11 Best Restaurants in Colaba, Mumbai

Dingy—but not dirty—Churchill specializes in British-style comfort food (e.g., starchy and simple roast beef and gravy with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes), and its red-and-white vinyl interior fits the food. The desserts are some of the best Mumbai has to offer—at any given time you'll find five kinds of chocolate cake (brownie, truffle, you name it), and five kinds of cheesecake in the dessert case.

Always packed, Mondy is a great place to grab an ice-cold Kingfisher draft and watch the crowds roll in—though unlike nearby Leo's, Mondy's doesn't have a full liquor license. Avoid the characterless air-conditioned room and instead post up at one of the cramped tables in the main space, where the jukebox plays at full blast and the walls are covered with cartoon murals of Mumbai life.

Classic no-frills Mughlai food draws vacationing Arabs to this eatery; it has outlets throughout the United Arab Emirates, though this one's the flagship. It's loud and bustling—not the place for a romantic dinner—but the real reason to come is the top-quality nonvegetarian food, especially the meat, kebabs, and rice dishes.

Styled as an haute version of a typical Mangalorean home—all red clay and bright green—Konkan is in the Vivanta by Taj hotel (still "Taj President" to taxi drivers). It does all the chow your average home might serve, but it's more refined, with cleaner flavors and elegant presentation (food is served on copper thali plates lined with banana leaves), plus it has the added advantage of being one of the few coastal restaurants to offer a great, if expensive, bottle of wine.

This Belgian bakery, a stone's throw from the Gateway of India, offers great breads, fresh ingredients, and a giant communal table. There's a wine selection, too, and evening specials might include grilled salmon or seared lamb chops. It's a good option when you're sweating it out in South Mumbai, or for those who need a break from Indian food and want to check email on the free Wi-Fi.

When it defiantly reopened just four days after the first shots of November 2008 terrorist attacks were fired and 10 people were killed, the crowds were so big the police had to shut the place down all over again (the ownership has preserved bullet holes from the attack on its upstairs windows for people to see). Order a bottle of ice-cold Kingfisher beer to wash down the hearty, typical bar food—chicken tikka, french fries, that kind of thing, or go with the Chinese food that is actually the better bet.

On the second floor of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel and styled after an upscale but fairly authentic Japanese sushi joint, the wildly expensive Wasabi offers great service, a nice view toward the Gateway of India, and—we cannot emphasize this enough—great sushi. If you've got the cash, try one of the omakase menus (6 to 12 courses), which will take you through the best dishes, from whitefish carpaccio to rock-shrimp tempura to salmon nigiri, depending on what's freshest at the moment.