Vidyarthi Bhavan

Sunday morning 9 am. After a long drive to MG road, I pick her up and then we drive round and round trying to get to Basavangudi. I am distracted and not focussing on the road. As it is, my radar is wonky, and the fact that I am more interested in the person next to me than in driving is not helping things at all.

We circle MG road, residency road and then lalbagh a few times. Aval is in a good mood and is wowing herself at the Bangalore traffic, so she does not mind. Anyway, the good mood may not last too long, so I wisely decide to stop being macho man who does not ask for directions. The Bangalore automan, being a kind and knowledgable soul, points me in the direction of Gandhi Bazaar.

Now Gandhi Bazaar, Basavangudi, Bangalore, is deep. This is deep, old Bangalore, where the IT types have still not taken over completely. At least, it is the first time I had been there.

Right in the middle of Gandhi Bazaar is the famed Vidyarthi Bhavan, where the greatest Masala dosas and idli vada sambars of the world are dished out. There are tiny tables on both sides of a narrow aisle. People queue up in the middle waiting for seats, and waiters in Dhotis at half mast ( a mallu touch there!!) and arms full of plates navigate through the crowd, muttering Bisi, Bisi. They actually carry around 15 plates of dosas in one go.

We ordered 2 Masala dosas and one idli sambar. The idli, in typical Bangalore style, arrived bathed in the Sambar, much to Aval's astonishment. She ate up like a good girl though. The Masala dosas arrived next. They were awesome. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and with absolutely divine masala. And small too, not like the ones that hang over the edges of your plate. Also, none of that yucky red chutney that the average Darshinis like to put in their masala dosa.

Soon after the dosas arrived, another man ambled up and poured white chutney all over them, before I could say I prefer chutney on the side, thankyou. While we were blowing on the hot dosas, Aval spotted a plate of puris passing by and immediately pataofied the waiter into getting her one too. Interestingly, the puris also came with chutney!!!.

The coffee was great too, only they could have diluted the decoction a little more. This was industrial strength stuff that would keep you up for the next two nights.

The narrow tables and benches were surprisingly spacious once we sat down. We were definitely among the younger demographic in Vidyarthi Bhavan, the majority being uncles and aunties deeply focused on their Sunday morning Masala Dosa. The only crib is that you have to first stand over someone eating their masala dosa and shame them into vacating their tables fast, and then be stood over and shamed into vacating your own table just as fast. But that only adds to the whole experience.

- Avan