Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR)
Founded in 1924 by three Udupi brothers, MTR invented rava idli during World War II rice shortages and celebrated its centenary in 2024.
Breakfast is the classic meal; buy a token, then wait. Check the weekly closing day.
₹
← Back to index
Bangalore
Bangalore keeps its history low and green: a 1537 watchtower fort, Tipu Sultan's teak palace, the cantonment the British laid beside the petes, and the parks that earned it its garden name.
Cubbon Park
1537
The mud fort
Kempe Gowda founds the pete town.
1791
The Company's city
Bangalore falls in the Third Mysore War.
1809
The cantonment
A second, British city grows beside the first.
1956
Vidhana Soudha
The granite seat of the enlarged Mysore State rises.
Price per person₹ under ₹300₹₹ ₹300–1,000₹₹₹ ₹1,000–3,000₹₹₹₹ over ₹3,000
Vidyarthi Bhavan
Serving crisp masala dosas since 1943 to students, writers and Gandhians — the room has barely changed.
Closed Fridays; go early on weekends.
₹
Central Tiffin Room (CTR)
Opened in the 1920s, this Malleshwaram institution is credited with popularizing the benne (butter) masala dosa that defines Bengaluru breakfasts.
Expect a queue at weekend breakfast.
₹
Veena Stores
A tiny standing-only counter famous for soft idlis, crisp vadas and filter coffee.
No seating; eat on the street like everyone else.
₹
Brahmin's Coffee Bar
A tiny stand-up café since 1965 serving just idli, vada, khara bath and coffee, with chutney ladled freely.
Closes by early afternoon and reopens in the evening.
₹
Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan
Trading since the mid-1920s in a custard-yellow three-story building in the historic Pete, run by its third-generation family owner.
Good for a quick vegetarian lunch while exploring the petes.
₹
Koshy's
The 1940 café where Bangalore's journalists, lawyers and premiers argued over appams and roast chicken.
Breakfast and afternoon tea are the best times.
₹₹
Airlines Hotel
An open-air drive-in restaurant under a huge tree, serving dosas and coffee since 1968.
You can still order from your car.
₹
Shivaji Military Hotel
A 'military hotel' — the Bangalore name for a non-vegetarian eatery — serving mutton donne biryani in leaf cups.
Opens early; the biryani often sells out by early afternoon.
₹
Nagarjuna
Fiery Andhra meals served on banana leaves, with unlimited rice, pappu and gunpowder.
Try the chicken fry and the Andhra meals.
₹₹
Karavalli
Coastal food from Mangalore, Goa and Kerala in a garden setting at the Taj Gateway hotel.
Book ahead for dinner.
₹₹₹
Thom's Bakery
A long-running family bakery serving puffs, cakes and Christmas plum cake to the cantonment.
Very busy in December.
₹
Toit
One of the brewpubs that made Bangalore India's craft beer capital, brewing on site since 2010.
Crowded on weekend nights; go early.
₹₹₹