Thirty-Seven Floors Above the Arabian Sea
There are restaurants with views, and then there is By The Mekong. The distinction is important. Most restaurants that trade on their position sacrifice either the cooking or the service — one or both become secondary to the setting, and guests who return for the food leave disappointed. By The Mekong, at the penthouse level of the St. Regis Mumbai, has managed the rarer achievement: the view is genuinely extraordinary and the food is genuinely good enough to stand alongside it.
Level 37 places you above almost everything that matters visually about Mumbai's skyline. The Arabian Sea extends to the west in full, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link curves north against a backdrop of the BKC towers, and on clear evenings the light changes from gold to amber to violet in a sequence that no design team could have engineered. The dining room is designed to make the most of this: floor-to-ceiling glass, tables angled toward the view, and a level of ambient lighting that flatters both the room and the people in it without obscuring what is happening outside. The kitchen and the windows feel like equal partners in the experience, which is precisely the correct balance.
The menu covers the culinary range of the Mekong River corridor — Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese, with the intelligence to acknowledge that these are distinct traditions rather than interchangeable Asian flavours. The dim sum section features handmade preparations made fresh to order: har gow with skins thin enough to show the prawn filling, siu mai packed with pork and crab and finished with a precision that suggests someone in the kitchen takes competitive pride in the craft. The Thai preparations are fragrant and balanced — green curry with a coconut base that does not overwhelm the protein, a larb that hits every required note of herb, lime, and toasted rice powder. The Vietnamese section, the most underrepresented of the three, produces the kitchen's most elegant work: a pho broth that takes twelve hours to build, clear and deep, served with the garnishes on the side to maintain the integrity of both components.
In July 2024, the restaurant launched "Flavorscape by The Mekong" — an expanded tasting journey format that takes guests through ten to twelve courses inspired by the chef's travels across Southeast and East Asia, using the freshest seasonal ingredients available. This format is available by request and represents the kitchen's most ambitious offering.
Why It's Perfect for a Proposal
By The Mekong is the correct proposal venue in Mumbai for reasons that extend beyond the view, though the view is reason enough. The St. Regis staff handle proposal arrangements with the discretion and precision that a Four or Five Star property is obligated to provide — the champagne arrives at the right moment, the staff understand their role is to be invisible until they are needed, and the table choice can be confirmed to maximise the sea view sightline. The food is celebratory without being precious, the wine list has the depth to support the moment, and the atmosphere — warm, romantic, genuinely beautiful — means that the setting does not require a speech to explain itself. Book six to eight weeks in advance for weekend evenings. Request the corner window table.
Why It's Perfect for Impressing Clients
The St. Regis address carries institutional weight that the Four Seasons and Oberoi share but that very few other Mumbai hotels can match. By The Mekong adds to this a culinary focus — Pan-Asian fine dining — that is versatile enough to satisfy almost any palate while being specific enough to demonstrate curatorial taste. The tasting format, if the client is open to it, creates a shared experience that a regular menu cannot; if not, the dim sum selection is an excellent starting point for any table. The view makes everything feel more important than it might otherwise be, which is the business dinner's core objective achieved without effort.
Signature Dishes & The Menu
The har gow is the menu's most technically precise item — order it first, before anything else, while it is still at the exact temperature at which the skin collapses correctly. The siu mai with crab and pork follows. From the Thai section, the green curry is the safest recommendation for a table with mixed preferences; the larb is the most interesting dish for those who eat adventurously. The Vietnamese pho broth, available as part of the tasting format or on request, is the kitchen's most technically demanding achievement and worth planning around. The wine list has particular depth in white Burgundy and Alsatian wines, which interact well with the food's flavour profiles. The signature cocktail menu features botanical preparations influenced by the Mekong region — lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime — that work well as aperitifs before the dim sum arrives.
The Verdict
Mumbai's finest occasion dining destination for moments that require both quality and drama. The view is the stated reason to go; the food is the reason to go again. Book at least a week in advance for weekend evenings, request the window table configuration at time of reservation. Arrive before sunset — the light change over the Arabian Sea is not optional.