[vijayols]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

If you want to skip the crowds and want to have a decent sitting experience, just head down the road to NMH. Great sense of nostalgia and mouth watering South Indian food in 1960's setting.

Yes.Had been there a couple of months ago.Time stands still in some old hotels.

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Having seen the area from it's inception to today, except VB Bakery, the rest of the establishments are all just pathetic in terms of hygiene, quality even though some of the dishes are tasty like Arya Vaishya Refreshments, the gulkan shop at the end etc. The rest of the shops are just selling food to mint money especially the ones which cook and serve directly on the street amongst the cement dust and constructing debris.

I have savored the tatte idli in Sai tatte idly, the various cold milkshakes and rose milk next door and they are old establishments and maintain decent levels of quality and hygiene. Opposite that there is this shack type of establishment selling all sorts of spiral potato, momo and what not. Thats the worst.

Sadly missed the Arya Vysya Refreshment during the trip.

[ninjatalli]

For those concerned about hygiene, I would not recommend VV Puram's food street. Especially not on weekends when the crowd becomes crazy with hardly any space to breathe. Recently (2 months ago), half the road was being dug up and yet a lot of the stalls had still set up shop as if everything was normal. We had visited back then, one look at the crowded state, and we decided to head on to a different place for our dinner plans. Couldn't see in OP's post if the road work has been completed.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Having seen the area from it's inception to today, except VB Bakery, the rest of the establishments are all just pathetic in terms of hygiene, quality even though some of the dishes are tasty like Arya Vaishya Refreshments, the gulkan shop at the end etc.

As a BIT student in the 80s, I was probably a regular here before you. SR circle was the nearest food place for us.

Then only Janata Hotel had any real crowd on a daily basis, that too in the morning. Crowd used to come only for their sambar, they would order anything that comes with sambar. By 9am they would run out of sambar, and the crowd used to melt right away.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by Samurai

As a BIT student in the 80s, I was probably a regular here before you. SR circle was the nearest food place for us.

Then only Janata Hotel had any real crowd on a daily basis, that too in the morning. Crowd used to come only for their sambar, they would order anything that comes with sambar. By 9am they would run out of sambar, and the crowd used to melt right away.

You have me beat. In the early 90s, I used to go here to eat idlis at midnight, watching a second show movie in Blue Diamond, Blu Moon, or Lido. We used to roll on a Luna TFR Plus. The only other people eating here at that time were Auto Drivers going back home after their work day.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

For those concerned about hygiene, I would not recommend VV Puram's food street. Especially not on weekends when the crowd becomes crazy with hardly any space to breathe. Recently (2 months ago), half the road was being dug up and yet a lot of the stalls had still set up shop as if everything was normal.

I was there in the end of March, it was in a sorry state. More than food hygine, I was worried about physical safety. All dug up, seniors slipping and sliding, with people powering their Activas through the crowd. All sorts of crazy food combos, all sorts of things being fried up. I heard one guy makes gulab jamoon samosa, and serves it with chutney. Not sure if it was a joke.

[HTC]

I would rather not want people to visit this food street and equate this for karnataka cuisine. I have been here few times. Every time I go, I see fall in standards and quality which is inversely proportional to crowd and cost.

To start with it is crowded to the brim. One has to jostle amongst crowd to get the food. It's not hygienic also. Have seen rats which are oblivious to crowd and running around. I see unsclurptuous sellers keeping exorbitant prices for dosaes for example.

[kiranton]

Ab Dilli belly dur nain hai. Brought to you by Thindi Beedi.

[vijayols]

Food Joints At HSR

While the street food at Thindi Beedi was a hit and miss I now end up every sunday having an hour and half to kill at HSR layout while waiting for my daughters music session in the evening.

Have been exploring the Street and restaurant food options here every week and yes they are far cleaner here.

MTR - Had a few dishes here

1) Rava Idli- You cannot go wrong with Rava Idli at MTR.After all they have given the world this dish.Served piping hot and accompanied by chutney and a potato sagu I do not however like the ghee poured it though.

Verdict- No brainer.Its like asking if we went to Taj @ Agra.

2) Neer Dosa- 2 pieces of this light dosa.The taste was nice and was served with chutney and a bowl of mango pudding.That was a surprise as am used to the coconut-jaggery combo.Wonder if this a seasonal stuff what with the glut of mangoes this season.

Verdict- Loved the combo.

3) Mangalore Buns- A sweet bun served hot made from banana.Is not available every where in Bangalore unlike the coastal area and so wanted to try it.

Verdict- Decent to try.

4) Filter Coffee - Hmm lovely.Just got the combo right with strong coffee and added less sugar to it.

Shubh Sweets Don't know what the favorites here are as they have quite a spread of street food like the regular papdi chaats/pani puri to vada pav and momos.

The Ginger and Elachi chai are great here so are most of the chaats here.Not yet had the momos here.

Verdict- Worth going here for Chaats cravings satisfaction.

Kota Kachori Famous for its Rajasthan style kachoris and sweets.Opp BDA complex though have seen a branch near BTM so must be getting popular.

Kachoris and sweets were decent.Tea was ok.

Verdict- Not bad but wasn't upto Shubh standards.

Arogya Aahara-Went there in the afternoon and was lunch time so didn't really try anything but coffee which was nice.If the crowds are anything tom go by must visit this place.Very very affordable rates.

Gavran Misal- For Maharashtrian street food.

Misal Pav- The most popular one here.Nice but spicy.

Verdict- Worth a try.

Vada Pav- Was yummy.

Verdict - go for it.

Kokum Juice- Nice and cool.

Verdict- Go for it.

Have got these on the list and would love to hear more from others on must try options in HSR

Raghavendra Tiffins- Must try the millet dosa here.

Egg Factor- Somewhere near Shell petrol bunk but failed to spot it.Serves exotic omelets.

Irani Chai-

CTR- Masala dosa

Mumbai Tiffins- Poha and other mumbai food.

Go Native- Multiple branches with one in HSR opp BDA complex.Friends have raved about it.But more of a fine dining place.

Gurus Tiffin- Found it closed twice.Wonder if still in Business.Serves tamil food.

Cakewala and Haldiram- Always crowded.Must see what the people love here.

[pms]

Did an early morning Saturday dash to Bull Temple and clubbed it with breakfast at Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazaar Street.

After the temple visit we asked our elderly to wait in the temple premises while me & wifey went to book a slot at Vidyarthi Bhavan. We took a token at 8:45AM for a seat between 10AM-10:30AM, such was the crowd.

Since we got a nice parking slot in front of the Bull temple, we got an auto from there to go to Gandhi Bazaar. One can easily walk from the temple as well as its just a matter of 10 mins. The main Gandhi Bazaar street itself is in renovation, so we got down close to the street from where it was hardly 2 mins walk to the hotel.


Crowd in front of the hotel, from early morning itself


Patiently waiting - we got entry finally at 10:15AM.


Within the hotel, dont expect an elaborate set up.




Tried out Vada and Kesari Baath, was good, nothing exceptional


He helped us with photo op, hot Masala Dosas


Masala Dosa with Chutney


Some Sevige Bhaath and Coffee at the nearby Rotighar before hitting Vidyarthi Bhavan


At the end we felt it was more of a hype than anything else (just our personal opinion), the dosas were too much buttery or oily. We get similar or much better food in Darshinis in and around Bengaluru or vicinity. Looking at the crowd and waiting times we had a small warm up breakfast at Rotighar which is adjacent to Vidyarthi Bhavan, had Sevige Baath and coffee. This was really good compared to what we had in Vidyarthi Bhavan. Would definitely recommend this. They are also famous for Barjari Oota.

[subraiyr]

Food street is now passe i must say. We used to hang out in that area between 2000 to 2008 thanks to our office being in close proximity. At that point of time, the key places to enjoy was as follows. (I have never read the name boards of any of these joints)

1. Begining of the street (not from VB Bakery side) - Was the Cornman of Bangalore. He used to whip up a mean baby corn salad - absolutely spicy

2. The idli wallah - literally hole in the wall. You could discover him only by the immense crowd that congregated in front of his shop. Amazing idlis (packs of 3 or 5) with runny coconut and tomato chutney. He also dabbled in dosas but idli was the stand out. You could consume 10 of them and still feel the urge to eat more

3. Next to the idli wallah was the bajji wallah. His speciality - chilli bajji. Slit down the middle and stuffed with onion/carrot salad. Again, bought tears to your eyes

4. After the spicy routine, hop to the other side of the road and you had a badamwallah specializing in hot and cold badam milk on a cart. There were 2 other shops too, but this guy was oodles ahead in his quality

5. Back to the other side - climb a couple of steps and the akki rotti beckoned you with the brinjal gotsu. Nothing much other than this was present there

As you travelled down the road, there was a smattering of smaller shops making the same, but below par and you ended up at VB for their buns

That was it for food street. The stuff you get now is chaos in terms of taste as well as the crowd

[DarthVeda]

Originally Posted by vijayols

The KBC is a cool dish and I think there is one more bakery at DVG road Brahmins Bakery which is famous for its Congress Peanuts.Don't know whether they have the KBC bun there though.

Yes, they do. They have another branch at Bull temple road, opposite dharmasthala kalyana mantapa.

There's an Iyengar bakery in 9th block, next to Sangeetha Mobile, they also started it and their KBC is yum yum.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by vijayols

Food Joints At HSR

If you have an appetite for spice, do give Palleturi dosa a try. It is a darshini-type joint serving Rayalaseeema cuisine. We tried upma pesarattu, masala dosa, uggani and bajji. The taste was good but the mouth was on fire So much so that we had to go to the Corner House just opposite to cool our senses. They serve Irani chai as well but when we went they were not serving tea or coffee items. The friend who took us there said the place gets crowded during the weekends and one might have to wait for 15-20 min.