Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Shifting gears (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/)

-   -   A Guide: Eating out in Bangalore (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/3474-guide-eating-out-bangalore-233.html)

Thanks @Rajeevraj! Malabar Bay definitely looks interesting and I will be sure to check it out.

That should be Greenview Hospital. I went there over a year ago on a Sunday and wasn't too impressed. There were only 2 waiters to service the crowd, rice was hot but many of the dishes were cold, some even ice-cold. Seems they may have improved since then.

I visited Thalassery in Koramangala just last Saturday. This was my second time going there and neither my wife nor I found it interesting. Everything is ordinary and run of the mill and can be obtained for a fraction of the price in Madiwala.

To add to your list, following are some of my discoveries.

• Madiwala, where the Kerala buses stop, behind Balaji Medicals: This place is choc-a-bloc with Kerala restaurants and is sure to ease the hunger pangs of any die-hard Mallu. Somewhere at the entrance is a bakery where they sell Kerala snacks such as pazhampori, ada, etc. and regional stuff, e.g. from Malabar, that I haven't had in Kerala. You get all sorts of fish, kappa + fish curry, kappa biriyani, duck roast and so on. I used to frequent one particular restaurant right next to the aforementioned bakery, but I forget its name now.
  
• New Frosty's, Indiranagar: This is a cold storage that has been around Indiranagar for decades. Since the past couple of months, they have this guy who sells fish curry, pazhampori, ada, chicken fry, cutlets and all sorts of delectable stuff that you can get as take-away. This is much better than the stuff you get in Madiwala.
  
• Vembanad at Hotel Paul, Domlur: If you want really authentic Kerala food that is sure to burn a hole in your wallet, then Vembanad is the place for you. Their fish curry is really amazing, so is the parippu payasam.

I have been planning for some time to try the buffet at Bon South, but haven't been able to go there yet.

Kuttanad is probably the worst of the Kerala restaurants around, I have reviewed it on zomato after they served me rotten fish and reheated parotta, the owner is just an arrogant crook. The average rating on zomato confirms that, avoidable if you value your health. Thalassery is another overrated place with nothing special about the food, it's just another multi cuisine place and a sad one at that.

Few hotels which I visited over the past month.

1. Sattvam : Located in sadashivnagar, this is a vegetarian buffet restaurant. They have an A/c restaurant as well as an open air restaurant.

Ambience : 4/5
Food : 3.5/5
Service : 4/5
VFM : 4/5

Gets very crowded and also bookings have to be made well in advance.

2. Eshanya, Jayanagar : Located in Jayanar 4th t block, this is an open air restaurant and is VFM restaurant.

Ambience : 3.5/5
Food : 3.5/5
Service : 3.5/5

3. Brahmin's Coffee bar : A "Darshini" style eatery with a limited menu of Idly, Vada, Khara bath (upma) and coffee/tea, this is a eatery operating from quite long time. Food is good but place is crowded all the times. Go there strictly if you are ok with eating food standing on the pavements along with lot of people standing around.

P.S : They serve food with only chutney. stupid:

oops, yes, Greenview Hospital. My experience was decent both times. Maybe they are trying to improve.

Also visited Kumarakom in HSR after a long time. Quality has gone down further and continues to be very expensive. That place is off my list.

Thanks for the other suggestions. Remember the Madivala place.

@Rajeevraj, @nowwhat?, @avira_tk

Continuing on the Kerala style restaurants, these are 2 places I've heard of but never visited:
1. Kaayal on Jeevan Bima nagar main road, been around for 10+years

2. Ente Keralam on Ulsoor Road

*hope they have at least a veggie sadhya option for us please:

Quite an old place, belongs to the family that owns Adigas (one of the brothers in that family runs this place).
Do try Veena Stores in Malleswaram if you haven't already - again few items and only Chutney, no Sambar :)

I've been to Kaayal many years ago and it was good. Won't say exceptional but good. Loved the regular meals, parottas and beef too.

Thanks NPV for the info. :thumbs up I am actually a Banglorean so have been to all these places. Many of my colleagues being from outside of Bangalore do not know many of these places. So I am taking up the challenge of showing them all the good restaurants in Bangalore apart from regular ones in BTM, Koramangala or Indiranagar. Next up is MTR for them.

Yes, have been going to Kaayal right from when it opened (2005 if I remember right). During the initial years they used to have a full fledged big Sadya every alternate Sunday-Those were bachelor days and I would eagerly look forward to the weekend to to go there for the Sadya. I don't think they have that anymore. I still go there once in a while, food is still decent. Nothing exceptional, but a 'cannot go too wrong' place for a quick meal.

Ente Keralam, I have gone only once and was not impressed. Very expensive and food was average. In general it is a very popular place. So my experience may have been one off. Also, I guess it is more of a fine dining Kerala restaurant. So maybe catering more to the Non-kerala crowd.

Malabar Bay has a good Veg Mini Sadya. Although being a primarily non veg place, the sights and smells may not be too pleasing for a vegetarian. If that is not a concern, worth a visit

Your post made me jog my memory on Kuttanad, I now remember vividly what occured. We had gone on a Sunday afternoon and took the sadhya and as I mentioned previously, some of the items were warm (none of it was hot or piping-hot), others such as papadum were cold and a few items were ice-cold as if they have just been taken out of the refrigerator.

The restaurant was mostly full with a whole lot of families and kids, so the only seats we could get were in the back near the kitchen and the owner. What put me off about the place more than the food was the condescending manner in which the owner would constantly berate and scold his wait staff who were all non-Malayalis (locals and few from the North-East). I felt the waiters were trying to do their best with a cuisine they were neither familiar with nor trained on, hence they were running helter-skelter on the owner's constant barrage of instructions. On noticing me keenly observing this entire tamasha, he made a few snide remarks about them to me hoping I would sympathize with him.

When I left the restaurant, I tried to forget about my Kuttanad experience as soon as I could.

Great initiative!
We recently tried the Udupi Krishna Bhavan in Chickpet (established in 1926), nice place too with some old world charm :)

You can try New Modern House near VV Puram for their Masala Dosa, awesome! We combined a visit to this place along with Brahmins Coffee Bar since they do not have Dosas on their menu.

The food street in VV Puram is another great place in the evenings and offers a wide assortment of street-side food.

Of the newer places, Taaza Thindi in Jayanagar 4th T block is good but gets very crowded so go there before 8am!

Continuing with the similar ones.

1. Malleswhwaram railway station idly hotel. Don't recollect the name , but it is a small joint next to railway station and very famous there. They serve a very good idly, vada, chow chow bath and shavige.

2. Brahmins has another shop in Jayanagar 5th block near post office. I liked it and they serve similar food as above. Not sure if this is a branch of the main Bramhins at Chamtajpet.

3. Mylari hotel in DVG road. I rate it 5 stars for their Saagu Masala dosa and mallige idly. There has never been a day that I returned without having 2 dosa. Again I don't think they are a branch of Mysore Mylari hotel, and it doesn't matter as long as their food is good. Actually I rate this more than Vidyarthi Bhavan, which I have stopped going for over 5 years now.

Will update if I come across similar ones. For veggie people like me food options are very limited so have to look for new places instead of new food :thumbup:.

Yep this one is indeed good. Sagu Masala dosa over there is yummy! My uncle used to work there in the 90's so it used to be my regular haunt. Try the Udupi krishna bhavan in gandhibazaar next time you are in the vicinity. Its a branch of the chickpet one. Special meals over here is good and is served on plantain leaf.

I stay 5 mins walking distance from these places. So you can guess how many times I have been there. NMH as the hotel is called has retained the same old style of serving food as well as the taste.

Food Street was the first place I took my team to and they were surprised to see the kind of food and the crowd. But I feel food street has lost its charm and now is too commercialized. Used to get varieties with taste also being good but now taste has gone down the drain whereas the prices have shot up north! :Frustrati [/quote]

This one's good. Crowded yes but great taste at reasonable prices. :thumbs up

Should try the Malleshwaram one. Have never been to that place. Brahmins do not have a branch. The one in Jayanagar is a different one but is indeed quite good. Liked the idly there.

Vidyarthi bhavan is running mainly because of its old fame. Taste is not like before but people do come in huge numbers though. Similarly CTR in Malleshwaram(think its renamed to shree sagar now). New establishment but taste is not quite like old.

One more restaurant in Malleshwaram which is good is Halli Mane. Food is served on banana leaf and all are seated together in a row similar to people having traditional food during festivals or during functions.

Not sure if you've tried this place.

There's an awesome place for Thatte idly in Cambridge layout. It's called Om Sai Skanda Dosa Camp.

Their Thatte idly's are even softer than the Pavithra hotel in Tumkur. It's a small place in cambridge layout just after the Sai baba temple. Eating is on the footpath or if you get parking nearby just eat in the car.

Apart from idly, their flat masala dosa is unique.

Wow, now you're the one who should let the secrets out on all those old world places around your home!
At food street, many of the shops now are owned by the same person (so they have 2 shops one on either side of the road) or they share the preparation of batter, etc so hardly any difference in taste!

BTW how is Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room on the road opposite Vidyarthi Bhavan ?

I've lived on the Indiranagar side of Bangalore all my life and one of the oldest places was Devi Bhavan opposite Ulsoor police station (entrance of Cambridge Road). Unfortunately the place was demolished when the Metro came up.

Over the last few years, I've tried many of the older/heritage/popular veggie places on the older side of the city and again just like you, it's excuses like a friend visiting Bangalore when we go to these places :)

I've been to this place few times but never knew Thatte Idly was good here, time to visit again soon, Thanks!:thumbs up
Also, the first Annapoorni outlet opened on the same road, next to the main Moulis catering building. That old place is now a Dominos outlet and Annapoorni moved to 12th Main and later to Indiranagar Double Road.
On a recent visit, found that the evening fare is just average, not sure how the meals are in the afternoon.

Haha. There are quite a few around the area. Will try to add here as and when I recollect.

Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room (or MLTR as its known as) is on the the DVG road. Nothing special about this place except the benne Masala dose, idly and the sambar. Visit this place if you like the old style of wooden chairs & benches. Rustic old place.

There was one more restaurant named Modern Tiffin Room on the same road. The khali dose and sagu used to be yummy and favored by the patrons. Alas, the restaurant is closed now.

Some more restaurants that I can think of around the same area.

1. Hotel dwarka : This is in NR colony and serves yummy khali dosa and chutney. This was earlier on bull temple road but has relocated few years back. Landmark is Katte balaga on NR colony main road. Gets crowded again pretty soon as the place is small.

2. Sri Guru Kottreshwara Davangere Benne Masale Dose : Name is quite a mouthful but if you have tasted the original benne masala dose from Davangere and yearn for it in bangalore than this can satisfy you pretty close. Again not a fancy restaurant you will have to eat the dosa standing under the shade of trees but that does not deter the many patrons of this restaurant. Located near Netkallappa Circle on Subbaraoshetty Road. Use GPS if you are not aware of this place.

3. South thindies : Located close to Krishnarao park in basavanagudi, this is again a typical darshini type of hotel. Akki rotti, mangalore buns and masala dose.

4. Karnataka Bhel house : As name suggests this is a eatery which serves only chaats and is open only in the evenings. They have relocated to a new place which is bigger than the old one. Do try the masala puri there.

Phew! Writing all this is making me hungry. :uncontrol Time to have lunch. :D