I wrote this on 21 April, 2018.

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I visited Basavanagudi a few days ago – after perhaps 8 years. Since I live in the Eastern part of town, Basavanagudi doesn’t come up on my radar at all. But for a long time, I had been thinking of visiting the old eateries in that area. And finally, last Wednesday, I girded my loins and took the plunge.

Walking through the traditional markets of DVG Road and Gandhi Bazaar was delightfu; I had forgotten Bangalore even HAD such places! The air was rich with the smells of flowers, spices and food. Every other shop and eatery here is more than 60 years old.

With my food-blogger friend Sindhu guiding me, I went on a tiny food trail too. We gave the much-hyped Vidyarthi Bhavan a wide berth and went into two other eateries. Udupi Krishna Bhavan, near Ramakrishna Ashram Circle, has been in existence for several decades. Though the interiors were revamped a few years ago, the taste of the food (thankfully) has not been ‘revamped’. 😀

I had the sagu masala dosa, with liberal helpings of coconut chutney and sambar. The dosa was a smashing hit! I would have had another one, but decided to try something else and plumped for the mini idlis dunked in sambar. These too were very good.

We then wended our way through the market roads to visit a 92 year old grand dame: Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room. Here, I had the khali dosa, while Sindhu tucked into a rava idli. Some delicious filter coffee helped me chase down the dosa.

The decor of Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room is heavy on simple, old-world charm. I especially loved the wooden menu board welcoming patrons at the door. 🙂

Before returning home, I bought some aromatic coffee powder from Srinivasa Coffee, ghee from Rama Traders, Congress from Srinivasa Brahmin’s Bakery and gulkan from a tiny shop whose name I don’t remember.

I will have to visit Basavanagudi and areas nearby a dozen times to cover all the wonderful eateries there – including many less-known ones.