Huzur Opens in Bandra with Overnight Nihari, a Courtyard Mehfil and Recipes Handed Down Through Generations

Some food carries more than flavour; it carries the memory of a home and of the hands that made it. That idea sits at the centre of Huzur, a new fine-casual restaurant in Bandra founded by Zareen Baig and Atiq Kapadia, with Zareen as Co-Founder and Culinary & Creative Director. Rooted in her connection to Bombay and its food heritage, the restaurant brings together family recipes, food memories and culinary influences gathered from Zareen’s experiences across places.

Her relationship with food began at home, watching her mother cook for the family and learning recipes passed down through generations rather than written in cookbooks. Food was an expression of care and respect, and many of the dishes carried traces of the places, families and traditions they had travelled through. That personal history became the starting point for Huzur.

A menu drawn from across the subcontinent

Rather than representing a single regional cuisine, Huzur draws on the wider subcontinent, with influences spanning Lahori, Shinwari and Afghan traditions alongside Old Bombay food memories and family recipes. The menu is predominantly meat-forward, built around robust, deeply flavoured dishes. Nihari, Haleem, Kadhai, Chooza Tikka, Lahori Nashta and Huzur’s Pulao with whole rib are among its defining dishes, alongside vegetarian offerings and Huzur’s Kulfi Soft Serve.

Process matters as much as the recipes. While developing Huzur, Zareen revisited the Mumbai streets she had explored with her mother as a child, and the menu was refined extensively in Dubai before coming to Mumbai, where the team was trained. Family spice blends, specific cuts of meat, long marinades and slow cooking shape the food. Haleem, Paya and Nihari are cooked overnight, the Kadhai is cooked and served in the same kadhai, and the Haleem is finished with a long wooden ghotni to create its characteristic texture. The aim is not to modernise traditional food for its own sake, but to keep its character while presenting it in a way that feels relevant to today’s diner.

“These recipes have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I wanted to preserve not just their flavours, but the feeling and care that came with them. Huzur is my way of giving these recipes a new home, where they can be experienced and shared by a new generation,” says Zareen.

A courtyard rare in Bandra

Spread across approximately 1,000 sq. ft. with an intimate 45-seat format, Huzur is designed to feel warm and layered, closer to an invitation into someone’s home than a conventional restaurant. Its most distinctive element is an outdoor courtyard with a veranda-like character that is rare in Bandra, inspired by Zareen’s childhood memories of the women in her family gathering to cook together in the open air of family courtyards.

A fountain anchors the courtyard, while Urdu language and storytelling run through the space. The phrase “Muntazir-e-Mehfil”, meaning awaiting the gathering, sits on the wall as a quiet statement of what Huzur is about: people coming together around food. Across the walls, pots and even the tissue paper, words such as Riwayat (Tradition), Nazakat (Refinement), Suroor (Joy), Nawaazish (Graciousness), Raabta (Connection) and Ibtida (Beginning) reinforce the ideas behind the restaurant. The design was developed by a Dubai-based team working closely with, and under the creative guidance of, Zareen.

Alongside the restaurant, a tea counter and takeaway window offers a taste of Huzur on the go for those without time to stay.

For Zareen, the name is about how you make someone feel. Growing up, she saw respect, care and importance in the way her father was treated at home, and that feeling became central to Huzur’s hospitality: making every guest feel considered, cared for and important. It connects to the idea of mehfil, a gathering shaped by food, conversation and shared moments, from the courtyard and tea counter to the table.

Address: Corner of 32nd & 36th Road, off Linking Road, near National College, Bandra, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050
Price for two: Approximately ₹2,000
Timings: 12pm–12am
Contact: 9930888890
Instagram: @huzur.in

Images: courtesy of Huzur