Shree Thaker Bhojanalay

Shree Thaker Bhojanalay has been serving Gujarati vegetarian food in Kalbadevi since 1945, and it is one of the best places in Mumbai to experience a traditional thali. Kalbadevi is part of the dense old trading district north of the Fort, and the restaurant is up a staircase in a building on Dadiseth Agiyari Lane. There is no menu to read: you sit down and the food keeps coming.

The thali is unlimited. Waiters move between the tables carrying caddies of four bowls filled with vegetable dishes, chutneys and pickles, along with platters of farsan, the savoury snacks that are a feature of Gujarati meals, plus rotis and rice. They refill your steel plate and bowls as soon as they empty, and it is normal to be encouraged to take third helpings. The dishes change every day, so a second visit will be different from the first. At weekends the thali includes sweets such as gulab jamun, shrikhand and fruit custard.

Part of the pleasure is the atmosphere. The service is fast, warm and well drilled, and the dining room has an energy that suits a first taste of Mumbai's Gujarati food culture. It is ideal for vegetarians, families and anyone curious about regional Indian cooking, and the fixed format makes it an easy choice when you do not know what to order. Pace yourself: say no clearly, with a hand over the plate, when you have had enough.

Seating is first-come, first-served and there are no reservations, so expect to queue at peak times; at busy moments the line can stretch down the stairs and onto the street. Arriving at the start of a lunch or dinner service is the best way to avoid a long wait. Allow about an hour once you are seated. The thali is all-inclusive, which makes it good value for the amount and variety of food.

Kalbadevi is a busy commercial district with narrow streets, so take a taxi and ask for Dadiseth Agiyari Lane, then walk the last stretch if traffic is heavy. A meal here combines well with a morning at Crawford Market or the Chor Bazaar antique market, both a short taxi ride away, or with a walk through the surrounding bazaar streets.