Madness in Mumbai by Devanshi Mody

A fleet of twenty white Mercedes Benzes flanked by as many security vehicles pull into the Oberoi. The Prince of Bahrain emerges. He’s spending a couple of nights at the Oberoi where the editor of Italian Vogue is staying. And where Bill Gates, Laxmi Mittal, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Clinton, Vladmir Putin, Michael Jackson, Richard Gere, Ricky Martin, the Emir of Kuwait, Sultan of Oman have enjoyed the exclusivity of the famed Kohinoor Suite.

The Oberoi’s slick chic, crisp service, penchant for precision and perfection reflect Mumbai’s modernity, style and dynamism, explaining why the rich, famous and powerful are mad about Mumbai and why jet setters whiz in for wild weekends in the metropolis of masala movies. Indeed, at the Oberoi, you’ll inevitably spot someone you met at a diamond party in Cannes, lunched with on a Monte-Carlo yacht, had your nails done with in St Tropez...

Yes, Mumbai has become the place where high-powered international businessmen discuss important deals over Concan curry at Tiffin whilst socialites and models pick on the restaurant’s superb sushi and even better salads.

The world is looking at Mumbai. So is Michelin. Will Vetro see stars? You certainly will see stars, amongst other things after the massively enjoyable complimentary wine tasting in the classy, glassy Enoteca with its staggering collection of the finest Italian wines.

Sober up sampling an equally impressive collection of olive oils in time to savour Chef Latanzzi’s fabulous innovations. If you want to stay for tiramisu, don’t ask for chilli flakes and Tabasco with your pasta. The mortified chef won’t entertain such sacrilege. This super sophisticated Venetian glass-panelled enclave is for super sophisticated palates.

Super unique is Opium Den’s infused vodka/martini tasting menu. Srikanth Perry’s uniquely infused vodkas with spices, cucumber, rose... are complemented, à la wine tasting dinner, by India Jones’s Pan Asian cuisine, the best this side of Beijing, Bangkok and Bali. Over a bewildering variety of dim sums that melt in your mouth, MUST-TRY Pak Thai and Tom Yam, learn of the mythical India Jones’s wondrous voyages and the restaurant’s unique concept.

Mumbai teams with the unique. Like in the dizzy heights of Hilton Towers’ swanky new executive suites with unrivalled views of Mumbai, you can flush the toilet (which, incidentally, warms your bottom...) with a remote control, lying on a bed that looks like it’s levitating above the Arabian Sea. Very James Bond.

Speaking of James Bond, the Oberoi launched the Brioni Boutique, James Bond’s couturier, over a sexy cocktail graced by Bollywood Bond boy Salman Khan and his desi Bond girl Katrina Kaif. Godfather Wannabe Sanjay Dutt tagged along too.

But Bollywood heartthrob Saif Ali Khan and his Italian babe were sipping Pan Masala Bellinis and supping on designer kebabs at Kebab Corner, Mumbai’s favourite Indian restaurant, where the Indian premier nips to nibble, as do Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar.

When not relishing Corleone’s Sicilian delicacies, tomato tapenade, ravishing ravioli, and Mumbai’s best pizzas with adventurous toppings like spinach and ricotta, created by their friend, celebrity Chef Dario Denezzio, who holds an Italian equivalent of a Michelin Star and has cooked for Clinton, Pavarotti, Sinatra... Dario’s sous chef has worked at Gordon Ramsay’s Box Wood Café.

Dario delights with his inspired food and art, pointing to the creatively crafted walls and paintings on them, all his work. Listen when he says, “Forget New York. Mumbai is the place to be.” Forget Monte-Carlo too at the super-swanky, sublimely white Dome Bar, listed amongst the world’s best terrace top venues. Ask Ralph Fiennes.

If Mumbai’s gastro scene is hot, the social scene is cooking up trouble. One might be at a glam polo match preceded by fashion show with models conveyed on vintage Rolls Royces at the Maha Laxmi Race Course, amongst the world’s most expensive real estate, hobnobbing with the Ambanis, the world’s richest people. But you can’t wait to see Bollywood star Karishma Kapoor give away prizes.

One must dash for cocktails with Swiss Princess Francoise Sturdza at the enchanting poolside of the legendary Taj Palace. The dreamlike setting explains the world’s century-long love affair with the Taj Palace, which continues to stage Mumbai’s glitziest affairs, like the princess’s charity gala for which international royals, the convivial Maharaja of Udaipur etc have flown in. Liz Hurley was to come too. But absconded on honeymoon. We contended with a Piaget watch whose dial was modelled on Liz’s fingerprints, auctioned in the Palace’s exquisitely adorned Golden Ballroom over a sumptuous 6-course supper.

Alas, I hadn’t time to savour the supper or find out who clinched best-selling author Greg Roberts’ personally designed bike which will star with Johnny Depp in the Brad Pitt produced Shantaram, to be shot in Mumbai.

Because I’d promised Rohit Bal, who did the Liz-Arun wedding outfits, that I’d attend his fashion show at the Taj Land’s End Hotel in Bollywood territory Bandra.

As I ran out of the Taj Palace, temptation was to grab a Masala Chai kulfi at Masala Kraft; but I knew I’d stay on for everything at Mumbai’s premier fine dining Indian restaurant... So I traversed town to make it in time for a fab fashion show, followed by antics by Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra. Revellers dined and danced until 1.00 am.

And then insisted on partying on at Shiro, the lush and lofty lounge replete with 16-ft figurers, oriental statues, antique doors, bamboo, moats, eclectic lights et al. Bye Bye Budha Bar. Mumbai’s latest hot spot is the place to be- if you can get in. Unless you’re VIP, might have to wait hours to enter this breathtaking “Asian Castle of Sensuous Indulgence.” Worth coming back for Pan Asian cuisine and a chat with the fascinating owner.

Definitely also worth supping at the romantically white new restaurant Pure with its Michelin Star style service, exquisite presentation and delicate, inspired, non-fat but miraculously delectable organic cuisine full of pistachios, almonds and other exotica. The soups and goat’s cheese starter are to die for. But live to devour the chocolate fiesta.

Travel & Leisure magazine declared Indigo as one of the reasons to visit Mumbai. The Clintons, Brangelina, the Prince of Denmark, Arabian Royals did. So one simply MUST eat at Mumbai’s and finest restaurant. Chef Rahul Arkekar’s extraordinary creations are seemingly endless. Everything tempts. Pumpkin and saffron soup, lentil ravioli in reduced wine sauce, bitter radish risotto. 6 courses, complimented by an award winning wine list, are a minimum under the circumstances.

No trip to Mumbai is complete without supper at the enduringly popular Wasabi, the country’s best Japanese restaurant run by Iron Chef Morimoto of New York’s Nobu fame. Morimoto has Mumbai mesmerised with signature specialities like rock corn tempura and silken tofu.

Thought you wouldn’t go to a Japanese restaurant for desert? Think again. Morimoto’s wasabi crème brûlée, green tea and yuzu ice cream and tofu cheesecake with apricot coulis are a revelation. And after a bottle from the award-winning wine list, you’ll find yourself at a table with an Afghan model, Chinese chef and Australian blond trying to make it big in Bollywood.