In the recent past, when I visited Dadar, I found Panshikar to be closed even though it wasn't a Monday. Last week when I visited it, I found it not only open, but the reason for its closure was clear. There was renovation being carried out. The newly tiled eatery (though work was ongoing in the rear end - no doubt to increase its capacity) was open for business...and there was rush. In fact, I had to wait in a queue for about 10 minutes to get a seat.
Panshikar Dadar was a Grade II eatery (as graded by the BMC). Its quite possible now that it gets converted to a Grade I eatery (for comparison's sake, Cafe Mysore is a Grade I eatery). I guess it has something to do with the neatness levels (and nothing to do with the taste of the food). Panshikar Dadar was earlier run by the same (family) people that run the Panshikar at Girgaon. Eventually, a split of the business (warring family members???) meant that the management of Panshikar Dadar would be different than the one at Girgaon. The one at Girgaon opened up a branch at Vile Parle a few years ago.
When I saw Panshikar Dadar closed a few months ago, I felt it was on its decline...maybe its business was hit by the roadside Wada Paav and other vendors, I thought. But, fortunately my thinking was incorrect. The Marathi manoos is not going to let go of his farali misal and other "fast foods" (meaning food that is had during a fast). The crowds at the eatery may have had to do something with the month of Shravan (when a lot of these manoos-es fast).
All seems well with the eatery as it prepares itself to gear up for the festival months ahead. All hail the Marathi manoos and the farali misal. The king of farali misal is back for business.
