HSB

Hotel Sarvana Bhavan is a “South Indian High Quality Vegetarian Restaurant” chain, with outlets across South India, UK, Canada and Dubai.

In New Delhi they have two outlets, both in the upmarket Connaught Place area. Their menu has a wide range of options including the usual favourites of Idiyappams, Dosas [priced between `65- `105] Uttapams, Adai-Avial and a Rice corner [`65/-]. Paneer dosai, Vegetable Dosai, Karai dosai and Panchavarna Uttamapam have been listed as their specialty dishes. They also have a variety of “Sarvana Dairy Rich Ice Cream” [10 flavours], sweets [Adhirasam, Coconut, Ellundarai], halwa and savouries.

Sambhar-Rice

The blogger lunched their along with a dear friend, who was also a GREAT help in identifying some of the dishes, as well as dissecting them. We ordered a Fixed Thali [`130] and Sambhar-Rice. The Thali comprised of Sambhar, Rasam, Avial, Dal, Aloo ki subzi, curd and another subzi. For sweet there was Imartee and pieces of apple dipped in tamarind juice, which the waiter insisted was ‘raita’. This was served along with pooris, a big bowl of rice and papad. The friend had to settles for watermelon juice [ `70], since her original choice of lemon juice [`35] was not available.

Fixed Thali

The dishes in the Thali had a soft flavour to it and nothing was over-spiced. The dal was staid with an identifiable hint of asafetida. Honestly, there was nothing outstanding about any of components of the Thali. Presumably then, they were NOT meant to be standing out, but just providing a wholesome meal to someone who wants a taste of the most common S.Indian preparations, at one go. My companion also ordered small idlis soaked in sambhar. These were actually a delight to have, since the piping hot sambhar had seeped through the smaller spaces in the idli, making it almost melt in the mouth!

Small Idlis [14] dipped in Sambhar

Most interesting part of the entire meal was the side-serving of chilies. These were not just any chilly, ready to fire up the tongue. They were small green chilies, deep fried and salted...perugu mirapakayi. They look like they’ve been burnt, but the deep frying actually serves the purpose of taking away the fieriness of the usual chilly. So this one can be easily bitten into, without having steam blowing out of the ears!

Watermelon Juice

To wrap up, HSB offers a good range of authentic South Indian food. The ambience of these CP restaurants is quite relaxed. The waiters are attentive yet non-intrusive. Their pricing is appropriate with the service and location. Certainly worth a visit if one is in their vicinity and hunger CALLS! I am extremely grateful to my lovely friend Ashrita for accompanying me to HSB and for her indispensable inputs on South Indian food. It was for the first time that I dined at a S. Indian joint with a S. Indian friend, so the commentary was quite insightful!

Karnataka Sangh

The Karnataka Sangha Canteen is located in New Delhi, right beneath the Motibagh flyover, a little beyond the junction. It offers authentic south Indian food, with minor adaptations to suit the north Indian taste-buds! They have a fairly extensive menu with the usual Idli, Upma and a range of Dosas, Uttapams and Rice. Their THALI is also quite famous, as it offers a filling meal.

The surprise package of the entire lot is their PANEER DOSA which is to-die-for! Apart from the main servings tasting good, their chutneys, sambhar and rasam are well-prepared too. There is a negligible hint of oil and the ingredients are well integrated to ring a bell on the tongue! They also have an interesting range of desserts including a variety of milk-shakes and sundaes. A dear friend of the blogger has put in a special word recommending their 'filter coffee' and fruit juices. On every visit, this blogger has been delighted by one special chutney [of different ingredients, every time] which is served apart from the usual Coconut-white one.

Paneer Dosa [right]

The place is adequately ventilated, with old-fashioned iron-bars on its high ceiling. It gets really crowded on weekends, especially for dinner. It is not open throughout the day. There are specific timings [to be added soon] for breakfast, lunch, tiffin and dinner. Dinner is served between 7pm to 11pm.


The place has also been awarded the 'Editor's Choice BEST SOUTH INDIAN RESTAURANT' in the STANDALONE category by the HT CITY EATING OUT GUIDE! This blogger, being crazy about South Indian food, is very fond of their entire spread and, well, just can’t enough of it! It’s a reasonably-priced joint [eg. Dosas between ` 60 to `80] and scores very high on ‘value-for-money’.

PS: The place has undergone renovation and the high-ceiling no more exists! The blogger has also gone on to relish their Bisi Bele Bhath, Palak Dosa, Paper Dosa and Panchtara Uttapam [5 varieties of mini-uttapam] on separate visits.