Gresham Fernandes’ Bandra Born is love letter to his neighbourhood

Born and raised in Bombay, my aunt, long settled in Bangalore, still daydreams of one day resting her legs up on a wicker seat in an airy Bandra apartment. Every time she visits, we take turns ‘trash-talking’ Bandra’s aspiring NRIs who hope to leave the city for some kind of North American suburbia or rainy European exile. From where she is standing, Bandra is the one that got away—a place she craves while those lucky enough to live here plot their escape. She can only speak of the neighbourhood with love and endearment.

The Design

Conceptualised by Bombay Duck Designs, the space is layered with Bandra’s visual signatures—walls plastered with Bollywood graffiti, spray-painted slogans, ‘missing cat’ posters. The restaurant’s mascot, a blue pav with caricature arms and legs cycles through a range of expressions and faces, taking on the characters of Bandra folk. The intersection of art, food and people comes alive in the design and décor to emphasise their influence on the neighbourhood.

The ghosts of the Bandra past, present, and future sit and chat over a glass of ganna Juice and Booze, nodding to every little detail that gives the neighbourhood its distinct personality. The menu – where dish names are printed, single spaced on loose sheets of bright coloured A4 paper – is a laugh to read. Each dish is titled tongue-in-cheek, its nomenclature littered with references and clever inside jokes.

The Food

The food, much like the names, felt familiar to the palette, almost like a homemade meal, yet never relinquishing its restaurant-worthy status. In simpler terms? Think of the best cook in your family, the one who everyone insists should ‘open a restaurant’. Bandra Born is what happens when they finally do.

As expected, some dishes even had explicit ties to heirloom recipes. The East Indian Crab Curry Dip, pronounced with coconut and garlic flavours and served with hot, soft Croissant Pav, was one such dish. According to our server, chef Gresham’s grandmother began cooking this meal around the time that crabs would wash into Bandra’s then paddy fields during the city’s monsoon showers. While telling us this, he kindly offered us some wet wipes. “Feel free to eat with your hands.” he said, knowing that the ‘home’ way is the tastiest way.

The Marrow Chilli Cheese Toast too, though arriving at the table unaccompanied by an enticing backstory, retained a kind of domesticity. Perhaps it felt that way because of how absurdly my family eats marrow—banging bones against plates hoping that gravity and willpower will do the trick. I never understood their passion until I tasted this dish—glazed with mirin and miso, served with habanero and cheese on toasted bread—one I would gladly put in that kind of effort for.

Portions skew generous, save for THE Potato Chop which could be easily excused for its delicious root vegetable filling. Even the Posh Hearsch Puff that we expected to be no more than three bites, was enormous for a SMALLS section dish. Named after the Hill Road relic, J. Hearsch & Co., this pleasant surprise was prepared with chicken and cheese, its sauce concocted from truffle oil, brown butter, and chicken wing reduction.

Staying true to its inspirations, the Posh Hearsch Puff was of quintessential ‘Bandra Bakery’ quality; flaky, fresh, and reminiscent of a ‘post PTA meeting’ chicken puff that you would relish at Hearsch and other local counterparts whose presence have become synonymous with a childhood spent in the area.

By dessert, we were busy singing along to the live band’s rendition of Top of the World by The Carpenters. Greedily digging into a warm Cheesecake with mulberry compote and listening to music from our school days on Pali Hill, was enough schmaltz to last us the entire year.

The Space

Upon taking a stroll to the second floor, where the bar sat much mellower than the lively downstairs seating, we happened upon the adjacent open roof top. By far the most perfect spot in the entire restaurant, this terrace was covered in strings of fairy lights and overseen by a voluminous mango tree in the corner with what seemed like a firm but loving hand.

The seats near the ledge are as good a spot as any to catch some breeze and watch cars go by. The street below seems to have (for now) escaped the relentless construction that has plagued nearby areas over the past few weeks, but the noise remains all the same.

Drill or no drill, there is an electricity that keeps the neighbourhood awake at night. Bandra Born is a sincere love letter from a man to his neighbourhood, to capture exactly that.

Luxebook Recommends: Marrow Chilli Cheese Toast & Cheesecake with Mulberry Compote.

Rose Minar, 87, Chapel Rd, Annexe, Reclamation, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050.