HT Kala Ghoda Arts Festival: From cutting chai to cookies, a little taste of Mumbai

Delicacies were sampled at The Pantry, Café Military and Oh Dough. Everyone had their own favourite dish of the day

What makes history lovers, photo bloggers, tourists and foodies all gather in excitement at the same event? A food walk!

The group participates in a cookie tasting at Oh Dough as part of the HT Kala Ghoda Arts Festival on Saturday. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT)

Forty lucky early-bird participants explored heritage hotels, street food and the newest cafés in the art district on Saturday, during a trail organised as part of the HT Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.

The walk began at the British-era Watson’s hotel, the city’s first five-star establishment.

The next stop was the popular Guptaji bhelwala, followed by a trek through the colourful and narrow lanes of Kala Ghoda, with blogger and food writer Roxanne Bamboat, aka the Tiny Taster, leading the way.

Delicacies were sampled at The Pantry, Café Military and Oh Dough. Everyone had their own favourite dish of the day.

A 60-year-old Russian tourist found the flavours of the bhel intriguing. “This is the first time I have eaten anything like this and it’s delicious,” she said.

“Our street food is what our city stands for, so it had to be part of the walk,” said Bamboat, laughing.

Digging into his spinach quiche at The Pantry, Rishi Doshi, 26, an orthopaedic surgeon from Kolhapur, pointed out that he visits Mumbai frequently but always ends up going to the same places. “People don’t know many of the little ones and that’s where the gold lies,” he added.

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