On the busy streets of Mumbai, the food festivities occurs throughout the day as pop-up grills and cooking huts begin to populate, serving smaller traditional dishes known as “street food” to the bustling crowds. It is a way of life to be able to grab street food on any street at any given point of the day. The energizing atmosphere combined with the incredibly flavourful small plates, is an experience that is slowly making its way to North America.
Bombay Street Food (Twitter: @BombayStFoodTO / Instagram: @BombayStFoodTO), located on Bay Street (close to College Park) offers authentic lunch and dinner dishes inspired from the streets of Mumbia. I had the pleasure of visiting them on Friday evening and little did I know I was in for such a treat! All of the dishes are homemade and authentically spiced, using primarily local ingredients and only 100% halal meat. To honour their customs, take-out dishes are served in a custom version of the traditional dabba, the Indian tiered tiffin box.
The interior design of their space was inspired by the charm and elegance of the Indian cafes that erupted in the 1960’s by Iranian immigrants. When guests dined under slowly turning ceiling fans next to walls adorned with sepia-toned family portraits.
{Left} Mango Lassi ($4.95) – Creamy yogurt smoothie with ripe mangoes
{Right} Sweet Lassi ($4.95) – Exotic yogurt smoothie, lightly sweetened with cardamom and rosewater
The menu is divided into CHAATS (tapa style shareable dishes), MAINS (that come with a choice of 1 of 3 sides), DRINKS and DESSERTS. After placing our order at the counter, a number was provided to us to take to our table to ensure the wait staff could find us in an efficient manner once food was ready.
Potato Vada Pav ($11.95)
- Battered, deep-fried, spicy mashed potato fritters, served on warm buttered, griddled pav buns with three chutneys
{Choice of Side} Gunpowder Fries – Crispy home-style fries tossed with unique spices and coconut chutney
Salli Chicken Bowl Halal ($11.95)
- Spicy, sweet and sour Parsi style chicken curry topped with crispy potato chip sticks and chopped coriander
{Choice of Side} The BSF Mixed Salad – Seasonal greens and vegetables tossed in their signature coconut lime dressing.
Chicken Frankie Halal ($11.95)
- Mild chicken curry, red onion, cabbage, coriander, lemon juice and egg, rolled in a soft freshly made roti
{Choice of Side} Daal Chawal Rice – Fragrant basmati rice topped with aromatic red lentil stew
Dahi Puri ($7.95)
- Crispy puris served with a potato-lentil stuffing, topped with yogurt and various chutneys
We highly recommend the Salli Chicken Bowl & Potato Vada Pav & Chicken Frankie. But if you asked me to choose 1 dish then I would recommend starting with the Salli Chicken Bowl. It was definitely one of the highlights of the evening – the chicken curry had a very tasty sweet and sour Parsi curry flavour with a mild kick of spiciness to it (I have very low tolerance for spicy foods) – topped off with some crispy potato chips to give the dish some textural contrast – loved it!
Bombay Street food is opened for both lunch and dinner service. I arrived shortly before 5:30 PM on a Friday evening to find out most tables were already occupied. Do come early as the restaurant fills up rather quickly =)
This meal was complimentary but Foodinthecitytoronto.com remains unbiased in our content.
