Melting Dosa at Vidyarthi Bhavan

Got up early in the morning to do some work in my hotel room in Bangalore. With my intestines prompting me went down to the restaurant only to be surprised, 'Restaurant not open on Sundays'. Then the name of 'Vidyarthi Bhavan' from my memory splashed across and took an auto to reach Gandhi bazar Road at Basavangudi where it is situated.

Heard a lot about Vidyarthi Bhavan, its famous dosa and the celeb visitors. It, I must say, lived up to the hype. Never tasted a masal dosa so good and the Kharabath (Upma) was good too. Coffee was fine but nothing extraordinary. It costed Rs.61 for a Kharabhath, Masal Dosa and a coffee. You might rush to think it's cheap but it's not. Kharabath quantity is half of what you would get in other restaurants. Masal dosa size too is smaller, akin to the size we make at home. But then it's not pricey, it can at best be put at 'moderate' tag.

The masal dosa was crisp (which means oily) and tasty. The masal is so good that when combined with the dosa, gave a melting sensation once inside my mouth. The dosa is thick unlike regular masal dosa that one would get in other restaurants. One side is crisp and other side of the dosa (inner side if you would like to call it) is soft like it is in uthappam (oothappam). More than the process, which one could gauge and attempt, the ingredients that go into to achieve the taste is bit puzzling. They must be using a different rice variety and may be a different proportion of main ingredients. All in all a good masal dosa to have once in a week.


There isn't much variety (I went there for breakfast). There were only 4 items (Kharabath, Masal dosa, poori and idly).  I saw all four items being served in good numbers, with Masal dosa being the dominant one. When the server came to take order, I said 'Kharabath' to which he asked 'Kharabath and Dosa?', which says a lot about their dosa and its popularity. 

They must be good at all of their morning varieties otherwise one can't explain the heavy rush on a sunday morning at 8.00 am. People were standing near every table when I walked in. Since I was single, found a place easily. When I walked out, loads of people were standing outside, booking tables with the man near the counter. What is even more surprising is it's not just men but families that dominated the crowd at 8 in the morning on a Sunday. Having tasted their Dosa I understand why.

It was good to taste something different. A regular item with a different taste. Overall a very good experience