Chefs recommend their favourite late-night food places
Summary
Late nights are a daily affair for chefs, and when they clock out, they hunger for kebabs, Indian-Chinese and tall glasses of ‘doodhcola’Late-night shifts are part of the fabric of a chef’s life. Dinner service ends by 11.30pm, and the kitchen teams wrap up after midnight. Then, they take a breather, and hunger creeps in—some make a quick meal, others head home, and a few order in or go out for a bite. In that sense, chefs know the most popular, pocket-friendly and under-the-radar late-night food haunts in their cities.
Chef Vicky Ratnani will be opening a global restaurant, Omny, in Delhi later this month. One of his favourite midnight foods is the kurkure (crunchy) chicken shawarma at Bhai Ji Shawarma, a 24/7 dhaba in Gurugram. The “Kurkure" section features shawarmas stuffed with crispy strips of paneer and chaap (soya). Some nights he visits Al-Jawahar at Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. It’s an old, family-style restaurant specialising in Mughlai food. “They are famous for khameeri rotis which can be paired with any of their salans. My favourites are the mutton korma and the spicy chicken achaar biryani," he says.
In Delhi and Mumbai, areas near railway and Metro stations double as late-night food hot spots, especially since there are crowds of people through the day and night. Hawkers and eateries selling everything from dosas, parathas and biryanis to sandwiches and piping hot chai are the most popular.
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Ratnani recalls the Moolchand Parathanth Wala stall near Moolchand Metro Station in Delhi. The most famous dish there is the aloo-pyaaz (potato and onion) paratha, served with mint chutney and fried green chillies. It must be washed down with a glass of lassi, he says.
Yajush Malik, chef-partner at the restaurant Gallops in Mumbai, visits a biryani cart near Bombay Central Station regularly. “The cart is parked on the east side of the station, between the entrance and the traffic junction. It has two large deghs (vessels) of biryani, and they are finished in no time. The flavours and textures are somewhat similar to Kolkata-style biryani, with less masala. There’s an option for mutton or chicken, and each serving comes with potato and eggs mixed into the rice," he says.
It’s his favourite late-night biryani spot in the city, but he only has it once in a while. Malik’s go-to post-work midnight meal in Mumbai is Chinese food from an old-school multi-cuisine restaurant, Rajasthan in Santacruz West. He orders either egg fried rice or egg noodles, topped with crispy noodles, accompanied by fiery Szechuan sauce. “I mix it all together and eat in my car. That’s one of my regular pit stops on the way home from work," he says.
He recommends the restobar Wong’s in Juhu as another midnight spot in Mumbai, which he visits with friends. “Wong’s is legendary, and we have been visiting it since we were broke college-goers. Their chicken lollipop is to die for. It continues to serve cheap and good Indian-Chinese fare that just hits the spot."
It is in these old eateries, which have survived decades and endured challenges like economic downturns and the pandemic, that the flavour remains consistent. “I think Kolkata thrives on old joints," points out chef Sachiko Seth of the restaurants Blue Poppy Thakali, Popo’s, and Boma Asian Cafe. He has a list of dhabas to satiate post-midnight food cravings in Kolkata.
“Usually, we head out to Russel Punjabi Dhaba (in Chowringhee) for aloo paratha with blobs of butter and hot chai at 2am. For doodhcola (a blend of coke and milk), chai and nimki (deep-fried savouries), there’s the century-old Balwant Singh Dhaba on Harish Mukherjee Road," he says. If he feels like venturing further for a long drive, he will go to Sher-e-Punjab in Kolaghat, which is an hour-and-a-half away from the main city. They serve adrak ke panje (ginger mutton paya kebab) at 4am, with piping hot cheese garlic naan. Closer to home, there’s Azad Hind Dhaba, where they bring plates of dal tadka and chicken bharta to your car. “After a tiring day, what else would you want?" he says.
When it comes to late-night bites, kebabs and tandoori meats are perennial favourites, whether in Kolkata, Goa or Pune. Chef Abhishek Joshi, who runs the restaurant We Idliwale and the bar We Barroom in Pune, has a list of kebab places that reflect the culinary diversity of the city. There’s the restaurant Sufi’s, with the Iranian grilled Jujeh Kebab, paired with butter and grilled tomato.
“If I’m in the mood to drink, there’s a bar called Annie’s in Koregaon, which is open after hours and mostly flooded with industry folks. They do an amazing koobideh (Iranian ground meat kebab) on bread," he says.
In Goa, chef Harish Rao of the modern south Indian premium restaurant Hosa in Siolim is a fan of the tandoori chicken at the restaurant Annapoorna Hills in Vagator: “It’s open until 3am and is a favourite among locals and industry folk." For a taste of Goa, he recommends visiting the late-night food truck Noronha’s in Anjuna for beef tongue and pork sorpotel, as well as the landmark ros omelette stall (with no name) on Anjuna Circle.
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