Our Journey: Awards and Press Coverage
From a tiny home kitchen in Andheri to being featured in publications like Condé Nast Traveller, we are incredibly humbled by the love our Naga cuisine has received.
We were deeply honored to be named the Best Restaurant by The Big Forkers in 2024. This award is a reflection of our team's hard work and the incredible support from our customers.
A screenshot from the Condé Nast Traveller feature on Naga Belly. We are so grateful for this beautiful review that captured the essence of our fermented, fiery, and foraged foods.
Our feature in The Hindu, which described our small restaurant as a place that offers a peep into the simplicity of Naga cuisine with genuine warmth. We are so thankful for their words.
A video review from Mumbai Foodie, showcasing our pork momos, crispy pork ribs, Naga thali, and unique fermented drinks. We are so grateful for their support in promoting Nagaland food in Mumbai.
Our team on stage receiving The Big Forkers 2024 award. This achievement would not have been possible without our dedicated team and loyal customers.
A close-up of our founders accepting the award. We are truly grateful to everyone who has been a part of our journey and believed in our dream.
The Naga Belly team posing with our award. This moment represents a huge milestone for us, from a small home kitchen to being recognized as one of the best.
About this collection
When we first started, we were genuinely nervous about sharing our food because of how pungent and distinct ingredients like Axone can be. We worried people might find it too intense. Seeing outlets like The Hindu and Condé Nast Traveller celebrate these exact flavours—the fermented, fiery, and foraged notes—has been the ultimate validation that we didn't need to change anything to fit in.
Our journey has been wild. In 2020, during the lockdown, we left our jobs in the city to bring the flavours of Nagaland to Mumbai. We started with just a home kitchen in Andheri, full of doubt about whether Mumbaikars would even take to our traditional cooking. Today, being named 'Best Restaurant' by The Big Forkers 2024, or reading about our fiery Raja Mircha chutney and juicy pork strips in major publications feels surreal.
These features aren't just accolades; they represent the acceptance of our culture. When critics describe our Axone chicken wings or our 'ASMR-worthy' crispy pork ribs, they aren't just reviewing a dish—they are acknowledging the effort we put into sourcing ingredients directly from farmers' markets in Nagaland. Whether it is the fermented soybean or the bamboo shoot, every ingredient is a piece of our home. We have grown from a small cloud kitchen to a space where we share our stories, and we are grateful for every review that has helped bridge the gap between Dimapur and Mumbai for our guests.
Naga Belly
We are Aren and Juliet, childhood buddies from Dimapur. We started Naga Belly in our own kitchen during the pandemic, and honestly, we are still just the same two friends trying to keep the fires burning and the pots bubbling, just like we grew up with.
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