Inspiration can come from anywhere. With the case of the newest outlet of Bombay Sweet Shop, which opened in Oshiwara recently, they didn’t need to look too far. As a hat-tip to the neighbourhood’s long-lived love affair with all things cinema, the interiors are a dead giveaway. The quirk of a cine-themed café is hard to miss, replete with elements of classic movie halls that are particularly reminiscent of lobbies of the single-screen era. The menu too draws inspiration from across Mumbai, be it Bandra pani puri, Bombay Chinese bhel or the Pao bhaji porter house rolls.

Pao bhaji porter house rolls

All three have the city’s aromas packed in it, as Girish Nayak, chief mithaiwala, Bombay Sweet Shop, elaborates.  “We set out to reimagine pani puri — not reinvent it, just give it a fresh personality. The idea was to take this beloved street-side favourite and serve it in a cleaner, more thoughtful way, without losing any of the fun, and it had to be very Bandra. During a kitchen experiment, there was a joke where someone threw in avocado, “because it’s Bandra,” obviously. We paired it with our tangy aam panna paani, and it just worked.”