WALKING MUMBAI

Duration : 2 hours

Distance : 3.6 km

Audience: College students, office workers, locals, and tourists.

Aim : Conducting a street food tour, not only as an idea of trying various street foods but also to observe the built form of the Irani cafes.

Area Covered: CSMT Station to Churchgate Station

Food walks form an integral part of culinary tourism across the world

So we began our walk from CSMT station all the way down to Churchgate station. We started by observing the Pancham Puriwala hotel located near the CSMT station which is the most accessible. It is mostly occupied by the office-goers and people of all religions and age groups. It is situated at the entrance of the lane opposite the CSMT station and hence is mostly crowded by the office-goers, it is a fast serving food joint as the people need to have quick food and move for their work.

The history of this place is that it was a puri bhaji stall 171 years old and the place is named after Pancham Sharma- the man who started the eatery in 1848. The restaurant has a wide entrance and a narrow staircase leading to the mezzanine floor.

As we move further into the lane towards the Britannia and company café which is an Irani café located in the Ballard estate.

As we were moving from the Pancham Puriwala located at the entrance of the lane towards Britannia and company, the crowd gets dispersed. This lane is majorly occupied by vegetable vendors and dabba walas. We then moved to the Yazdani and Bademiya Café which are the first opened cafes in India during the 20th century. The Irani cafes have high ceilings and wide entrances made with a subtle colonial touch. The Yazdani café now opens as a window from where people take their food and sit on the steps on outside of the café.

The final place we visited was the Khau galli adjoining the Churchgate station. This place was specifically chosen to show the contrast between Irani cafes and the food stalls in Khau Galli. People prefer the Khau Galli food stalls over the cafes for their fast service and affordable rates.

The target audience for the walk is college students, office workers, locals, and tourists. Our main objective was to make people aware of how these restaurants give quick food service which is convenient for office workers.