Tayzwi

1 - Suprabhata Coffee Kendra: This won't get figured in any top-list (other than mine, of course). They serve the best coffee in town, and probably the best sambhar as well. It's one of those pre-darshini-age standing hotels, and is very popular among our auto rickshaw drivers. It's on the diagonal road connecting Sajjan Rao Circle and Minerva Circle; just before the second hand two wheeler market starts. The good thing about this place is - you get coffee in the afternoons.

2 - Brahmins' Coffee Bar: Idli, vaDe, khara bath, and kesari bath - not to mention the chutney. Don't be too demanding at the counter; you might just have to deal with some polite rudeness from either of the Adiga brothers who serve the food. But the food is worth it - so worth it.

3 - Vidyarthi Bhavan: The story goes that it was started to cater to National College students in the early 50's and some of those students still make it a point to come back (and in some cases like mine, very frequently). The trick to getting serviced here quickly is to know their static dose routing algorithm. Here's how it works: You need to walk up to the kitchen and see which of the servers is getting ready for the next batch, and try to find a seat in his serving territory. If that's not possible, the next-in-line server's territory. Another tip would be to ask for 'less oil' - brilliant dose (crisp on the outside and soft on the inside), and that uddin beLe chutney makes me forgive all of Bangalore's traffic woes. If you can't handle the crowd, just walk down DVG Road to Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room, and you'll do just fine.

4 - Hotel Dwaraka - It's a pity they had to change their location from Bull Temple Road to Tyagarajanagara now, and become a semi-Darshini (of all things!!). But the khali dose still remains as soft and as tasty as ever. I would recommend some palya as well - just to make it a set. Enough has been said about their 'yeraDu dosege mooru baari chutney koDalaguvudilla' notices - and now that those notices are gone :( they do serve chutney thrice :)

5 - Upahara Darshini - Shavige bath, with it's unique chutney.

Before Bangalore became the restaurant city that it is now, it used to have hotels - and I am glad that most of the classic hotels have survived, and thrived. I will write more on this when I cover the Majestic area and Malleshwaram hotels.

Labels: food