The Little Arab Street Hiding Off Colaba Causeway
Most people walk down Colaba Causeway looking for sunglasses, Kolhapuri chappals, or a good bargain on a leather bag. Fewer people know that if you step off the main stretch into one of the smaller lanes nearby, the whole atmosphere becomes different: oud and attar hanging in the air, shopkeepers switching easily into Arabic, shelves lined with perfumes, dates, hookahs. People have started calling it Colaba's own little Arab Street, even though you won't find that name on any map.
How Colaba Became a Second Home for Arab Visitors:
Every year, especially through the monsoon months from June to September, thousands of visitors from the UAE and other Gulf countries make their way to Mumbai, and Colaba is usually where they land. Some come for the rain itself as monsoon's a novelty back home and others just because Colaba's grown comfortable for them over years of visiting. Hotels here often have staff fluent in Arabic and kitchens that know Arabic cuisine well, a rhythm that's built up slowly, one monsoon season at a time.
The Lane Everyone Calls "Arab Street":
Tucked just off the Causeway is a narrow lane that's become a bit of an institution without ever being officially named one. Ask a shopkeeper nearby and they'll point you toward it without a second thought. It's packed with small perfume and attar shops standing almost shoulder to shoulder, thick with the smell of oud: strong, distinctive, definitely an acquired taste if you're new to it. Alongside the perfumeries sit shops selling Middle Eastern spices, snacks, and shisha, as much for Arab visitors looking for something familiar as for locals wandering in out of curiosity.
Bademiya: Where the Night Never Really Ends:
You can't really talk about this pocket of Colaba without mentioning Bademiya, the legendary
kebab stall that's been feeding Mumbai since 1946. It started as a modest seekh kebab counter and grew into one of the city's most iconic late-night food spots, the kind of place that keeps its grills going long after everything else has shut. Tucked behind the Taj, just off the main road, regulars know exactly where to find it; first-timers usually need a little help. Kebabs sizzling on skewers, charcoal smoke drifting down the lane, people eating standing up because it just feels more better that way. It's been part of Colaba's night-time rhythm for generations now.
Old Bombay, With a Middle Eastern Accent:
What makes this stretch interesting isn't the shopping or the food on their own, it's how naturally it's all folded into the neighbourhood's older identity. Walk through Colaba once and old Bombay starts to feel a little more global than the postcard version usually lets on.
We're Right in the Middle of It
Funny enough, Hour Space sits close enough to all this that we've had members come back from lunch smelling faintly of oud. It's an easy stretch to fall into by accident, you step out for kebabs and end up browsing perfume for twenty minutes, or the other way around.
PS//If you've been meaning to explore this side of Colaba and haven't gotten around to it, consider this your excuse. It's closer than you think.
