Bengaluru: Top 10 places for all-day breakfast and dosas in the city

At MTR Bangalore, the triangle fold dosa (with or without potato stuffing) is served with an itsy cup of aromatic ghee. (Representational image: Anil Sharma via Unsplash)

A good South Indian breakfast? After actor Deepika Padukone’s shoutout to Carnatica Café (New Delhi) for its “most scrumptious South Indian breakfast”, the scramble has begun for more such delights. If Hyderabad has its biryani, Chennai its unlimited thali meals (elai saapadu), then Bengaluru takes the bragging rights for the best South Indian breakfast in the region.

A typical ‘all-day’ breakfast place offers masala dosa or, as the locals say, dosey (pronounce it as ‘dough-say’), khali dosa, thatte idlis, rava idli, ‘dip’ vada sambar, chow chow bath, akki roti and kesari bath throughout the day. For simplicity, we explored the city for ‘dosey’ because that’s the universal favourite. Of course, all of the places we recommend usually serves most of the other breakfast items as well.

Also read: 10 must-try Mumbai vegetarian restaurants

But before we dive into the dosa places, the question to ask is: what makes a ‘good dosa’? Bengaluru style dosa, unlike its other counterparts, is rich in colour, texture and taste. The dosa is evenly roasted to a caramelized brown hue, is crispy on the outside and inside with a slightly soft centre. By the time you finish eating it, your fingers will be greasy (in a good way) with the generous lashings of oil and topping of butter or ghee. The taste is uniformly savoury and can be eaten plain or with potato stuffing (paliya) and/or a variety of coconut chutneys – (coriander hued) green, (plain coconut) white and (tomato flavoured) red chutneys. Sambar is always offered alongside except for a few notables who unapologetically do not serve sambar as an accompaniment. Some of the newer eateries and roadside food vans typically offer 99 varieties of dosas, with stuffings from cheese to noodles! But for the purists, the traditional dosa is sacrosanct.

For now, we aim to please those who are looking for authentic dosas when in Bengaluru. Even the purists will be pleased.

Please note, every neighbourhood of the city has some form of Udupi or Darshini restaurant which will offer a good quality dosa and other breakfast dishes. So, while we will not be mentioning them in our recommendations, we recommend a visit to any of them for an experience. Also, the price range of the dosas and other breakfast items is in the range of 30 to 100 so we mean business.

1. Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR)

The main MTR is conveniently located near the touristy Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens. Since it began in 1924, early morning walkers have drifted to the unassuming eatery for the ‘by-two’ dosas and filter coffee. Today, there are several branches across the city, and for a taste of yummy old-style dosa which has stood the test of time, MTR is the place you should visit. The triangle fold dosa (with or without potato stuffing) is served with an itsy cup of aromatic ghee. When there, try MTR’s iconic rava idli, a dish that has a spectacular story of being invented by MTR during World War II. And if there is a bit of appetite remaining, try the set dosas, which are essentially small soft porous dosas served with ‘saagu’ – a medley of veggies in gravy.

2. Vidyarthi Bhavan

The eatery started in 1943, in the heart of Gandhi Bazaar in South Bengaluru, an area that seems to have stopped in time. Not much, thankfully, has changed, and amidst the grandige angadis (small shops selling pooja items and sundries), you can see the unpretentious façade of Vidyarthi Bhavan. Actually, the queue of people waiting to be seated indoors is a dead giveaway of the eatery’s presence.

The menu has not changed since its beginning, when it was opened to cater to the school and college students in the area. Don’t think but ask for masala dosa or plain dosa – whichever catches your fancy. The waiters come with stacks of dosa plate towers balanced in their hands and will efficiently keep the plates in front of you without dropping anything.

Unlike other places, the dosas of Vidyarthi Bhavan are thicker, ‘holier’, and yet, manages to be crispy and golden-brown roast. The dosas are served with coconut chutney; sambar is not in the scheme of things. Finish off the breakfast with kesari bath – a sweet dish made with rava (semolina) – and filter coffee.

(Photo: Sarvagnya via Wikimedia Commons 2.5)

3. Brahmins Tiffins and Coffee

Popular with walkers and weekend cricketers, this eatery in Jayanagar, South Bengaluru, offers crispy plain and masala dosas with coconut chutney. Butter masala dosa is for the brave ones who are sure to knock off the extra calories without much ado. The idlis and vadas are popular draws as well and so is their chow chow bath which is a combo serve of upma and kesari bath – a unique breakfast dish typical of the region. As always, we recommend ending the breakfast meal with a cup of filter coffee.

4. CTR Shri Sagar

In the old Bengaluru neighbourhood of Malleswaram is the iconic CTR Shri Sagar famous for its dosas. The golden roast is enhanced with a dollop of butter and served with coconut chutney. Go plain if you have plans to tuck in their other famous items like Mangaloru Bajji, a tasty snack of fried dough; Maddur vada, another regional savoury; or even poori saagu which is also a breakfast item. For the authentic experience of a rich, historical neighbourhood, CTR Shri Sagar is worth a visit.

5. Umesh Dosa Point

The tony area of Kumara Park has a small shop serving dosas, idlis and vadas. The eatery is known for its ghee masala dosa and the ghee pudi masala dosa – rich in taste and grease. Other staples like savige bath (vermicelli upma), goli bajji, chow chow bath and versions of pudi dosas are available here. Since there is no seating, balancing the plate and its scrumptious contents is tricky. Locals manage it well and after a bit of practice, so will you.

6. Hotel Janardhan

This is an old hotel which serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in its restaurant. A languid air pervades in the place, but they sure know their dosas. Usually, locals come here for the plain and masala dosas as well as the famous saagu dosa. The last looks exactly like any other roasted dosa but the filling inside is not potato curry. Instead, saagu, a medley of spiced vegetables in a coconut-based gravy, lies in the centre of the folded delight. Regulars like to park their cars in the hotel premises and the waiters bring the orders to the cars. For the sweet-toothed, the badam halwa and mysore pak are must-trys.

7. Airlines Hotel

A trip to this hotel is a feel-good experience. There are cars parked within the premises where people are busy chomping on the crispy dosas. There is a big outdoor restaurant for those who wish to be seated at the table while waiting for the dosas to arrive. The plain dosa served here is the childhood memory of so many locals who have all, at one point, been fascinated by the ‘hat’ shaped dosa that unravels as you eat.

The akki roti, which we mentioned at the start, is served here and so is onion uthappa, which is a soft dosa laced with onions. A famous milk-based sweet called Basundi is also on the menu. Try it for a shot of sweetness. By the way, the price range of the dosas is over Rs 100, one of the few places in our recommendations that are on the higher side of the pricing.

(Photo: Charles Haynes via Wikimedia Commons 2.0)

8. The Rameshwaram Café

In the heart of the city, Indiranagar, there is a small eatery called The Rameshwaram Café. It’s not a café at all but a hole-in-the-wall place with a crowd that could well be for a café. There are so many quick, ready-to-go items on the menu but the dosas take the applause for their smooth look and delicious taste. On the menu is the open butter dosa, ghee podi dosa, and plain dosa, apart from the house special - ghee podi idlis: tiny roasted idlis coated with podi. If you can stand the crowd as you eat, then this eatery is a good choice.

9. Samrat, Chalukya Hotel

Every so often, regulars visit the Chalukya Hotel near Raj Bhavan for some early breakfast. This used to be a ‘happening’ place of the city once upon a time, and today, the crowd is for the dosas of its Samrat restaurant, which are quite a draw. The special masala dosa is immediately identified by its red tinge (red chillies paste) and is quite an experience. The dosa is served with potato filling and coconut chutney. On the menu are other fast-selling items like rava idli and poori saagu.

10. Nandini Upachar

The dosa outlet at the airport’s food court can give any dosa joint in the city a run for its money. The dosa offerings here range from plain, butter, masala, onion and set dosas, and there are other items like the chow chow bath, rava idli, kesari bath and the bonda soup. The last item is a local dish that consists of plain bondas dunked in a thin sambar-like soup. One of the winning combinations of a South Indian breakfast is pairing a masala dosa with a cup of gulab jamoon. This is a feel-good breakfast that would keep the hunger pangs away as you get set to travel out of the city.

The eateries that didn’t get mentioned in our list (because of the cut-off of 10 names) but are worth visiting are the South Thindies (Basavangudi), Bangalore Thindies (Shivaji Nagar) and a personal favourite – Malleswaram Thatte Idly Café and By2 Coffee Point for the softest thatte idlis.