2022
Thane, more than Mumbai, maintains stronger bonds with it's Maharastrian culture as it had a large Marathi speaking population till recently. Among Maharastrian cuisine, Thane is famous for its misal pav and found in the traditional areas of the city.
Misal is a potato mash of any one type of lentils stewed in a spice mixture that each restaurant and household would like to be unique. Misal masalas make each restaurant's and kitchen's offering different. It is garnished with farsan (both broad and thin sev), onion and lemon juice when served. After you eat misal with pav, which tempers the spicy misal, you typically feel the pungency as an after taste.
Thane hosts an annual Misal festival when the dish is celebrated by variants from across Maharashtra. I had been to one some years ago to partake in Misal from across the state of Maharashtra. You won't find too many food festivals dedicated to a single dish but Misal is such a favourite in Maharashtra that an event dedicated to it should not surprise you.
For a taste of the famed dish at Thane one can head to Suruchi Misal House and Mamledar Misal both in close vicinity of each other with the former on Gokhale Road. The original Mamledar Misal of course is at Jambli Naka but is now a take-away only restaurant. Mamledar (their MG Road outlet is within walking distance of Suruchi) and Suruchi keep the flag flying high for Maharastrian Misal.
I have eaten at two of Mamledar's outlets, their franchisee on Gokhale Road and at Thane East just off the Railway Station (the skywalk from the station literally descends in front of their outlet). I had first eaten Mamledar's Misal at the Thane Misal Festival in early 2018. Thereafter I had seen their Thane East outlet after losing my way and returning home via the Kalwa Bridge area. Mamledar Misal got their name by being in vicinity of Thane's Mamledar office. In their logo there is a Chilli in the M indicating what is in store for you. Mamledar sells buttermilk, Solkadhi and Kokum Juice to go with their food. They do serve some other snacks like vada but people go there mainly for Misal. At Thane East, they also serve Kamath Ice cream - I tried the mango flavour in season and found it quite good (by itself and to douse the fiery flavours of their Misal after you eat it). Mamledar serves both light, medium and spicy Misal of which I have dared to taste only the light one. The only challenge eating at Mamledar is the limited seating and lack of parking space for cars. If you are a purist looking for the original Mamledar's store near Jambli Naka is for you. It is a small shop below Amantran restaurant where you order and get packed Misal to be eaten at home. They ask you whether you would prefer light, medium or spicy and you are told that even medium version is spicy. We found the light version very mildly spicy and enjoyable. One also has the option of customising the Misal when one buys it at the company's own store as the ingredients are given separately. The company website lists the beverages sold as also sweets.
Suruchi Misal across the street from Malhar Cinema is besides a Vodafone store. They have a good sense of humour and have put up poster of a supposed movie called Misal Man (play on Missile Man) showing a superhero with an onion for a head, a chilly for a weapon and chest region composed of pav buns! They also have a poster showing Suruchi being place contributing to 0.5 of the Misal culture of Maharashtra's 3.5 Shaktipeeth of Spices with the other three being Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur. This is a small eatery where Misal is King. Small tables and cramped chairs in less than about 100 feet of space mean you share tables with strangers. You basically order Misal and have an option of light, medium and spicy options. The spicy option is very fiery and is recommended only if you are a brave heart. Take heart though. They serve Piyush as Lassi is called locally and butter milk to douse the fire in your mouth from eating the spicy Misal. A bowl of Misal and two Pav's is just about fifty rupees and makes a very inexpensive meal. Typically you end up taking two more Pav's for an order to finish the Misal. They also serve Sheera and Kharvas, a sweet dish sold in Maharashtrian restaurants.
There are two other well known Maharashtrian restaurants off Gokhale road that too offer Misal. One is Gokhale Upaharagruha which serves other delicacies too. Another is the famous Swad Thali that is known for it's meals but also serves Misal.
So here is Thane's Misal Mile - starting at Suruchi on Gokhale Road, going over to Mamledar on MG Road and there on to Swad Thali off Gokhale Road and finally ending at Gokhale Upaharagruha also off Gokhale Road. You can do all of these 4 places under two hours and on foot and claim to have conquered Mount Misal.
