the times in the day one could feel a twinge of hunger, and suggested what you should do about it.

Wake and Bake

Ah, the all-American goodness of cooking everything in bacon grease. Salt Water Cafe’s taken the best of that artery-destroying discovery, tossed three small-sized pancakes in bacon grease and dusted a lovely sprinkling of cinnamon dust over it all to sweeten the deal. The real surprise? There are shards of crispy bacon bits mixed into the fatty batter. This is more of a wake and bacon kinda thing.

Pro Tip: They’re just this side of dry for the fussy food folk so don’t shy away from drowning the breakfast serving with maple syrup, whipped butter or fruit compotes that they’re smart enough to serve it up with.

For the egg eaters, the Akuri at Sassanian at Dhobi Talao is top. This spot is more of an institution than a mere eatery. It has seen many generations of hungry Parsis walk through its timber doorframes. Akuri, the Parsi-style scrambled eggs come with a whole bunch of mouth-watering additions to it: green chillies, coriander, turmeric, and red chilli powder, to name a few. This isn’t your average scrambled egg. But that’s what makes it so good.

Second Breakfast

The Samosa sandwich at Manju Sandwichwalla outside Heera Panna has perfected the art of combining the best treats off of Mumbai streets and then throwing them together to make you drool.

Crunchy, steaming samosas and some chopped vegetables are doused in the street food-staple green mint-coriander chutney all sandwiched in white bread to challenge the integrity of vada pavs everywhere. They also have a curious item called the sev puri toasted sandwich that sounds intriguing but we haven’t been able to cheat on the Samosa Sandwich quite yet.

Mid-Day Hunger Pangs

No day dedicated to getting high goes by without pizza - a meal that warrants being a food group all by itself. If you’re townside, we’d say be a little adventurous and get the Rummy Chicken Supreme at Pizza by the Bay - it begs to be savoured under that heightened sense of taste.

For those wondering the ‘Rummy’ bit stands for - this is a BBQ chicken pizza with onions, peppers and mushrooms all flambed with Old Monk. Got your attention?

For a cheaper and more homely option (when really all you want is cheesey pizza) we’d say get one from any of three Candies that are willing to deliver to you!

Dessert

To end the lunch with a sweet touch, what can be better than a Belgian Waffle? Our preference goes to the Belgian Waffle Naked Nutella from The Belgian Waffle Co, simple and efficient.

But if you want to make it more surprising, you can absolutely add extra fillings (Rs 30), extra nutella (Rs 50), ice cream (Rs 60), whipped cream (Rs 20), crushed oreos (Rs 10). Time to get rolling - it’s about to be the sacred hour.

4.20 Munchies

Tucked into a narrow lane just off Bandra’s Pali Hill is a small, garage-sized haven called Pack-A-Pav serving up gourmet pavs unlike any you’ve ever eaten. The nine dishes (five non-vegetarian, four vegetarian) and two drinks etched onto the top board of this restaurant are all Rohan Mangalorkar’s mother’s recipes, and you can almost taste the home-cooked love in every bite.

We recommend the four cheese pav for vegetarians and the Irani chicken pav served with hung curd basil dip, coconut chutney and fried onions for the meat eaters. Oh and the side of fry-ums takes it to a whole new level.

Dinner

There’s nothing to wrap up a day like a good old burger. We recommend the tenderloin burger with slow cooked balsamic onions, bacon, cheese and a fried egg from Three Chicks and a Bear . Note that this beauty comes with a sizeable portion of house fries.

For our vegetarian reefers, Monkey Bar’s Veggie Burger consists of a patty made of lentils and bean, amaranth leaves, walnuts, Portobello mushrooms, topped with chutney mayo and jalapeno cheese fondue. Then it’s all squashed into a black bun. Chunky and satisfying.

Dessert 2.0

For all those who haven’t tried only the best dark chocolate and salted caramel ice cream in all the land, Bono Boutique Ice-Cream is what your day needs. They’ve also got a beauteous milk chocolate bacon ice cream as well as white chocolate passion fruit that we highly recommend. Given that this spot has no seating, we recommend ordering on Scootsy in advance. If this doesn’t cut the bill, here a list of the most unique ice-creams in Mumbai.

Late Night Munchies

Open until 4 am, we recommend a roll from Ayub’s to hit that spot if you’re on that side of town. The deal is pretty standard - get yourself a chicken reshmi roll and call it a night. If you’re on this side, you know you’re sorted when Mini Punjab’s is still kicking. For those who can’t make up their minds, get the Egg burji roll - you’ll thank us in just a minute.

For Mumbais ’s best brownies, read this.

The best burgers in Mumbai can all be found right over here.

For all of Mumbai’s Booziest desserts, click here.