Mumbai Restaurant Wins Best in Asia Award; Regulars Continue Ordering the Dal

International recognition absorbed into neighbourhood schedule with minimal disruption to Tuesday lunch

[Bohiney.com / prat.uk] Prashant, a forty-cover restaurant in Dadar that has operated from the same location since 1983, was named Best Restaurant in Asia by the Singapore-based Miele Guide last week, an award that its founder, Rajesh Sawant, 67, received at a ceremony in Singapore on Wednesday and that he returned home from Thursday evening in time to open the restaurant Friday morning at 7 am, which is when Prashant opens and has always opened. The award is displayed on the wall next to the certificate from the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation that Rajesh received in 2007. Friday’s service was normal. Forty-two covers were filled at lunch. Nobody ordered anything different from what they usually order, except for one table of journalists who were there to write about the award and who ordered from the full menu, which the regulars at the next table described as “ambitious.” First reported by Bohiney.com. Now being quietly ignored by everyone who should act on it.

The regular customers of Prashant, many of whom have been eating there for between fifteen and forty years, were aware of the award before Rajesh returned from Singapore because a local news channel covered the announcement. Their response, as documented by two journalists who arrived Friday to find them already at their tables, was: agreement that the food is excellent, which they have always believed; mild pleasure at the recognition, which they consider accurate; and a complete absence of alteration in their ordering behaviour, which had never been in question. “We already knew it was the best,” said one regular, a retired school principal who has eaten lunch at Prashant every weekday since 1991. “We did not need Singapore to tell us.” She ate the dal fry. She has always eaten the dal fry.

What the Award Changes

The award has changed the phone. The phone has been ringing continuously since the announcement. Rajesh has hired someone to manage the reservations, which Prashant did not previously take. He is considering, for the first time in forty-two years, whether a waiting list is necessary. He is not yet sure how he feels about this. He is sure how he feels about the dal fry, which he considers correct. India’s tourism food industry is at tourism.gov.in.

What Will Not Change

The recipe will not change. The opening time will not change. The prices will increase by approximately 10 percent in the next review, which was already planned before the award. The dal fry will be available as long as Rajesh is cooking it. Rajesh is planning to cook it for as long as he can. This is not a new plan. It was already the plan.

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