Flint: Mumbai Travel Guide

Why Flint stands out

You smell Flint before you see the menu. Somewhere behind the pass, char meets smoke, and the open kitchen makes no attempt to hide it.

This is chef Rahul Akerkar’s return to the stove alongside Jaydeep Mukherjee, and the concept is built entirely around fire. Grills, embers, smokers — the cooking method isn’t a garnish here, it’s the whole point.

The setting matters too. Flint sits inside the NCPA complex, Mumbai’s premier performing arts venue on Nariman Point, so you’re eating a few steps from concert halls and theatres rather than in a standalone restaurant row.

What to order

The dish everyone mentions first is the Flint Eggs Benny, poached eggs stacked on spicy crab cakes instead of the usual English muffin. It’s a smart rework of a brunch classic, leaning into Mumbai’s love of heat and seafood at once.

On the drinks side, look for the Picante — a cocktail built around ambada leaves, a sour, slightly funky local green rarely seen behind a bar. That single ingredient tells you this isn’t a copy-paste café menu.

Beyond those signature picks, expect the kitchen to keep leaning on smoke and fire across both food and drink, so ask your server what’s fresh off the grill that day.

Getting there

Flint’s location inside NCPA puts it firmly in South Mumbai, near Nariman Point and Marine Drive. It’s an easy add-on before or after a show at the Tata Theatre or Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, both part of the same complex.

If you’re coming from the suburbs, the nearest long-distance rail hub is Mumbai Central, with Churchgate station considerably closer and a short cab or auto ride from NCPA’s gates. Traffic along Marine Drive can be slow in the evenings, so build in extra time.

When to go

Because Flint is an all-day café concept, it’s designed to work for breakfast, a midday coffee break, and dinner service alike — not just one meal slot.

That said, exact opening hours haven’t been confirmed here, and a newly opened, trending spot like this can shift its schedule in the first months. Check Flint’s current hours and whether it requires reservations before you plan your visit, particularly if you’re timing it around an NCPA performance.

Evenings around show times are a reasonable guess for the busiest stretch, given the shared foot traffic with the theatres next door.

How to visit like a local

Treat Flint as part of a bigger NCPA evening rather than a standalone destination. Locals heading to a concert or play often build in time for a pre-show meal or a post-show drink here, so plan around the performance schedule, not just the restaurant’s.

• Book ahead if you can — new fire-concept openings in Mumbai tend to draw crowds quickly once word spreads.
• Order the Picante if you’ve never tried ambada leaves; it’s a distinctly local ingredient worth asking your bartender about.
• Dress for a night out, not beachwear — NCPA’s crowd skews theatre-going.
• Carry a card or UPI-linked payment app, standard practice at Mumbai’s newer cafés.

The mistake first-time visitors make is treating Flint like a quick pit stop. Given the open-fire kitchen and cocktail program, it rewards a slower, unhurried sit-down — arrive with enough time before your show, rather than rushing in five minutes before curtain.

Since it’s a recent opening, ask staff directly about walk-in wait times versus reservations; policies at trending Mumbai restaurants often firm up gradually in their first year.