Desserts, Mithai & Ice Cream in Mumbai

Mumbai has a serious sweet tooth, and it satisfies it at every price point and hour — a century-old ice-cream parlour by Marine Drive, a hand-churned kulfi cart near Mohammed Ali Road, a modern mithai atelier reinventing the laddoo, and old sweet shops weighing out barfi by the kilo. This guide is a tour of the city’s best desserts, mithai and ice cream, and where to find them.

Ice cream, kulfi and falooda

K. Rustom & Co. (Churchgate / Marine Drive)

An institution since 1953, famous for its ice-cream sandwiches — a thick slab of ice cream (kesar-pista, walnut crunch and dozens more) pressed between thin wafers and handed to you in paper. Simple, nostalgic and beloved. Roughly ₹80–200 an item.

Taj Ice Cream (Bohri Mohalla)

Near Mohammed Ali Road, going since 1887, this is the place for hand-churned matka kulfi — dense, slow-set kulfi served in little clay pots. In season, the fresh Alphonso mango version, made with real fruit, is extraordinary. Around ₹80–200 an item.

Bachelorr’s (Chowpatty Sea Face)

A late-night legend on the Chowpatty stretch of the seafront, open into the small hours, doing juices, faloodas and ice creams. Perfect after a Marine Drive evening walk. Around ₹100–300 a head.

Modern and classic mithai

Bombay Sweet Shop (Byculla)

The city’s most talked-about modern mithai maker, reinventing Indian sweets with a designer’s eye — ghevar tarts, Ferrero-style laddoos, chikki bars and more. Around ₹200–500 a head, and beautifully packaged for gifting.

The old sweet shops

• Tewari Bros Mithaiwala at Opera House, going since around 1947, for classic laddoo, peda, barfi and kaju katli.
• Brijwasi, in Worli and elsewhere since 1946, for pure-ghee mawa sweets (and good samosas on the side).
• Mithai at these shops is sold by weight, roughly ₹500–900 a kilo depending on the sweet.

Badshah (Crawford Market)

Going since 1905 and famous across the city for its falooda and cold drinks — the ideal refreshment after braving the Crawford Market bazaars.

What to try, and when

• In summer (roughly March to June), chase the seasonal Alphonso mango sweets and kulfis — Mumbai goes mango-mad, and it is the best time for fruit-based desserts.
• For a classic combo, a K. Rustom ice-cream sandwich after a Marine Drive walk is peak Mumbai.
• For heritage flavour, matka kulfi at Taj Ice Cream pairs perfectly with an evening around Mohammed Ali Road.
• For gifting, Bombay Sweet Shop’s beautifully boxed mithai is the modern choice; the old shops are better for buying by weight for a family.
• Falooda — a rose-scented, layered drink-dessert of vermicelli, basil seeds, jelly and ice cream — is the great Mumbai cooler; Badshah’s is the classic.

Tips

• Kulfi and ice cream are cash-and-carry at the parlours and carts; expect small queues at the famous spots.
• Mithai keeps better than you think, but milk-based sweets (mawa, barfi) are best eaten within a day or two, especially in the heat.
• Pace it around a meal. Many of these sit near food districts — Taj Ice Cream by Mohammed Ali Road’s kebabs, Badshah in Crawford Market, K. Rustom near Marine Drive — so build dessert into a wider outing.

The bottom line

Mumbai’s sweets run from the gloriously old-fashioned to the cutting-edge: an ice-cream sandwich at K. Rustom, a matka kulfi at Taj Ice Cream, a midnight falooda at Bachelorr’s, designer mithai from Bombay Sweet Shop, and barfi by the kilo from the century-old shops. Time it for mango season if you can, build dessert into your day, and let the city’s sweet tooth become yours.