Best Food Places In Bangalore For

Benne Dosa

Quick Summary

Rameshwaram Cafe seems to be the nectar that every dosa-loving bee is drawn to when the thought of benne dosa pops up inside their heads. While this place has rightly earned its fame, check out other places in Bangalore whose buttery benne dosa recipes are to die for. These are some of the best food places in Bangalore that will make you eat like a local and introduce you to some hotspots of South Indian food in the city.

Deep Dive

One South Indian place’s podi idli recipe and another place’s Davangere benne dosa recipe differ by leaps and bounds. The ingredients might be the same, but the minds and hands making them are not the same. This might get you into arguments with the locals, like the never-ending debate of whether Karanatake Bangalore with its jaggery is the best or the sour Tamil Nadu sambar is the supreme. 

This article puts the focus on benne dosa, which dots the entirety of Bangalore, and if you are short on time, look around spaces of commerce and education, and you will find dosa and idli carts selling hot South Indian food. But, for authentic benne dosa that are vetted locally, it is recommended that you make some time for a few dosa places in the city. Follow social media trending paces that serve a mean buttery dosa, or head to the good old banyan-tree-like presence of some heritage benne dosa places. 

Heritage Benne Dosa Joints

Some of these places are older than your grandfather, and ask him about it, and he will tell you that they are the best food places in Bangalore. Here’s where to have piping hot benne doasas, old-school style. 

Empire Restaurant

Timings: 11 am to 2 am

Cost for two: ₹200-600

Address: 21st Cross Rd, opposite NMKRV COLLEGE, Jaya Nagar 1st Block, Jayanagar 3rd Block, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka- 560011

The iconic Hotel Empire started as a quaint restaurant in Shivajinagar, Bangalore, in 1966 by a Malaysian man called Abdul Rahim Haji, who served healthy food, with a cup of chai and gossip. The footfall of the Jayanagar branch of Empire is the highest, so if you want to follow the crowd, head over there. It is popular among the club hoppers and the late-night cravings crowd. Grab benne dosa late at night, or grab their famous ghee rice, coin parotta, kebabs, and non-veg meals spanning seafood and meats. 

CTR Shri Sagar

Timings: 7 am to 12:30 pm, 4 pm to 9:30 pm

Cost for two: ₹150-200

Address: 7th Cross Rd, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, Karnataka- 560003

CTR is also known as Central Tiffin Rooms, opened its doors in the 1920s and has been serving ‘Bengaluru’s best benne dosa’ ever since, to long queues and celebrities, like Kamal Hassan and Virat Kohli, who come back to crispy outside, fluffy inside, and buttery benne dosas, year-round. Order the benne masala dosa or dose (filling is less spicy here), smeared with the iconic red garlic chutney, and a side of filter coffee at this food joint for the perfect meal. Chow chow bath and goli baaji are also popular foods at this eatery. 

Mavalli Tiffin Room 

Timings: 6:30 am to 11 am, 12:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Cost for two: ₹200-400

Address: 14, Lal Bagh Main Rd, Doddamavalli, Sudhama Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka- 560027

This iconic Bengaluru food joint opened its doors in 1924 as the Brahmins' Coffee Club before changing to the iconic MTR name in 1960. This place is more famous for its ghee-rich dosas made with red rice and urad dal batter. Just like CTR, they also use a chutney to smear the inside of the dosa; instead of red, it's green here. Then goes the potato filling around which the dosa is wrapped. You get a side of the Udupi-style sambar and coriander chutney. 

Vidyarthi Bhavan

Timings: 6:30 am to 11:30 am, 2 pm to 8 pm

Cost for two: ₹150-200

Address: 32, Gandhi Bazaar Main Rd, Gandhi Bazaar, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru, Karnataka- 560004

Another heritage place to grab benne dosa with filter coffee is Vidyarthi Bhavan, which opened its doors in 1943, closed on Friday. It draws locals and also celebrities with long queues that come for their dosas. The dosas are fried generously in butter, which produces the iconic crispy outside and soft inside, with a communal style of dining and the spectacle of watching waiters juggling enormous amounts of dosa-filled plates. Its location in the iconic Basavanagudi gives this place an old-world charm that is a must-try for an authentic benne dosa experience in Bangalore. 

Modern Benne Dosa Joints

If heritage places are not your thing or you have already frequented them, then you might want to try these places that serve the same buttery deliciousness that draws people for their authentic benne dosa recipe.

Benne

Timings: 7:30 am to 10:30 pm

Cost for two: ₹150-200

Address: Ground floor, Mantri Square Mall, 1, Sampige Rd, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560003

‘Benne’ refers to butter in Kannada, and taking that word, this dosa place emulates the generosity of Chennamma, a migrant woman who sold butter dosas in Devanagere, outside a theatre in 1928. This style of rich dosas thrives on nostalgia, which is milked by foodies and marketers, making places like Benne draw record crowds, who love their crispy butter dosas. The restaurant also brings Bangalore food to locals outside the city. Grab benne dosa here with other South Indian classics like akki roti, ghee thatte idli and filter coffee.  

Malgudi Mylari Mane

Timings: 12 pm to 11:30 pm

Cost for two: ₹200-1,200

Address: Ground Floor, SRS Tower, 21, near Mangala Kalyana Mantapa, KHB Colony, 5th Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka- 560030

With a modern-style dining area, this restaurant is famous for its Naati cuisine (rustic Karnataka-style cooking), a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian, and also Malnad cooking, which is vegetarian. If heading there to sample benne dosa, make sure to have their mutton dosa, which is cooked using the benne dosa recipe, with juicy keema inside a butter-drenched and crisp dosa, served with saagu and coconut chutney. You should also have their podi dosa. Make sure to come hungry to sample their mutton pulav, mutton paya, ragi mudde, pepper prawns, mutton fry and mutton chops. 

Bengaluru Cafe

Timings: 7 am to 10 pm

Cost for two: ₹100-200

Address: 9th Main Rd, 2nd Block, Jaya Nagar East, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560011

This one is a Darshini-style cafe that draws a crowd and provides quick service in a squeaky-clean environment. You can watch dosas being made at their live counter, a treat for those visiting for the first time. Grab bhajjis, bondas, uppittus, sooji halwa, chow chow bath, idlis, piping hot vadas, and filter coffee at this people-friendly joint in Jayanagar. There is no seating here, but they do have self-checkout options. It is a cash-only place for dining options.

Taaza Thindi

Timings: 7 am to 12 pm, 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Cost for two: ₹150-200

Address: 1004, 26th Main Rd, 4th T Block East, Jayanagara 9th Block, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka- 560041

This place is famous for its buttery and crisp ghee masala dosa, soft idlis, nd hot filter coffee. The name, translated, means fresh breakfast, food, or snacks, and that is exactly what you will find here: minimal options that cater to breakfast. It serves tiffin items at affordable prices, which have premium quality in a hygienic environment. This place is also a Darshini-style eatery, matching their prices, if not cheaper, with a coupon system that makes ordering and dining here a seamless experience. 

Best Food Places in Bangalore for Benne Dosa

These iconic benne dosa places in Bangalore are perfect to grab the buttery dish for breakfast, lunch, dinner or late-night munchies. Go for the butter, stay for the stories, the feel of the place and the deliciousness of the benne dosa recipes that each of these places has perfected and keep improving on.