There are a few polarizing food topics in Mumbai – biryani is one. It’s like bagels or a slice in new york – there are many good ones, probably only a few objectively great. But good luck trying to get locals to agree on which 
. In the end, everyone has a specific flavor profile embedded in their mind from something they grew up eating and love, and cannot be swayed from.
The biryani I crave (and the only one that fully satisfies me, though I eat several each trip – in the name of science 
) is Delhi Darbar Colaba.
Their catering arm at Grant Road (which preceded the Colaba restaurant by a couple of decades) was rebranded Jafferbhai’s after one brother when they split the business. We used to cater parties from Grant Road (Colaba was just retail before the split), but only ever ate-in at Colaba.
Jafferbhai’s biryani is not comparable to Colaba for me. But they have done a great PR job over the years, because anytime you look up DD, it is usually only stories about Jafferbhai’s that come up.
There are other good/great biryanis, from specialists, usually Muslim wedding caterers, who do a minimum 1kg handa / pot – that means 1kg meat + 1kg raw rice + 1-2 kg potato, which serves 7-10. Not BBK type branded stuff, actual caterers.
Here’s a pic of DD mutton biryani from WFD. I’m surprised I’ve never posted a pic to the Mumbai Eats thread.
