Sameep Karve wolfs down delicacies of Dakshin
"There is a feel-o-sophie in life- Hotter the temperature higher is the Lungi tucked in."
In the scorching heat of summers in sultry climate with my shirt almost wet and sweating profusely I caught a train from Dadar to Matunga Central railway station. After getting down at Matunga railway station headed towards East side of the town and coming just outside the narrow lane of Railway station there is one Iconic restaurant named Ram Ashray. I am not talking of the same in this post. I walked some 400 mts eastwards towards King Circle and to the left of it on a corner side there is another Legendary restaurant which serves Authentic south Indian food. It is none other than Cafe Madras.
“Matunga is like
Mylapore of Madras. This reference is understandable when one visits
Matunga, especially the area near Matunga Central station. The temples
are built based on South Indian architecture. Matunga starts its day at
5am in the morning with several stores and restaurants opening-
something that is unheard of in other parts of the city. The area is
peppered with plenty of Udipi restaurants and the only way to survive is
to be the best.
For those who aren’t familiar with Matunga’s geography, the four restaurants are Manis, Ram Ashray, Arya Bhavan and Madras Cafe. Each restaurant has its own set of loyalists, who believe that their preferred restaurant is better than the other.
The food critic too has a problem: it is difficult to determine the best of the four restaurants because each of them has something different to offer. True, traditional vegetarian South Indian food is similar. Each of the restaurants serve idlis, dosas, bisi bela Bhaath, pongal, upma, a variety of sheeras, but the flavours that come out of these dishes is what gives these restaurants their loyalists.
Without getting confused over which one to select I made a choice to have my brunch at Cafe Madras. Cafe Madras was started in 1940 and it just completed 75 years last year in 2015 and from last 75 years it is serving delicious dishes of south with no compromise in taste and quality. The space is small and cramped with irregular ceilings on upper berth and here you need to share the tables as it is always flocked by its regular customers, morning walkers, students, office goers etc. This place is indeed a " "Crowd Puller". The service is without frills and very quick. If you expect your dining table or even a breakfast menu to be free from "Chutney or Sambhar" you are at a wrong place.
Now coming to the menu. Menu consists of all the south indian items like idly podi, upma podi, rasam vada, raagi dosa, pesarappatu, bisi bela bhaath, mysore dosas, utthapams, set dosas and lot more. Out of these I ordered 3 items Butter idly podi, Bisi Belle Bhaath and Raagi dosa. Butter idly podi is their signature dish and sure try out. All of the food is served on stainless steel plates that are thrown on to the tables with abandon. Chatni and sambar arrive in multiple baby bowls, spilling over the edges.
Butter idly podi: Butter idly podi is soft and spongy
idly drowned in young coconut chutney sprinkled with malagapodi on top
and spreaded with white butter. It is served with Sambhar. Awesome taste
and not to be missed if you are there.
Raagi Dosa: It has a unique flavour in itself and blackish texture with some small holes in between and very crispy and good in taste and goes well with sambhar and chutney. It is also must try out as not available everywhere and they have mastered the skills in preparing it.
Bisi belle Bhaath: Bisi belle bhaath is spicy hot rice flavored with tamarind and mixed with veggies like carrots, capsicum, potato, beans, roasted cashews with dollop of ghee. It is served here with Coconut chutney and south indian pappadams of orange colour. Taste was nice but still I am more biased towards MTR's in Bangalore when it comes to Bisibelle Rice.
Finally to end had a filter coffee which is at its best and served hot
in steel glass and bowl underneath. I spent around 200 bucks but was
highly satisfied.
Sam's report card:
Taste: 9/10
Ambeience: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Value for Money: 9/10
"There is a feel-o-sophie in life- Hotter the temperature higher is the Lungi tucked in."
In the scorching heat of summers in sultry climate with my shirt almost wet and sweating profusely I caught a train from Dadar to Matunga Central railway station. After getting down at Matunga railway station headed towards East side of the town and coming just outside the narrow lane of Railway station there is one Iconic restaurant named Ram Ashray. I am not talking of the same in this post. I walked some 400 mts eastwards towards King Circle and to the left of it on a corner side there is another Legendary restaurant which serves Authentic south Indian food. It is none other than Cafe Madras.
For those who aren’t familiar with Matunga’s geography, the four restaurants are Manis, Ram Ashray, Arya Bhavan and Madras Cafe. Each restaurant has its own set of loyalists, who believe that their preferred restaurant is better than the other.
The food critic too has a problem: it is difficult to determine the best of the four restaurants because each of them has something different to offer. True, traditional vegetarian South Indian food is similar. Each of the restaurants serve idlis, dosas, bisi bela Bhaath, pongal, upma, a variety of sheeras, but the flavours that come out of these dishes is what gives these restaurants their loyalists.
Without getting confused over which one to select I made a choice to have my brunch at Cafe Madras. Cafe Madras was started in 1940 and it just completed 75 years last year in 2015 and from last 75 years it is serving delicious dishes of south with no compromise in taste and quality. The space is small and cramped with irregular ceilings on upper berth and here you need to share the tables as it is always flocked by its regular customers, morning walkers, students, office goers etc. This place is indeed a " "Crowd Puller". The service is without frills and very quick. If you expect your dining table or even a breakfast menu to be free from "Chutney or Sambhar" you are at a wrong place.
Now coming to the menu. Menu consists of all the south indian items like idly podi, upma podi, rasam vada, raagi dosa, pesarappatu, bisi bela bhaath, mysore dosas, utthapams, set dosas and lot more. Out of these I ordered 3 items Butter idly podi, Bisi Belle Bhaath and Raagi dosa. Butter idly podi is their signature dish and sure try out. All of the food is served on stainless steel plates that are thrown on to the tables with abandon. Chatni and sambar arrive in multiple baby bowls, spilling over the edges.
Raagi Dosa: It has a unique flavour in itself and blackish texture with some small holes in between and very crispy and good in taste and goes well with sambhar and chutney. It is also must try out as not available everywhere and they have mastered the skills in preparing it.
Bisi belle Bhaath: Bisi belle bhaath is spicy hot rice flavored with tamarind and mixed with veggies like carrots, capsicum, potato, beans, roasted cashews with dollop of ghee. It is served here with Coconut chutney and south indian pappadams of orange colour. Taste was nice but still I am more biased towards MTR's in Bangalore when it comes to Bisibelle Rice.
Taste: 9/10
Ambeience: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Value for Money: 9/10
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