My journey to foodgasm - Missal Pav @ Aaswad hotel

Nowadays I hardly go out to eat in a restaurant for one of my hobby on weekend is to cook myself which is a great stress buster, I take pride in cooking and enjoy eating as well ;-), But I also love venturing out in search of some simple, quiet restaurants or street foods which people swear by in different areas of Mumbai and trust me there is no dearth of such places in and around my city of Mumbai. Been born and bought up in Mumbai, I have grown up eating simple Maharashtrian dishes like our very own Vada pav, or Pav bhaji or Missal pav and list can go on and on

These cuisines which were once poor man's staple food are now not only available in other cities across India but can even be found on menu of some of the best restaurants across the globe.

One of the famous Maharashtrian dish is Missal Pav, Missal being a spicy curry usually made of sprouted moth beans, topped with farsan and sprinkled with onions, coriander and lemon juice, served with bread rolls commonly called Pav. This dish is again served in different versions depending on which part of Maharashtra it comes from typically Puneri missal, Kolhapuri missal, Khandeshi missal, Nagpuri Missal and so on. The preparations and taste varies with different versions.

City of Mumbai specially has many restaurants tucked in different corners of the city which are famous for its Maharashtrian cuisines / preparations especially the one we are talking about - Missal Pav. These hotels / restaurants have served the city of Mumbai for generations and are still serving them with same taste and pride.

One of the them is Aswaad hotel, located in quintessential Maharashtrian dominated area of Dadar just opposite Sena Bhavan which is a famous landmark.This place is one of those "mom suggested" restaurants serving authentic Maharashtrian cuisines. This place is typical eat and go types small eatery famous in the neighbourhood. But recently earned a big name and has been quite a buzz in the city for it won with pride an award for "THE WORLDS BEST VEGETARIAN DISH"for its Missal Pav in London by FOODIE HUB GLOBAL AWARD.

Other day after reading the news, I and Arpi decided to pay a visit and taste for our self the famous Missal pav for which this restaurant has now become world famous. We reached around 7.30 pm and being a Sunday evening there was quite a crowd standing outside, eagerly waiting for their turn.

It was my first visit to the place in all these years so was for Arpi but then she is not a local to the city like I am. I was surprised when I was informed that wait time is typically one hour !!!! Yes it takes one hour wait to just get a seat inside. It surely would depend on other factors like number of people in your group and at what time of the day / evening you are visiting. Typically it is open from 10 am to 11 pm on all days.

Our wait time far exceeded more than one hour but the wait was worth all the pain for once we were inside. It quite cosy with simple sitting arrangements, clean and hygienic. The place is abuzz with waiters taking orders, serving food and cleaners apart from the patrons and first timers like us.

We had decided and were clear in our mind that our first order would be Missal pav, for that was one dish we had come to taste all the way. I was quite delighted to find that Missal was quite upto the mark for which it was rated one of the best vegetarian dish in the world. Arpi also acknowledged in unison that it was the best.

Moving on to the next item, We ordered Thalipeeth which again is a special Maharashtrian dish. It is a multi grain pancake in which onions, coriander and other vegetables are added while preparing the dough. It is served with non salted butter / ghee or "toop" accompanied by curd chutney. The taste of thalipeeth was again awesome and a perfect ten on the ratings.

With our tummy's filled upto the brim as we already had couple of Missal's followed by Thalipeeth. But yet we didn't want to finish before one last item on the menu for which this place is quite famous for. The typical summer drink made out of raw mangoes called "Kairi Panna or kairi panni". It was by far the best I have ever tasted in my life. A sweet raw mango drink infused with saffron. I couldn't satisfy myself with one and ordered a couple.

There are many more dishes for which this place is quite famous like Chura Sev puri, Kothimbir wadi, Sabudana wada, Ras puri and list just goes on. We really didn't have any more space left in our stomach for the day and called for the bill after our eating spree.

It was worth all the travel from our place to Dadar and then a wait for more than one hour. But it was worth all the pain and it was delightful experience to say the least. This place is vegetarian paradise for traditional Maharashtrian food and definitely on my wish list for yet another visit for yet another gastronomic experience.

For Missal lovers like me I am in process of compiling a list of very famous places which serves best Missal Pav in city of Mumbai, Pune and Nashik and will update here soon. Hope you enjoy and have the same best experience like we did. Happy reading.