Indians have more than a hundred ways of cooking meat; And nearly twice as many ways of preparing a single vegetable. In fact the cuisine varies from state to state, and sometimes even from district to district - a culinary cornucopia that Indians themselves find confusing. It would probably take a lifetime to sample all the delicacies on offer, but in Mumbai, you can certainly explore the broad culinary categories. Although most five star hotels boast several types of Indian cuisine on the menu, smaller restaurants are well worth a visit and offer a more local ambience.

You can have rich north Indian fare accompanied by chappatis (the flat unleavened bread of India ), spicy southern curries with rice or steaming idlis, gujarati thalis with their limitless range of vegetarian dishes, or even delicately flavoured fresh water fish all the way from Bengal! The local coastal cuisine is also very popular for its exotic seafood. In addition Mumbai has the ubiquitous ice cream parlours, fast food joints including McDonald's, take-away Chinese and pizzas, plus an interesting sidewalk menu. The most popular roadside snacks are pao bhaji - a sort of vegetable stew eaten with hot buttered bread and bhelpuri -- crisp fried semolina and rice puffs served with an assortment of fiery chutneys. Watch out: like Mumbai itself, this one can be a little difficult to stomach!