The coolest restaurants in Mumbai have a secret—and it’s hiding between two slices of bread
Many places have discovered their love for making sandwiches during the pandemic. Annie Bafna, founder of The Nutcracker, said: “During Covid, when food delivery reached a record level, we started to bottle and sell our Houmous, our pesto and our bread.” In 2024, Bafna launched Noa by The Nutcracker, a take -out brand with a sandwich menu developed with options on Ciabatta, Focaccia and Levain.
These flourishing modern sandwiches exchange our beloved white bread against bagels, sourdough rods, focaccia and milk from milk, each stuffed with local cheeses, specially hardened meats and marinated tubers. Through Mumbai, but especially in Bandra – a carbohydrate -based meal is never far away. The past few years have seen Santa Maria and East 7th Pizza & Deli join pillars like Veronica’s and Kitchen Garden in the neighborhood. Further on, Pinto Sando to Disease serves Goan inspiration options such as beef tongue and roast pork on Katra Pao, a bread generally found only in the state of the sun.
Sandwiches have long nourished Mumbai’s appetite for comforting food, ready to intensify when the lifestyle at the rapid rhythm of the city requires a quick, affordable and generous meal. With restaurants closed during the pandemic, many turned to house sandwiches – an impulse that then evolved into a desire for candle versions once the lock has lifted. At Veronica, guests can choose from international favorites like Po’Boy and Pastrami. Santa Maria, known for her thick bread, her pillows buns and his interiors of Bandra-Meet-Italy. In East 7th, Rehan Mehta – Pchef and owner of East 7th Pizza and Deli, which went from a delivery kitchen based in Colaba to a Bandra assiet – rejects a range of global sandwiches. “Originally, our brand was supposed to be just sandwiches,” he said, “but I did not think that this model would be financially viable, because Bombay had not yet been seized by the fever of the sandwiches.” Obviously, things have changed.
