Morning glory
The best Bengaluru breakfasts to see you through a long day of cricket
Deepti Unni
22-Feb-2017
Idli and vada are a quintessential part of Bengaluru's "tiffin" • Getty Images
If you're the kind of person to wake up for breakfast - and you should if you're in Bengaluru - the city lays out a veritable treat to reward you for foregoing sleep.
Bengaluru, like much of the South, is inseparable from its "tiffin", that intangible word that means neither breakfast nor lunch nor brunch, but stands for something better than all three, a meal that is eaten for the sheer pleasure of eating, rather than sustenance.
On offer are butter dosas that could fill you up if you ate five, but you'd rather savour the crunch of one, coated generously in mild coconut chutney. Idlis could be a meal but they won't compete with sambar rice, choosing instead to live in that dawn twilight of snack and breakfast.
And if you're the kind who believes breakfast should replace at least two meals, it can do that too: giant English breakfasts with the choicest sausages and bacon, potatoes, ham and cheese.
So load up on carbs and bring your friends, and eat enough so you don't need to partake of terrible stadium food. Your stomach will thank you for it.
Shri Sagar (CTR)
Don't be misled by the new name; nothing about Central Tiffin Room, one of Bengaluru's most beloved breakfast places, has changed. Not their poori-sagu (deep fried puris dunked in a thick vegetable curry), and certainly not their benne (butter) masala dosa, glistening with white butter and crisp to a fault. The Mangalore bajji, deep fried spheres of medu vada batter also loaded with butter, is their other speciality here. Diet food this is not. If you're looking to eat a pre-match breakfast here, get here at the crack of dawn and you may find a table, else it's a good 20-minute wait for a meal that won't last half as long - because you'll be scarfing it all down.
Don't be misled by the new name; nothing about Central Tiffin Room, one of Bengaluru's most beloved breakfast places, has changed. Not their poori-sagu (deep fried puris dunked in a thick vegetable curry), and certainly not their benne (butter) masala dosa, glistening with white butter and crisp to a fault. The Mangalore bajji, deep fried spheres of medu vada batter also loaded with butter, is their other speciality here. Diet food this is not. If you're looking to eat a pre-match breakfast here, get here at the crack of dawn and you may find a table, else it's a good 20-minute wait for a meal that won't last half as long - because you'll be scarfing it all down.
Taaza Thindi
Yes, it's all the way down in Jayanagar, and yes, you'll need to rush on a full stomach to make it on time to the match, but it'll all be well worth it, because as locals will tell you, if you get a table here, you do not get up without eating everything on the short menu. They have a quick-serve assembly line going here, so you'll have to decide what to eat and then pick up your food from one counter, the accompaniments and chutneys from another, then line up behind someone at a table and make sad eyes at them till they get up and offer you their seat. To make your job easier, skip the dosas (which are fantastic, nevertheless) and plump for the idlis and the khara bath - a spiced masala upma. And order three portions of everything; they're not particularly large.
Yes, it's all the way down in Jayanagar, and yes, you'll need to rush on a full stomach to make it on time to the match, but it'll all be well worth it, because as locals will tell you, if you get a table here, you do not get up without eating everything on the short menu. They have a quick-serve assembly line going here, so you'll have to decide what to eat and then pick up your food from one counter, the accompaniments and chutneys from another, then line up behind someone at a table and make sad eyes at them till they get up and offer you their seat. To make your job easier, skip the dosas (which are fantastic, nevertheless) and plump for the idlis and the khara bath - a spiced masala upma. And order three portions of everything; they're not particularly large.
Samrat at Chalukya Hotel
About 2km from Chinnaswamy Stadium - the distance you'll need to walk to burn off a fraction of the calories you'll accumulate here - Samrat has an extensive menu but you want to attack the idli-vada first. Get them as God meant them to be - together, as a set - then marvel at how the cloud-soft idli contrasts perfectly with the crunch of the vada, dipped in their tomato chutney or submerged in their famous sambar. If you're still hungry, and you're bound to be, get the chow chow bath - one portion of khara bath, one of kesari bath or sheera - a perfect balance of sweet and savoury.
About 2km from Chinnaswamy Stadium - the distance you'll need to walk to burn off a fraction of the calories you'll accumulate here - Samrat has an extensive menu but you want to attack the idli-vada first. Get them as God meant them to be - together, as a set - then marvel at how the cloud-soft idli contrasts perfectly with the crunch of the vada, dipped in their tomato chutney or submerged in their famous sambar. If you're still hungry, and you're bound to be, get the chow chow bath - one portion of khara bath, one of kesari bath or sheera - a perfect balance of sweet and savoury.
MTR
Make it to Lalbagh Road at 6.30am, then join the long line of regulars who worship at the altar of Mavalli Tiffin Room, and who know that the 45-minute wait is part of the experience of eating here. On match days there will be plenty of cricket chatter in line. This Bengaluru institution claims to have invented the rava idli, and you'll believe them because it's absolutely the best in the country. Follow up the rava idli with a masala dosa and a bisibele bath, and a milky but strong filter coffee that should see you through the duration of the match.
Make it to Lalbagh Road at 6.30am, then join the long line of regulars who worship at the altar of Mavalli Tiffin Room, and who know that the 45-minute wait is part of the experience of eating here. On match days there will be plenty of cricket chatter in line. This Bengaluru institution claims to have invented the rava idli, and you'll believe them because it's absolutely the best in the country. Follow up the rava idli with a masala dosa and a bisibele bath, and a milky but strong filter coffee that should see you through the duration of the match.
Brahmins' Coffee Bar
Four breakfast items, whose names are embossed on a steel plaque, just four, but you wouldn't believe the crowds that gather to eat them. Believe the hype. For the grand total of Rs 98 you could be feasting on the lot, with a filter coffee thrown in. The idli and the vadas are served with unlimited chutney, and there's a separate waiter just to ladle that out. Their khara bath is outstanding, as is the kesari bath, but it's the idlis that make you go back for seconds - soft, fluffy, melt in your mouth. There are two faux pas to avoid here, though: don't ask for sambar, they don't serve any, and carry cash, or you'll be left hungry.
Four breakfast items, whose names are embossed on a steel plaque, just four, but you wouldn't believe the crowds that gather to eat them. Believe the hype. For the grand total of Rs 98 you could be feasting on the lot, with a filter coffee thrown in. The idli and the vadas are served with unlimited chutney, and there's a separate waiter just to ladle that out. Their khara bath is outstanding, as is the kesari bath, but it's the idlis that make you go back for seconds - soft, fluffy, melt in your mouth. There are two faux pas to avoid here, though: don't ask for sambar, they don't serve any, and carry cash, or you'll be left hungry.
Koshy's
There's a reason Koshy's makes it to every Bengaluru list - it has built its reputation as a Bengaluru institution on the back of its many quirks and its food. Sure, you might be annoyed at the most laid-back waiters in town, and that the food takes an hour to reach you, but it's all worth it when you tuck into their masala omelette and scrambled eggs, served with toast that's more butter than bread, and a side of crispy bacon. If you're here on a Sunday, tuck into the Kerala appam and mutton stew (there's a veggie version of it too). On match days it fills up with a cricket crowd on account of its proximity to the stadium, so expect to rub shoulders with expats rooting for the opposition and young yuppies downing pints in anticipation of an action-filled afternoon.
There's a reason Koshy's makes it to every Bengaluru list - it has built its reputation as a Bengaluru institution on the back of its many quirks and its food. Sure, you might be annoyed at the most laid-back waiters in town, and that the food takes an hour to reach you, but it's all worth it when you tuck into their masala omelette and scrambled eggs, served with toast that's more butter than bread, and a side of crispy bacon. If you're here on a Sunday, tuck into the Kerala appam and mutton stew (there's a veggie version of it too). On match days it fills up with a cricket crowd on account of its proximity to the stadium, so expect to rub shoulders with expats rooting for the opposition and young yuppies downing pints in anticipation of an action-filled afternoon.
The Egg Factory
Make a trip to The Egg Factory to truly understand the versatility of the humble egg. Their extensive menu has it in every form, from omelettes to frittatas to French toasts and bhurjis. If you're a dessert-for-breakfast person, you want to invest in the utterly decadent French toast, stuffed with cream cheese and fresh strawberries. If not, get the kejriwal, that Mumbai export of buttered toast topped with chutney and a fried egg. The Burma toast, a sandwich buried inside an omelette, is a student favourite here, while the shakshuka, that Tunisian-Moroccan concoction of tomatoes and eggs, is a whole meal. Don't leave without getting a bowlful of the caramel custard.
Make a trip to The Egg Factory to truly understand the versatility of the humble egg. Their extensive menu has it in every form, from omelettes to frittatas to French toasts and bhurjis. If you're a dessert-for-breakfast person, you want to invest in the utterly decadent French toast, stuffed with cream cheese and fresh strawberries. If not, get the kejriwal, that Mumbai export of buttered toast topped with chutney and a fried egg. The Burma toast, a sandwich buried inside an omelette, is a student favourite here, while the shakshuka, that Tunisian-Moroccan concoction of tomatoes and eggs, is a whole meal. Don't leave without getting a bowlful of the caramel custard.
The Hole in the Wall Café, Koramangala
Bengaluru's favourite place for a full English is all the way down in Koramangala, but the good news is, they serve breakfast all day, so head there post match for a brekkie-dinner. And what a dinner that would be. Think waffles with Nutella and caramelised bananas, chocolate chips, condensed milk and ice cream, pancakes with maple syrup and butter, giant platters of sausages and mashed potatoes and eggs, frittatas, and if you're still hungry, burgers, subs and sandwiches. True to its name, the place really is a hole in the wall and there's always a hungry horde waiting outside, so expect a wait.
Bengaluru's favourite place for a full English is all the way down in Koramangala, but the good news is, they serve breakfast all day, so head there post match for a brekkie-dinner. And what a dinner that would be. Think waffles with Nutella and caramelised bananas, chocolate chips, condensed milk and ice cream, pancakes with maple syrup and butter, giant platters of sausages and mashed potatoes and eggs, frittatas, and if you're still hungry, burgers, subs and sandwiches. True to its name, the place really is a hole in the wall and there's always a hungry horde waiting outside, so expect a wait.