I’ve been meaning to write about the different places where you can eat “Andhra meals” in Bangalore but I could never decide whether I should write separate posts about each restaurant or whether I should bunch them together. Bunch it is.
Andhra food is probably a misnomer given that there are different regions in Andhra Pradesh. In Bangalore, it refers to food, from AP, that’s generally on the spicy side, the tongue burning kind. The meals are typically unlimited, which means you can eat all the rice you want and get an endless supply of veggies and dal, sambhar, rasam, etc. It’s glutton-heaven. Typically, you’re served on a banana leaf, which is part of the charm, as is eating with your fingers.
In no particular order here are some restaurants where you can eat Andhra meals in Bengaluru.
Nandhini: This is the one place in Bangalore that you’ve probably have noticed, if not visited, because they have several branches. The meals here aren’t the best of the lot but they’re pretty decent, and the service is usually good. That the restaurants are always crowded should also tell you something. Nandhini serves mini-meals, which is a misnomer since they give you unlimited veggies et al–only the rice is limited but it’s more than enough for one person.
Bheema’s: I think this restaurant serves the best all-round Andhra meal in Bangalore, at least of all the restaurants where I’ve eaten. They’re one of the few places to start the meal with chappatis and provide a “sweet” as well. The service has always been good here and that makes me like the place even more. The food’s always been terrific, though one or two dishes can bring out the “meat sweats” (vague Friends reference), except that they’re spice sweats. Don’t let that deter you though, there’s always buttermilk and water to cool you off and the food’s good. Bheema’s is on Church street, near Mainland China.
Nagarjuna: This used to be a favourite but it has dropped off my radar for several reasons. One of them is that the food, even if you don’t overeat, tends to make you feel a bit bloated, which is not a good thing. (Friends have told me that some places spike their rice with cooking soda to ensure that you feel full faster and don’t eat more, but that’s conjecture and nothing more. Interestingly, I’ve also heard that eating food with cooking soda makes you feel bloated. Make of that what you will.) The food at Nagarjuna tends to be tasty but the service is not. Their palak-based dal is terrific but it’s not worth the trouble of shoddy service for me. I get the feeling that because the restaurant does so well, they don’t care about whether their service is top notch. Their food isn’t so good that I’d ignore the service but you might feel differently. Nagarjuna is on Residency road, close to the Crossword bookstore.
Sridevi: This may be the sleeper restaurant that people who eat in the MG-Brigade-Residency triangle don’t know about. It is nestled in CMH road in Indiranagar, close to the Coffee Day there. Sridevi also serves mini-meals and their plain dal, not the palak kind, is pretty good. I’ve never been to this place on weekends but I expect that it’d be reasonably crowded. If you’re in that side of town and craving for Andhra food, this is a decent choice.
All these restaurants also serve other dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, so if you’re not the stuff-yer-face kind of person, you have other options.
These restaurants are not the only Andhra places in Bangalore, but this is not a food guide, so there. If you have a favourite place to eat Andhra food, leave a comment.
Amorphous 