Indian Bites: What's on in Mumbai?

The monsoon has gone, Mumbai is cooling down, and the city has sprung into action. There seem to be a lot of events being organised, if you know where to look to find out about these activities, and we're struggling to fit it all in. I've been busy at work so we don't go out every evening but we are still managing to pack lots into our schedule.

In the last week alone, we have done the following:

1) Found a great website called "Gourmet it up" which offers tasting menus at good restaurants around the city. On Wednesday, we had a fab 7 course tasting menu at a great Japanese restaurant called Aoi for the princely sum of £10 each.

2) Gone to see the circus. Well, this was Phil only as I was at work but he said it was good fun. Apparently the performing dogs were a highlight, marching around happily on their hind legs.

3) Visited an amazing old Parsi cafe in South Bombay on the way back from renewing our visas (thankfully we're allowed to stay in the country for a while longer!) which looks like something from another age. For £1 a head, we had tea, Parsi scrambled eggs on toast, plum cake and custard, mawa cake, cucumber sandwiches and maska buns. Yummy.

4) Gone to a local food festival, which we think was for some kind of Marathi / Koli food (there was a lot of fish) but it wasn't quite clear. What was clear was that it was very local and we were the only white people. Even the menus on the stalls were not written in English which is unusual for Mumbai. Naturally, we were escorted round and the local TV station homed in on us for an interview. I was a bit nervous about eating lots of fish which had clearly been kicking around for a while but, two days on, we're both fine which is a relief.

5) Seen Abba Gold (apparently Abba's most successful tribute band) in concert - a bonefide western group from London touring India. This was in the grounds of a local gymkhana and felt very un-Indian; we could have been at an open air concert anyway in the UK (on a very hot day). The band were great (sounded great, the female blond singer didn't quite have the Abba look with an extra 20 years and couple of stone compared with the original) and the music was very loud in the middle of a built up residential area. I've been humming Abba ever since.

6) Been to Mumbai's first ever craft beer festival. They had 12 home brewed beers on tap, from Belgium white beers to porters, and a variety of food stands. The venue was great, in the grounds of an old club in South Mumbai, and the event seemed pretty well organised in advance if pricey by Mumbai standards (£15 entry including 1 litre of beer, and £20 entry including 2 litres). We enjoyed the beer and the organisers had put a lot of thought into the venue decoration though there were a few bonkers aspects. There was no leaflet or information of any kind about the different beers - the people serving had no idea - despite the fact that new breweries were supposed to be advertising their wares. The food was great in theory but the electricity to the food stands kept cutting out so getting anything cooked was a challenge. The highlight for me was the festival beer - Bomgalore - and the waffle stand which did super salted caramel waffles on a stick.

7) Been to our first ever proper yoga class. Yes, that's "we", Phil did it too! We went to a great local studio in an old bungalow in Bandra which did super fruit juices afterwards too. I am quite achey today, the class was challenging, but I enjoyed it, and I'll be going back again soon.

Other attractions which we have not managed to visit include a literary festival (this clashed with Abba and beer) and Ted talks (looked good but at £100 a ticket we went off it). Coming up, we've got several running events and a wine festival in a couple of weeks' time, where we'll be able to taste the wares of a range of local vineyards.

India is changing and Mumbai is leading this change. This wealth of culture and activities would not have been available a few years ago; we're lucky to have come to India at the time that we have.

Course 3 of the Japanese tasting menu

My post-work treat

A traditional circus with a big top

Phil was very impressed with the acrobats...

...and the wildlife.

Lunch at a Mumbai institution - The Kyani Parsi bakery

The bakery's house rules

The food festival

Proof the modak can be sourced outside the Ganpati festival season. The maker of these wanted our photograph mid-bite to advertise his shop. We obliged.