Arabia Restaurant

Mumbai Central is a hectic place to be, and Bellasis Road is no different. We are at Shop Number 272, right across from the Balwas International Hotel. If you stand outside, the noise of the traffic and the honking never really stops. Inside, we try to keep things a bit more orderly. We’ve got our regular spots for the plates and the glasses, and everyone on the staff knows their role. It gets very hot in Mumbai, so we are always checking the fans to make sure they are spinning fast enough. We aren't a big chain or anything. It’s just a local spot where people come when they are in a hurry or waiting for a train. We spend a lot of time mopping the floors because the dust from the street comes in every time the door opens. The tables are close together because space is hard to find in this city. We don't have a mission statement or any of that. We just start the day early, get the ingredients ready, and serve whoever walks in. Sometimes we run out of things by the end of the shift, and that’s just how it goes. It’s a lot of standing on our feet and moving quickly. We’ve been here long enough that the sounds of Mumbai Central just feel like background noise to us now. It is just another day of work.