BENGALURU: Bengaluru takes its food seriously, and South Indian cuisine plays a significant role in the city’s culinary landscape. The food scene here has been enriched further by the recent emergence of regional restaurants that serve authentic dishes, evoking nostalgia for homemade meals and a delightful journey down the memory lane.
Malgudi Mylari Mane, a well-established restaurant on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru highway near Nelamangala, has expanded its reach to the city with a new outlet serving delicious Karnataka-style cuisine. The Koramangala restaurant boasts a blend of contemporary and traditional elements in its decor, featuring Chittara art from Karnataka hand-painted by artists from Shivamogga.
The restaurant named after the famous Mylari dosae from Mysuru is a part of its menu served with coconut chutney, saagu, and butter. The vegetarian menu offers thatte idli, akki rotti, and rice accompanied by seasonal vegetable gravies, while meat lovers can indulge in kaal soup, mutton pulav, mutton chops, and chicken keema gojju.
Mama Mangaalore is a recently launched restaurant in Koramangala that offers authentic and pocket-friendly Mangalurean cuisine. The menu is highlighted by the delicious chicken and vegetarian gassi, prepared from a traditional family recipe that emanates the fragrance of caramelised onions and spices. The gassi goes well with idli, appam, neer dosae, kori rotti, and idiyappam.
All-day breakfast options include idli, masala dosae, khali dosae, and onion dosae, served with generous helpings of ghee and podi. To complete this home-style Mangalurean experience, the restaurant offers bellada cha or filter coffee with biscuit roti, famous Mangalore buns, and delightful desserts such as kappu sheera and kashi halwa.
The Park Bangalore’s all-day diner, Monsoon, has recently incorporated the finest local and regional dishes from Karnataka. Their menu is a perfect blend of local flavours and seasonal ingredients, making it an ideal destination for food enthusiasts who seek an authentic dining experience in Bengaluru. Among the must-try dishes from the Karnataka classic selection are Kundapura koli saaru, Mangalorean fish curry, Bijapur mutton ghee roast, pork pandi curry, mosaranna, and paneer gassi, which offer an authentic taste of the region’s culinary heritage.
Oota Bengaluru, a restaurant that offers a gastronomic expedition through the diverse and flavourful cuisine of Karnataka, has reintroduced its much-loved breakfast menu. During the weekends, patrons can visit the Whitefield destination and savour ragi roti, Bidadi-style thatte idli, and khara shavige with kai chutney. Non-vegetarian options include moode idli with koli pulimunchi, a zesty chicken dish flavoured with tamarind and chilies, and benne dose with kaima gojju mince stew. To complement the meals, there is a selection of beverages such as Kalladka, a robust three-layered tea made of milk foam, tea decoction, and hot milk, or the classic South Indian filter coffee.
Podi & Spice, situated in the serene Bangalore International Centre, is a notable recent addition to the culinary scene offering a combination of traditional southern flavours with authentic family recipes. The menu here features a range of small plates, including sundal, mushroom ullarthu, palipalayam chicken, and chilli pepper pork, while large plates include vendakai mapas with appam, hitikidbele gujju with parota, meen vevichathu with rice, gowdru mamsa saaru with parotta or ghee rice, and murangakai mutton kari with dosae.