How a single tandoor in a rented kitchen on Spice Lane became one of Bandra's most-booked tables.
Coal & Clove opened in 2014 with twelve tables, one tandoor, and a menu that fit on a single page. The idea was simple: cook the way food had been cooked in this neighbourhood for generations — over real charcoal, with spices ground the same morning — and don't cut corners to save time.
Word spread slowly, then not so slowly. By the second year we'd knocked down a wall to fit eight more tables. By the fourth, we'd built the open kitchen so guests could watch the flames while they waited — because half the point of live-fire cooking is watching it happen.
No gas shortcuts. The tandoor runs on the same charcoal from open till close, because it changes how the meat tastes.
Spice blends are ground every morning in-house — nothing pre-mixed, nothing from a packet.
You should be able to see your food being cooked. It keeps us honest, and it's more fun to watch anyway.