I have not done lot of food blogging on this space, barring couple of exceptions. But today I want to take a shot at that, specifically talking of Bengaluru’s eateries. Whenever I am Bengaluru, for that matter any city, I also get on to trying out that city’s food culture. This is one on Bengaluru’s food culture experiences I have had for your eyes.
The moment you land in Bengaluru, you notice two things. One is Hatti Kaapi(ಹಟ್ಟಿ ಕಾಪಿ) shop at the airport, where they serve nice, hot filter coffee in earthen pots. The other thing you notice, as you start driving around the city, at almost every block, the eateries, which are locally termed as Darshini(ದರ್ಶಿನಿ). The wiki has nice history about how it started and how these small eating joints spread all over got name Darshini suffixed to them.They usually would serve popular south Indian snack items, tea, coffee etc at quick eat and go style. These places are hugely popular with employees who want to have a quick bite on the way to work place.
Halli Thindi(ಹಳ್ಳಿ ತಿಂಡಿ) is another specialty restaurant, serving by-gone era foods, and also items from all over Karnataka. That includes foods from coastal Karantaka(karavali, ಕರಾವಳಿ), foods from norther Karnataka such as Hubli, Dharwad, Bijapur(now Vijaypura), food items from other interior areas of Karnataka. These are mostly, snack items. The Kannada name Halli Thindi, in English, literally means snacks from villages. I had gone to their branch in Hanumantha Nagar, when I had gone for a Kannada play at K K Kala Soudha.
Every city has some classic eating places, for example Pune has Marz-O-Rin in Pune Camp area or 81-year old Poona Guest House on Laxmi Road. The MTR restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in Bengaluru, founded in 1924. The current name is short for original name Mavalli Tiffin Room. For some reason, in Bengaluru, they call breakfast as tiffin. I have been to MTR restaurant where originally started as well as at a place in J P Nagar which is called MTR Grand Continental.
Benguluru’s Vidyarthi Bhavan, which is another oldest(started in 1943) eating places. As name suggests, it was very popular among the students. It is located in crowded Gandhi Bazar area of Bengaluru. Last year, I happened to experience that legacy, by planning hard, to visit the place well in advance. The place still carries that rustic look and feel. The specialty is, of course, thick dosa. Must visit place.
Maiyas is another classic and fine restaurant. It is located in Jay Nagar area and is having modern look both exterior and interior. Maiyas is also famous for its rava idli. They also have one at the airport.
Vasudev Adiga’s also very famous eating place in Bengaluru, though it is not very old like ones described above. I typically would go every time I visit Bengaluru. The main reason is it is very near to place where I am usually put up with my relatives, of course, I like the food there. I usually relish strong filter coffee almost every morning my stay there.
Adyar Anands Bhavan is another chain of restaurants one can spot across Bengaluru. This is originally from Chennai, started 30 years ago as sweet shop, and then into regular restaurant. I have been to one near Bengaluru airport, but only once. I found their south Indian breakfast thali enticing.
The other place is not exactly in Bengaluru, but outside towards Bidadi near Ramnagara, that is famous for tatte idli and also for masala vada, both of them are extra large in size, and that is exactly their specialty.
My earliest memories of eating out in Bengaluru goes way back more than 2 decades during my maiden visit. I distinctly remember eating frequently at Hotel Chandrika and also Hotel Sukhsagar(which is a chain of hotels). I was introduced to famous Chow Chow Bhat, which is uniqueness of Bengaluru, at Hotel Chandrika, which is located on Cunningham Road in Shivajinagar area. Now Bengaluru has turned out to be a huge metro city, where you will find all kinds of restaurants. For example, I recently learnt that there is a barbecue joint called Absolute Barbecue, which is booked 3 months in advance. My intention on this blog was to cover some of the classic Bengaluru food joints, hope you have enjoyed it. I would love to hear from you, about your experiences.
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