[HappyWheels]

An exhaustive travelogue! Great writing ST!

Loved the way that you have put up the Google map file! Very useful and interesting. Thanks!

[BomBatt]

ST7677, Nice and detailed travelogue.

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

All over India, Udupi managed hotels are supposed to be good hotels for food. But in Udupi itself, i wonder, there are not good hotels for dine.

Ashish, depends on what kind of food you are looking for. There are quite a number of excellent "Udupi-style" hotels in Udupi. But if you want Chinese/Thai/Japanese type, may be not many good options .

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by BomBatt

Ashish, depends on what kind of food you are looking for. There are quite a number of excellent "Udupi-style" hotels in Udupi. But if you want Chinese/Thai/Japanese type, may be not many good options .

Actually it is the other way. If you want North-Indian/Chinese/Thai kind of food, both Udupi and Manipal has lot of options, Manipal having the best of them. But if you want good Udupi style food, take the next flight/bus to Bangalore or even Mumbai.

[blue_pulsar]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

All over India, Udupi managed hotels are supposed to be good hotels for food. But in Udupi itself, i wonder, there are not good hotels for dine.

Not required actually. You get wonderful food in the Udupi mutt. The food in Dharmasthala is excellent too. I recommend people visiting there to have food in respective temples.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Actually it is the other way. If you want North-Indian/Chinese/Thai kind of food, both Udupi and Manipal has lot of options, Manipal having the best of them. But if you want good Udupi style food, take the next flight/bus to Bangalore or even Mumbai.

There are good 'udupi style' restaurents around krishna temple. Mitra Samaj and woodlands to name a few... also udupi temple itself serves good 'udupi style' food all around the year! Almost most temples in coastal karnataka serve good vegetarian food...

[carfreak]

Woodlands,Diana,Kediyoor are some of the places in udupi that serve excellent vegetarian food!!though i am not sure whether its the traditional udupi cuisine!!the food at the mutt is good too.

At manipal my favourite is saiba anyday.i am not a great fan of china valley!!

Great pics btw.guess once my exams done,i may plan a similar trip.western karnataka is very beautiful

[Samurai]

Well, temples are not hotels, we can't walk in anytime and they make us sit on the ground. Recently I had lunch at Anantheshwara temple and it was just okay, except for the laddu, which was fantastic. Not all temple food is tasty, some make it pretty bland.

The veg food in Udupi restaurants (Diana, Woodlands, Mitra Samaja etc) is average when compared to Bangalore. Since I live here now and Bangalore is where I mostly grew up, that is my opinion (wife concurs) based on my foodie taste buds.

Name one place in Udupi that can make Sambar as good as available in SLVs and Shanti Sagars in Bangalore. There ain't any. The only exceptions are some caterers, who can really kick butt and prepare some fantastic Udupi veg food.

The J.P Nagar SLV can blow away Mitra Samaja to dust.

There was a time when Diana was very famous, but that was not for udupi style food. Their claim to fame was Gudbud, Kurma and Cutlet. That's history now, they have lost their touch.

Guess where you get the best chat items in the entire Udupi/Manipal area. The Big Bazaar, I am not kidding.

The best ice cream place, the Snack Shack at Manipal.

The best oriental food place is China Valley, because they also serve Thai, Malay, Korean and Vietnamese food. Some of these are acquired taste, one should be open to experiment to new stuff.

Ofcourse, opinions can vary depending on taste buds. Some like it spicy and some like it bland. Mine are based on spicy disposition.

[snaronikar]

Nice write and excellent pics. I liked your photography particularly 1st, 3rd, 4th of Day 1 and of course the route taken from google maps and the agumbe sun set pics. Couple of car pics also looks stunning int he back drop.

[ST7677]

BTW, I was very curious about this new China Wall Restaurant. I actually downloaded and installed Google Earth to read your kml file. Unfortunately, it is not a new restaurant. It is China Valley, my usual haunt. Please correct it in your KML file.

You can directly see the maps online at Google Maps

[Samurai]

Thanks, actually China Valley more than decent if you know what to order, they have too many options. Ask KB100 or Riju (rjstyles69) who ate there with ordering help.

[carfreak]

Hey samurai,thanks for that exhaustive 'where to eat what' list!!i am not sure of china valley-had only once and did not like it much

Regarding ice creams,personally i feel saiba is the best!!

Then again you know better than me as i came here hardly 2years back.but i was in mangalore before and one thing i can vouch is that no hotel in udupi can hold a candle to the hotels in mangalore!!

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Well, temples are not hotels, we can't walk in anytime and they make us sit on the ground. Recently I had lunch at Anantheshwara temple and it was just okay, except for the laddu, which was fantastic. Not all temple food is tasty, some make it pretty bland.

The veg food in Udupi restaurants (Diana, Woodlands, Mitra Samaja etc) is average when compared to Bangalore. Since I live here now and Bangalore is where I mostly grew up, that is my opinion (wife concurs) based on my foodie taste buds.

Name one place in Udupi that can make Sambar as good as available in SLVs and Shanti Sagars in Bangalore. There ain't any. The only exceptions are some caterers, who can really kick butt and prepare some fantastic Udupi veg food.

The J.P Nagar SLV can blow away Mitra Samaja to dust.

There was a time when Diana was very famous, but that was not for udupi style food. Their claim to fame was Gudbud, Kurma and Cutlet. That's history now, they have lost their touch.

Guess where you get the best chat items in the entire Udupi/Manipal area. The Big Bazaar, I am not kidding.

The best ice cream place, the Snack Shack at Manipal.

The best oriental food place is China Valley, because they also serve Thai, Malay, Korean and Vietnamese food. Some of these are acquired taste, one should be open to experiment to new stuff.

Ofcourse, opinions can vary depending on taste buds. Some like it spicy and some like it bland. Mine are based on spicy disposition.

Yes, one can concur that restaurants in udupi may not be at par with one's in b'lore. I am a regular of shankaranarayana at J P Nagar, and no one can beat their idly sambar!! (Especially for people with spicy disposition) Every place has some good restaurants, and i feel that udupi too has few good dining options

[theMAG]

Since food places are being talked about, I'll vouch for Bittu's dhaba outside Mulki.

[anilrs]

Excellent travelogue. I've planned for the same route on the same days. But, had to return back to Bangalore on the first day of my trip after reaching Jog falls because of ill-health.

BTW, I saw your red civic near Jog falls while returning back :-)

Great to know you enjoyed your trip. I shall definitely refer to this travelogue for my next trip.

[rajshenoy]

Nice crisp travellogue.. do keep posting many such blogs