When news broke last month about the Union Health Ministry’s directive urging government canteens to display the sugar and oil content in eatables — including vada pav — Mumbaikars stirred uneasily. Thankfully, the ministry clarified that the rule didn’t apply to local stalls and thelas, offering relief to vendors and snack lovers alike. But it also stirred up something else — a sense of nostalgia.

For this writer, the vada pav isn’t just street food; it’s a time capsule. Growing up in Mumbai Central meant sneaking Rs 2 from a parent’s wallet and splitting a vada pav with cousins — each of us complicit in our love for that crispy, spicy carb bomb. The treat was followed by games of badminton, lock-and-key, or skating through monsoon puddles — a memory every Mumbaikar knows in their own way. So we asked those who’ve made it their life’s work to refine the palate — Mumbai’s chefs — about their go-to vada pav spots. Here’s what they had to say.

Juhu
Manish Khanna, Co-founder of Brownie Point

Khanna’s love affair with vada pav began in childhood, thanks to a humble thela on Bandra’s 15th Road, across from where Starbucks now stands. “It was served with a raw papaya slaw — that’s what first hooked me to it,” he recalls.