Mumbai – A year after the pelican first took up residence on the white napkins at InterContinental Marine Drive, SoBo 20 steps into its second year with a new menu and a fresh experience, bringing the next chapter of its story to the table. The Franco-American boîte, born of the collaboration between Dubai-based Atelier House Hospitality, the team behind Delhi’s celebrated Inja, and Graviss Hospitality – arrives with a new menu that keeps its foundation intact while widening the aperture.
Over the past year, SoBo 20 has worked its way to bringing something genuinely different to Mumbai’s food scene, and the response from the city has been overwhelming – earning the restaurant a place among the country’s Hottest New Restaurant Openings. As it steps into its second year with renewed energy, the kitchen marks the occasion with a curated set of new dishes that carry the story forward: more smoke rising from the wood-fired heart of the kitchen, more comfort that doesn’t apologise for its indulgence, and a variety of offerings, all without moving away from what the restaurant believes in.
SoBo 20 was always imagined as a conversation between New Orleans and Marine Drive, where French technique meets the Louisiana melting pot of Creole and Cajun flavour, then finds itself reinterpreted through the salt-tinged breeze of the Arabian Sea. There are a lot of vegetarian options, a deliberate reflection of how South Bombay eats today, and one that widens the restaurant’s reach across both long lunches and unhurried dinners.
The New Menu
Among the small plates and appetizers, the Louisiana Curry Puffs are crisp empanadas served with a chilli-cheese dip, an easy, shareable start with a little Louisiana heat. The Tomato Carpaccio is a clean, quiet plate of heirloom tomatoes with creole-spiced tamari, fresh greens and tomato salt that simply lets good tomatoes do the talking. The House Salad rounds out the lighter side of the menu with baby gem, roquette, grilled avocado and blankets of goat cheese. From the wood-fired oven, the Mushroom & Straciatella Pizzette arrives wafer-thin over a mushroom crème base, layered with mushrooms and truffle oil.
Among the mains, the Chilli Butter Farfallone is house-rolled pasta tossed in a smooth chilli butter sauce with pecorino and herbs, offered as a vegetarian plate, with a non-vegetarian version finished with lump crab meat for those who want a sweet, briny richness. The Chicken Fricassée is SoBo 20’s take on the traditional Creole home-style dish, built on a deep-brown roux with mushrooms and sticky rice. The Pork Belly ‘Couche-Couche’ reimagines an old Cajun breakfast as a hearty main, with rich pork belly over spiced cornmeal, polenta croutons and bacon bits. The Pulled Lamb Po’Boy is the restaurant’s version of the New Orleans classic, built around slow-cooked pulled lamb with creole-spiced ketchup, ginger scallion butter, iceberg and crisp onion shards; alongside it, a vegetarian Sweet Potato Po’Boy swaps the lamb for crisp sweet potato while keeping the same creole-spiced ketchup, ginger scallion butter, iceberg and pickled cucumber, so vegetarian guests get the full po’boy experience. The Lamb Grillades bring slow-cooked lamb leg over creamy popcorn grits finished with hot sauce, SoBo 20’s version of the New Orleans Sunday classic of grillades and grits.
To end the meal with, the Honey Toast is a warm, comforting finish of toasted milk bread with vanilla-bean whipped mascarpone and seasonal fruit.
The new dishes reflect how SoBo 20 has been listening since it opened, watching what guests return for, what they ask about, and what they bring friends back to share.
A year in, SoBo 20 is not standing still. It is growing into its role as one of the neighbourhood’s most distinctive dining rooms, open to the world yet rooted in its place, always evolving yet, like that pelican, maintaining its essential character. Through this new menu, the restaurant aims to re-engage its existing guests, attract new customers, and reinforce its position as a destination for a singular dining experience in Bombay.