[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by Oxy

I am wondering what can be done to kill time between breakfast and lunch, as well as after lunch till dusk.

Any ideas or better suggestions would be extremely helpful.

Sankey lake is close by. Maintenance work is going on but the other end (next to Aranya Bhavan) is good to walk around. Can be done in the evening as morning will be uncomfortable due to summer heat. You can also try ISKCON or Orion mall. You can also visit the Ramana Maharshi park in the evening which is close to Mehkri circle.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Oxy

I am wondering what can be done to kill time between breakfast and lunch, as well as after lunch till dusk.

If you can backtrack a bit - I have always found Blossom on Church Street the perfect place in Bangalore to spend a few hours.

The redone Church Street itself is worth a dekko.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by Oxy

I am wondering what can be done to kill time between breakfast and lunch, as well as after lunch till dusk.

Any ideas or better suggestions would be extremely helpful.

Since you will be with kids, I would suggest to visit Krishna Rao park which is ~ 2 kms from Brahmin's coffee bar. Not sure how old the kids are but there are designated play area for kids below 5-6 years with some activities or you can carry some things to play (badminton, football etc). You can easily spend 1-2 hours here if you are ok for playing. Helps to burn those calories and be ready for lunch

Not sure which Sattvam you will be visiting (Sadashivanagar or JP Nagar) but if its the former maybe you can visit Mantri mall where you can spend time window shopping. There is also gaming/activity area in the mall I believe. If its J P Nagar branch, then you can visit Ragi Gudda temple and then Bangalore central nearby before going to lunch.

[NPV]

A friend from Mumbai was visiting Bangalore after a year, so we went out for breakfast. Original plan was Brahmins coffee bar but we ended up at Taaza Thindi, blame some lazy driving and closed roads

Never had a bad experience here and find them very consistent with quality and taste and very reasonable pricing, though we found that that the Idly, Vada and Dosa have shrunk a bit now in their sizes

We then headed over to Brahmins as it was always the gold standard (sort of) when it came to Idly, Vada, chutney.
Had a single Idly and Vada here and it was underwhelming to say the least - Idly was ok but the Vada wasn't great (not crispy) and the Chutney was very runny and lacked that taste of yore. The sizes of the Idly and Vada have shrunk here as well (perfectly fine with us), but I think this place has lost it in terms of quality and taste, could be a combination of staff attrition, trying to keep prices in check while balancing margins.

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Recently had a chance to eat at Oota in the EPIP area and I was overwhelmed with the authentic Karnataka foods on offer

Don't know about you, but my recent first experience of this place is the opposite, clearly underwhelming
Bland & Expensive Not worth the premium they charge.

To put things into perspective, I like jolada rotti and engai and used to frequent Kamat YatriNivas for that (one Near KG Road, not the one in Hoodi).
Food there at Kamat itself is nothing to write about in recent years compared to what it was say 10-15-20 years.
After visiting Oota, I feel that place is 3x better than Oota and guess what it's a lot cheaper too.

My experience is based on ordering iteams from coastal and North Karnataka food at Oota.

Bottom line - If you really like Jolada Rotti and engai, look ELSEWHERE, definitely not OOTA.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by redCherry

Bottom line - If you really like Jolada Rotti and engai, look ELSEWHERE, definitely not OOTA.

This place used to be good, haven't been there recently:

Sri Venkateshwar Veg North Karnataka
089719 51073
https://maps.app.goo.gl/pbnxjYnRWCzkUbSU6

Near DVG Rd., Basavanagudi.

Very basic eatery, and caters mostly to the local office crowd.

[kavensri]

Any good restaurant to taste 'Davangere Benne Dosa' in Bangalore?
My daughter tasted it in Davangere last year and now she wants me to take her to Davangere, just for having that dosa. But I don't want to spend Rs3500 just to taste the dosa!

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Any good restaurant to taste 'Davangere Benne Dosa' in Bangalore?
My daughter tasted it in Davangere last year and now she wants me to take her to Davangere, just for having that dosa. But I don't want to spend Rs3500 just to taste the dosa!

1. Raghavendra Davengere Benne Dose hotel - Sarakki JP Nagar . Been going here since 2002/3 and love the place. Dose is done on a tawa heated on traditional wood fired stove. There is a sitting area in first floor but do not expect too much.

2. Sri Guru Kottureshwara Davangere Benne Dose - NR Colony. Has the same name as the famous one in Davanagere (not sure if its a branch) but is good. Typical stand and eat place.

3. DAVANAGERE BENNE DOSE MANE , JP Nagar 1st phase - Recently opened one (guess a year or so old) and uses firewood instead of gas.

4. Davanagere Benne Dose, Chamrajpet

I like all the four places and in the same order. Not sure if these places are nearby to you but maybe its better than travelling all the way to Davanagere to satisfy the dosa craving a little sooner.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

1.
2.
3.
4.
:

Thanks a lot for the information. I would definitely be trying all the 4 places first, before I can think of driving to Davangere for this purpose alone
I need one more information, if you could tell me the availability (or lack of) of car parking space in these places (and also specific timing when the crowd will be less, I don't mind going there on weekdays also), that would be helpful for me. I stay in East Bangalore, so I am not that much familiar with any of these places and hence asking. Thanks again.

[TorqueyTechie]

Had been to Orion mall yesterday mainly for the kids play area (Funky Monkeys). Its a nice place for the kids to enjoy for an hour or so and the place is maintained decently (separate area for 0-4 years and 4+ onwards). Charge is 600 for 1.5 hours.

It was around 8:30 by the time they agreed to come out and since we didn't want to drive all the way back (around 30 mins drive) and cook dinner, we searched and went to Chili's. It was almost full and we could get a table luckily on the outside area at the back. Ordered fries and cream of mushroom soup for the kids while we took their triple dipper (Texas cheese poppers, Spicy broccolli poppers, Southwestern rolls) for starters. Food was really good and not spicy at all. Infact my kids too ate the ones which we had ordered.

Kids were full with the starters itself while for main course we ordered black bean and veg patty sizzler. This was served with brown rice and fajitas along with soft tortillas. Shredded lettuce, tomato salsa, cream and cut cheese were provided separately for making our own taco. Was really nice and loved the soft tortillas.

Little pricey the place is but the taste was good. Couple of options we selected were not available and the service was slow though in hindsight it maybe because it was late evening and crowded too.

Originally Posted by kavensri

Thanks a lot for the information. I would definitely be trying all the 4 places first, before I can think of driving to Davangere for this purpose alone
I need one more information, if you could tell me the availability (or lack of) of car parking space in these places (and also specific timing when the crowd will be less, I don't mind going there on weekdays also), that would be helpful for me. I stay in East Bangalore, so I am not that much familiar with any of these places and hence asking. Thanks again.

Ah ok. For #2 you get lots of parking on the main road and near to the eatery itself provided if you can be there before 9. Else you have lots of side roads where in you can park.

For #3 and #4 too you get parking on side roads. Challenge is for #1. Best bet would be to take a metro and get down at the JP Nagar station. Its very close by to walk from there. You can do vegetables shopping too post that from the Banashankari market.

All of them are available on google maps. So you can use that to travel this side.

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Any good restaurant to taste 'Davangere Benne Dosa' in Bangalore?

Even though personally , I dont quite like the taste of Davanagere style, I have seen this place in Jayanagar 9th Block to be crowded. You can try it there as well.
Davanagere Benne Dose , 25th Main Rd, 9th Block, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560011, India. Its next to the famous Holige Mane which has really nice holiges to choose from, our fav is the Badami holige.

[amavin]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Other than the Kamats and the Khanavalis - what are the other top places to have "true" karnataka foods ( staples or snacks ) in Bengaluru? Fine dining or fast foods - both.

1. If you are in and around Banashankari 2nd stage, SLV Coffee Bar (maps link) is a must visit. It's an institution in itself since the 1980s.
2. Hotel Dwarka (link) is the go-to place for 'set dose'.
3. Nisarga Garden (link) used to have the best chat and gobi in the mid 2010s. Haven't been there in a while now.
4. If you are looking for any snack (think ambode, chutney pudi, holige, etc.) made in traditional Karnataka style, few places can beat Subbamma Store (link).
5. Srinivasa Brahmin's Bakery (link) is another institution. I wouldn't miss the 'Congress kadlekai' for anything.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Turns out that it was all part of a well orchestrated drama - pun very much intended!.

Turns out, the play was indeed good and well received by the audience.

As the following report states, the show brought on stage the history of the eatery with renowned actors playing yesteryear litterateurs, journalists, dramatists and film personalities who had visited Vidyarthi Bhavan in the past.


Source: Kannadaprabha

If not for anything else, at least for the attention garnered and innovative approach used to promote the establishment, this attempt really stands out.

(I do realise that this information doesn’t really add anything worthwhile to the prime focus of this thread; just wanted to give the topic a closure

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Turns out, the play was indeed good and well received by the audience.

I had been to the play last Sunday and it was indeed good. Its definitely more relatable to people who have lived in Bangalore all their lives than others. There are references to why the name Gandhi Bazaar, why the name Vidhyarthi Bhavan, incidents of famous people coming to the eatery like GP Rajarathnam, Actor Ashwath, Poet Nissar Ahmed etc. So a little bit of history intertwined with some nice dialogues, definitely made lively by Sihi Kahi Chandru (apart from other actors), who plays the character of 'dose' and tells the story from the perspective of the dose being made and eaten!!!

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

I had been to the play last Sunday and it was indeed good. Its definitely more relatable to people who have lived in Bangalore all their lives than others. There are references to why the name Gandhi Bazaar, why the name Vidhyarthi Bhavan, incidents of famous people coming to the eatery like GP Rajarathnam, Actor Ashwath, Poet Nissar Ahmed etc. So a little bit of history intertwined with some nice dialogues, definitely made lively by Sihi Kahi Chandru (apart from other actors), who plays the character of 'dose' and tells the story from the perspective of the dose being made and eaten!!!

I had half a mind to enquire whether any Bhpian had been to the play; glad to know you saw the show and enjoyed it too.

The image of Sihi Kahi Chandru impersonating the famed Vidyarthi Bhavan dosa brings a huge smile on my face. The concept and the creation both need to be appreciated.

While on the topic, I wouldn’t be wrong in recalling Chandru’s contribution in popularising many eateries in Bengaluru as well as other parts of Karnataka through his TV show Bombaat Bhojana, Season 2 of which is currently being aired on Disney+ Hotstar.

PS: No personal interests or affiliations whatsoever.