'Axone' and 'tenga' spice up dining in Andheri

Delivery kitchens and restaurants serving cuisines from the North-East are adding to the melting pot of this Mumbai suburb

- Rituparna Roy

In Mumbai's western suburb of Andheri, a Naga restaurant has been running with packed tables on weeknights. Not far, a small eatery is popular for its modest thalis from the North-East. A few kilometers away, a cloud kitchen specializing in Manipuri food has just opened. And, an expert home chef has been familiarizing Mumbaikars with the indigenous foods of Assam.

There has never been a better time for north-eastern food in Mumbai, and that too in the heart of Andheri West. Since the pandemic, a renewed spotlight on hyperlocal cuisines across the country has seen young entrepreneurs from India's eight sister states reclaiming their distinct eating cultures through delivery kitchens and budget-friendly 10-14 seaters in the area. It helps that the suburb's booming F&B scene, backed by expanding infrastructure and popularity as a hub for the film and TV industry, draw migrants from the region, primarily seeking opportunities in the restaurant, beauty and wellness industries, and often for that one big break in showbiz.

Amid Mech, who landed in Mumbai from Baksa in Assam in 2007, wanted to become an actor, but as things would have it, he ended up working at restaurants and spas. In 2023, he started The Taste of Northeast India.

"Like most of us, I missed my home food. So I decided to open a restaurant serving dishes from my region," says Mech, who travelled across Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya for research, and runs it along with his Naga wife Thunchen Beni in Versova.