Chikkanna Tiffin Room, Cubbon Pete

There is this area in namma Bengaluru where in every major road leads you either to a temple or to a restaurant. When I say temples, don’t imagine it to be temples of the modern municipal era, there are few temples, which are 200-300 years old, and some, which are as old as 800 years. Well that’s the history of the temples at this area and our domain of interest, food joints, has no less history either. There are few teeny restaurants, which have stood through the revolution in food industry for the past 50-60 years and draw the same amount of crowd even today. Hoping that the history has tempted you to visit this place, let us cut down the introduction and head straight to one of the marketing hub of Bengaluru and epicenter of Bengaluru Karaga, Cubbon Pete. Of all the eateries present here, let us pay a visit to

Chikkanna Tiffin Room

Started by Sri Elakki Chikka Hanumantappa nearly 60 years ago, this miniscule food joint has adapted to the changing times of the food industry and according to the opinion of the localites, it is delivering the same quality of food even today. My uncle has been savoring khali dose and rice bath at this joint for the past 40 years. Although the founder is no more, his two sons, who run the hotel at two different locations currently, are carrying the legacy forward.

This outlet has very limited menu viz., masala dose, mini masala dose (miniature version of masala dose), khali dose, idli and rice bath. There is one particular menu, which requires a special mention, Ghee. Yes, you read it right even that’s there on the menu. Having said that, beware, a normal masala dose is replete with ghee and if at all you need some more then there is an option for that as well ;) Although it is priced slightly higher when compared to other eateries, the unique taste they offer supplements the extra cost. Service time is good on a weekday and it takes a little more time on weekends. 

With so much of explanation given above, you might have guessed my favorite pick here. Yes, its undoubtedly masala dose. The palya is served in a plasmic state, which is a very rare and unique composition I have had till date. Each bite of dose is laden with so much of ghee that one can actually feel the ghee spreading to every nook and corner of your mouth. And lastly the amazing coconut chutney leaves a long lasting impression. As the saying goes, experience has to be experienced; one has to actually visit this place to get the ultimate food experience.

The shop is open between 7:00 AM to 11:30 AM and from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

It is closed on Sunday evening and Monday morning.

As mentioned above, there are two outlets where one can have the ghee smack doses, but I usually visit the outlet, which is located at:

Sri Raghavendra Stores, Malleshwaram

Let us travel back in time for a moment. Imagine an old railway station, in a green and peaceful environment with the occasional screeching of trains and people moving nonchalantly. As with all the stations, imagine there is a small hotel outside, which serves hot idlis. Adding more essence is the light rain in the environment. Doesn't having hot idlis in the light rain, make you feel nostalgic? Isn't the imaginative location enticing you to visit it in reality?

We need not travel far to reach that imaginative land, we can find all that in our very own Bengaluru, come, let us head to one of the heritage centers of Bengaluru, Malleshwaram and visit one of my favorite food joint,

Sri Raghavendra Stores

This small outlet situated outside Malleshwaram railway station on a calm road, serves hundreds of people of all age groups daily. If not for the crowd, one would definitely miss noticing this minuscule hotel. It offers less variety, but the food is mouth-watering. Idli, vade, khara bath, kesari bath, shavige bath and coffee-tea are all the food items one gets to chow down here. 

Soft idlis and crisp vade served in circular plates, submerged in coconut chutney are a must have for any first timers. Nicely sliced onions with optimum amount of kadale bele (Bengal grams) added to perfectly cooked shavige makes shavige bath top my bucket list when I visit here. Finishing with nicely browned raisins in kesari bath makes this outing a complete one :) Reasonably priced, this outlet serves as a congregation point for many people in the early hours of the day. Even during peak hours, the service time is very good.

This outlet is closed on Tuesdays and on the rest of the days it is open from 6.30 AM to 1.00 PM and from 4.00 PM to 8.00 PM.

Check the map below to know how to reach there.

Idli Cart, Manuvana

As a routine, I would usually get down from my office bus at around 8:30 PM and head straight home, but on some days a phone call would make me change that routine; call from my mom. Most of the times, the prime reason for her call would be to get idli from her (our) favorite outlet.

Idli Cart, Manuvana

Located at the interface of bustling Chord road and a residential locality on a wide pavement, this nameless and small food cart, serves hundreds of customers everyday. The outlet serves very limited items: idli, chitranna (rice item) and few varieties of bhajji.

The sight of steam oozing out of hot idlis would make any idli lover fall in love with this place. The exhilarating joy your finger feels when they touch the soft idli, the excitement your taste buds feel while having hot idli along with nicely grinded coconut chutney and spicy bhajjis to munch in between idlis, what more do we need for a satisfying supper? And sambar lovers, sorry to disappoint, this outlet does not serve sambar, having said that, gatti and neer chutney will definitely suffice it.

Priced at ₹6 per idli, this outlet stands apart from rest of the outlets present in the vicinity in terms of quality and quantity served. On a regular weekday the service time is good, but on weekends brace yourselves for copious crowd. The outlet is open between 5:30 PM to 10 PM, seven days a week.

Well, there is no provision to put forth my favorite pick here; the name of the blog says it all :)

Click on the map below to know how to reach there.

Raju Chats, Vijaynagar

It was the summer of 2002 and the holidays had just begun. As with most of the boys I had a hectic schedule of cricketing season. Procrastinating mornings used to get energetic as the day progressed because of two reasons; cricket and chats :) Before leaving to the ground in the evening, I had to somehow arrange for 5 rupees, that was my part of the contribution for the evening snacks. And yes, that was all the money we needed then to have one plate of chats. Once the game was complete, we would head to our favorite chats point

Raju Chats, Vijaynagar

With no specific name to the shop, I am taking the owner's name. A small pulling cart on the footpath adjacent to the ground would welcome us for a mouth watering experience. Honey colored meeta, freshly prepared khara (spicy chutney), crisp ingredients and home baked Nippattu are few of the unique items that form the crux of the chats we get here. Quantity served per plate makes this joint stand apart from rest of the outlets. Two to three tomatoes served for one plate of tomato masala stands out as a testimony for that. By his own confession, Raju discards the left over masalas at the end of the day and prepares fresh items everyday.

At the time of writing this blog, all those nostalgic memories crossed my mind and I decided to have a plate of Nippattu masala right away and I was able to capture Raju; a part time dramatist doing what he does the best.

My personal pick would undoubtedly be Tomato Slice Masala. Concoction of the spicy khara, meeta, congress groundnuts, fresh sev along with tomato will not disappoint your taste buds.

The shop is open on all seven days, from evening 5.00 PM to 8.30 PM.

Click on the map below for directions.

Dose Corner, Basaveshwaranagar

We friends have fallen into a small but a serious discussion, should we go to tuitions in the routine morning session or the evening session? Bounty for going to evening session..? Yummy dose on the way back home 😋 and yes, this discussion happened close to 11 years back. Being a regular visitor to this place since so many years, this food joint was bound to top my list of favorite eat outs.

It is a small dose outlet situated in a quiet residential surrounding. A self-service styled restaurant and just two tables to rest your plates while having dose is what greets you when you visit this place. The eatery serves dose in Davanagere style. One can treat themselves to around 5 varieties of dose over here.

Lots and lots of butter gets blended in one serving of dose. One great speciality is that the dose is prepared using the traditional firewood, which adds a very very unique taste. Be it the amount of butter or the masala powder put on the dose, the soft and hot dose being served will take the joy of eating to a new level. Icing on the cake..? No limit to chutney and palya.

On a regular weekday the service time is better, it takes a little more time on weekends so, plan your visit accordingly. It’s good to have the dose hot right there or within few minutes of taking the parcel. Reasonably priced, its definitely a paisa vasool and worth paying a visit.

My favorite pick ~ Open Dose. A different style of dose that I had for the first time. It’s available in most of the outlets now, but not many meet the taste that we get here.

Check the map below to know how to reach there.