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The best Malvani Fish Thali in Mumbai

Also spelt Malwani thali, fish thali, Gomantak fish thali and surmai thali. A curated shortlist, shaped by your votes.

Editorial picks

Selected from published food guides and local reporting. How the list works

  1. Number 1.Highway Gomantak

    Gandhi Nagar, Bandra East Bandra, Khar and Santacruz

    Open
    11.30am to 10.30pm, shut Thursdays
    Where
    44/2179, Pranav CHSL, Service Road, Gandhi Nagar, near MHADA, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051

    Order the surmai curry thali and mop the coconut gravy with rice using your fingers, as the regulars do. Shut on Thursdays, and the tin-roofed room fills by one, so expect shared tables.

    What to orderSurmai curry thali with bhakri and sol kadhi

    0 votes

  2. Number 2.Satkar Rice Plate House

    Goregaon East, by the station Malad, Kandivali and Borivali

    Open
    11am-3.30pm and 7-11.30pm, shut Mondays
    Where
    Shop 15, first floor, Dreamland Building, Station Road, opposite Goregaon East station, Mumbai 400063

    First floor, up a lane beside the paan shop opposite Goregaon East station, and easy to miss. The Satkar special fish thali is why people climb. Closed Mondays, and prices have crept up.

    What to orderSatkar special fish thali with vade

    0 votes

  3. Number 3.Shri Datta Boarding House (Lalbaug)

    Lalbaug, Parel Girgaon, Bhuleshwar and Mohammed Ali Road

    Open
    11am to 3.30pm, 7 to 11.30pm, shut Thursdays
    Where
    7, Narayan Ashram (Bhagyoday Building), Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Lalbaug, Parel, Mumbai 400012

    Feeding Lalbaug since 1920, and the pomfret thali comes with vade rather than chapati. Ask about the vajri if offal appeals. Shut on Thursdays, and the queue starts on the footpath by noon.

    What to orderPomfret thali with vade

    0 votes

  4. Chaitanya (Dadar West)

    Aagar Bazar, Dadar West Dadar, Matunga and Parel

    Open
    11am to 11pm; queue outside from about 1pm
    Where
    3, Chinchh Bhatt Chawl, SK Bole Road, opposite Aagar Bazar, Dadar West, Mumbai 400028

    The room holds barely twenty, the queue is all locals, and the prawns special thali is the one to order, six or seven prawn preparations deep. Come before one or wait outside.

    What to orderPrawns special thali

    0 votes

  5. Acharekar's Malvan Katta (Dadar West)

    DL Vaidya Road, Dadar West Dadar, Matunga and Parel

    Open
    Noon to 3.30pm, 7 to 10.30pm
    Where
    Shop 4, Sai Aradhya, DL Vaidya Road, near Swami Samarth Math, Dadar West, Mumbai 400028

    Ten-odd thalis on the board; take the surmai one, with amboli rather than chapati. Twenty minutes of waiting is normal at any hour, and the malvani wada runs out early on busy days.

    What to orderSurmai fry thali with amboli

    0 votes

  6. Jai Hind Lunch Home (Bandra East, the original)

    Gandhi Nagar, Bandra East Bandra, Khar and Santacruz

    Open
    Lunch to about 3.30pm, dinner from 7.30pm
    Where
    44, Road No. 1, Samadhan CHS, Gandhi Nagar, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051

    The surmai thali arrives with a slab of fish big enough to justify the queue outside. Ask for bhakri rather than neer dosa. Lunch seating stops around half three.

    What to orderSurmai thali with bhakri

    0 votes

  7. Sadichha (opposite MIG Club

    Gandhi Nagar, Bandra East Bandra, Khar and Santacruz

    Open
    6.30am to 6.30pm reported; listings disagree
    Where
    OB 5, opposite MIG Cricket Club, Samadhan CHS, Gandhi Nagar, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051

    A dive with shared benches opposite the MIG club, and the pomfret masala thali is the thing to order. Thalis are not shared here, so order one each or expect a word.

    What to orderPomfret masala thali

    0 votes

  8. Maharashtra Lunch Home (Nerul)

    Sector 3, Nerul East, Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai

    Open
    11am to midnight daily
    Where
    Shop 2, Paradise Apartment, Sector 3, opposite SIES College, Nerul East, Navi Mumbai 400706

    Opposite SIES College in Nerul, and the surmai tawa fry thali with neer dosa instead of chapati earns the trip. Sunday nights bring a wait, and they will take your order on the pavement.

    What to orderSurmai tawa fry thali with neer dosa

    0 votes

  9. Gomantak Boarding House

    Dadar West, off Shivaji Park Dadar, Matunga and Parel

    Open
    11.30am-4pm and 7.30-11pm, shut Mondays
    Where
    301, Miranda Chawl, N C Kelkar Marg, Dadar West, Mumbai 400028

    Walkable from Dadar station, and the special fish thali with a bombil fry is what the room is eating. Closed Mondays. Cash is safer than a card, and tables sit very close together.

    What to orderSpecial fish thali

    0 votes

  10. Naik Kitchen (the Anantashram menu)

    Kandewadi, Girgaon, by Khotachiwadi Girgaon, Bhuleshwar and Mohammed Ali Road

    Open
    11am to 3pm and 7 to 10pm
    Where
    Damodar Building, 1/5, Nikadwari Lane, Kandewadi, Girgaon, Mumbai 400004

    Anantashram's old cooks and old menu, in two rooms at the mouth of Khotachiwadi. The fish kadi rice thali is the point, catch depending. The building faces redevelopment, so ring before travelling.

    What to orderFish kadi rice thali

    0 votes

  11. Malvani Aswad (Vile Parle East)

    Shahaji Raje Road, Vile Parle East Andheri, Juhu and Vile Parle

    Open
    11am to 3.30pm, 7 to 11.30pm, shut Mondays
    Where
    Shahaji Raje Road, opposite Bhuta High School, Vile Parle East, Mumbai 400057

    Order the surmai fry thali and pay the extra for vade, which change the meal. Shut Mondays. Dishes sell out fast in a room this small, so lunch before one is wiser than after.

    What to orderSurmai fry thali with vade

    0 votes

  12. Nav Gomantak (Panch Pakhadi

    Panch Pakhadi, Thane West Thane

    Open
    11.30am to 11.30pm daily
    Where
    1, Trishul Apartments, beside Celebration Hall, Eastern Express Highway Service Road, Panch Pakhadi, Thane West 400602

    Thane's Konkani standby on the Eastern Express Highway, where the surmai curry thali with tandalachi bhakri is the order. Weekend waits are real, so arrive before the lunch rush or after nine.

    What to orderSurmai curry thali with tandalachi bhakri

    0 votes

  13. Malvani Kalwan (Versova sea face)

    Versova, Andheri West Andheri, Juhu and Vile Parle

    Open
    Noon to 3.30pm, 7pm to midnight
    Where
    77-A, Om Cottage, JP Road, Versova, near Seven Bungalows garden, Andheri West, Mumbai 400061

    On the Versova sea face, cheap and plain, with the fish thali the sensible order over anything a la carte. Opens at noon; skip the tandoori section and stick to fries and curries.

    What to orderSeafood thali, surmai or pomfret

    0 votes

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