It's 2 am in Mumbai, and you're starving. Most restaurants will long since have shut their doors, leaving you with two options - an overpriced hotel coffee shop, or the delicious street food offerings of South Bombay. Institutions in their own right and beloved by those who have eaten their satisfying offerings, Bade Miya's and Ayub's are two of the best-known street food vendors in Mumbai. If you want local color and local tastes, look no further.

Bade Miya's, located on Tulloch Road behind the Taj Hotel in Colaba, is little more than a stall that cooks up delicious rolls, kebabs, and other delights on the side of the pavement. There is seating available, but it is precariously balanced on the uneven sidewalk, and its usually continuously full. Your best bet is to either stand and eat, or to sit in your rickshaw/whatever vehicle transported you and eat there, as many others do. The prices are reasonable, the food delicious, and the chutney should, in all likelihood, be avoided by tourists (or eaten at your own risk).

Ayub's is even more bare-bones than Bade's: you pull up, and a young guy dressed in a blue uniform will come and take your order from your car window (to the best of my knowledge, Ayub's only offers two items: a paneer roll, and a chicken roll, both of which can be ordered with varying degrees of spiciness). You order, sit, and wait for your food to be brought to you, which can again be consumed either sitting inside or outside, leaning against your car. If you're super-cautious, you'll want to pull out the onions that accompany your rolls, but again, if you're prepared to risk digestive problems the next morning, feel free to eat them. Once again, prices are dirt cheap, and the food is deliciously satisfying. You can find Ayub's at Shop No 5,43,Dr Vb Gandhi Marg,Near Rhythm House, Fort Area (but saying Ayub's is probably enough).

Just a further note - neither place is open during the daytime, so if you want to eat at either place, you'll have to stave off hunger until the later hours of the night. Or you could do what everyone else does, and eat a full dinner and turn up here for a midnight snack. Please be warned that eating at either place may well result in a stomach upset the next morning, but I personally think it's well worth a day's discomfort. The choice is yours.