7 replies to this topic

[Chetan]

We decided to head to MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Room) for breakfast on Sunday morning. MTR is located in the heart of Bangalore, on the Lal Bhagh road. It was founded by Parampalli Yajnanarayana Maiya and brothers in 1924, making it one of the oldest Restaurants in Bangalore; it has gone almost unchanged structurally as well, giving it the old school Bangalore look.

 

From the Wiki :

MTR Restaurant is a vegetarian restaurant located in Bangalore, India. It was founded in 1924. It has also been featured on television in the travel-related series, Globe Trekker. It is said that once a Chief Minister of Karnataka stood in a queue to have masala dosa at this restaurant.The restaurant building comprises two floors. It is recommended to reserve a table for lunch since unreserved customers have to wait in a waiting room, sometimes for up to an hour. The food served at the MTR is a regular, wholesome Karnataka Brahmin fare and has its origins in the Udupi Brahmin cuisine of the coastal region of Karnataka. The decor is outdated, as more attention is paid to cleanliness and food quality than ambience. For many years, the customers entered the restaurant through the kitchen so that they would be able to satisfy themselves about the restaurant's cleanliness before they ate there.During World War II, MTR found it difficult to make idlis since rice was in short supply. According to MTR, they experimented with using semolina instead of rice and thus invented the very popular breakfast item of Rava idli. MTR also holds a record of being the first fast food restaurant in the world to serve 21,000 customers in seven hours.[5] MTR restaurant is currently headed by Hemamalini Maiya, Vikram Maiya and Arvind Maiya (grand children of Yajnanarayana Maiya).One uniqueness of this restaurant is that silver tumblers are used to serve beverages. This restaurant was closed in the period of Indian emergency (mid 1970s) when the Food Control Act made it non-profitable to serve food items until it was reopened in 1984. To save the jobs during the time it was closed, MTR started selling spices and roasted flour mixes. That was the beginning of its entry into the convenience and instant food business and in a sense, a turning point.

 

 

 

The Entrance:

 

 

The Restaurant compromises of Ground and First floor . Although this sounds like enough place its always packed and its advisable to come in early and reserve a seat.

Ground Floor, this was packed at 8am on a Sunday morning as folks sip on coffee as they wait for breakfast parcels to be carried back home.

 

The Stairs to the first floor, emphasizing on the classic look.

 

 

A reminder to always book your seat.

 

 

The first Floor

The Timings

 

Breakfast / Tiffin: 6:30 am - 11:00 am & 3:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Lunch: 12:30 pm - 2:45 pm

Dinner: 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm (Only on Saturday and Sunday)

Monday Holiday

 

 

The food awards hung up in the waiting area of the first floor. MTR had won the "Best Karnataka" time’s food award in 2012, this honour for 2013 was given to Vidyarthi
Bhavan.

 

 

[Chetan]

The Menu:

 

As you can notice, it’s pretty pricey. A Masala Dosa at Rs 55 vs Vidyarthi Bhavan which undoubtedly servers the best Masala Dosas in the world is priced at Rs 35.

We ended up ordering for Rava Idli (Rs40) , Masala Dosa, Khara Bhath (Rs 38), Kesari Bhath (Rs 30) & Chandrahara (Rs 45) for breakfast, ending it with a silver cupped coffee Rs 25) and Cold Badam Milk (Rs 50) .

 

Rava idli in MTR is one of the best in Bangalore, loaded with ghee along with the potato saagu and chutney combine to make a delicious breakfast.
The Rava Idli's from Adigas in Bangalore are the only ones that come close to giving these a run for their money, although MTR claims to have invented The Rava Idli. Devour when still hot, tends to get dry quickly.

 

 

We were keen on ordering for Poori Saagu as well , however this is only made in the evenings and not in the mornings. if you are planning on heading to MTR specifically to try their poori saagu then head there after 3:30PM.

 

The Khara Bhath and Kesari Bhath were ordered as a sampling between the 4 of us who were at MTR. Pretty good I must say. The Khara Bhath unique to MTR had Cashews and Flat beans (avarekalu), similarly the Kesari Bhath has shavige (rice noodles) added in, giving it a unique texture and differentiating it from most of the other places in Bangalore.
The Brahmin's Coffee Bar, Khara Bhath defiantly comes very close to equalling what MTR servers though.

 

 

The Masala Dosa , good - Nowhere close to Vidyarthi Bhavan's dosas, if you are looking for a Masala Dosa treat only, then head to Vidyarthi Bhavan which is only 2 KMs away from where MTR is located.

 

 

Ended it with a sweet, Chandrahara, this is a traditional mithai, made mostly during weddings, loaded with ghee, the best I have ever had.

 

 

Coffee in a Sliver Cup.

 

Had a good time at MTR for breakfast, although there are other places that equals or betters some of the dishes MTR has to offer, getting them all together under one roof is what makes it unique. I did hear a lot of folks saying the standards and tastes aren’t what they used to be, but frankly I cannot really justify that one way or the other, simply because I didn’t frequent this place as much before.

 

Costed Rs 480 Breakfast for 4 + Parcel for 1.

 

Collateral Damage : The only concern while heading to MTR is the parking , its extremely hard to get parking and there is no designated parking area, hence I did park in what I believed to be a safe area to park and got a Ticket for No parking - Rs 100.

[The Lost Gourmet]

Have you had a chance to visit my good old friend Sadanand Mayya's "Mayyas"?

[Chetan]

Yes I have visited Maiya's . Infact its very close to home. I would say its very similar

[Chetan]

One factor I failed to mention was that almost all the dishes were served in a plate slightly larger than a saucer. Not sure if this is done to make the proportions look larger than what is served, but it could get in the way of comfortably eating what you ordered for without spillage.

 

Also adding Suresh's snap of the MTR Dosa when he visited this a year or so back. Suresh did you also post a topic or just the photo ?

 

[Chetan]

Had to share the AD on Rava Idli instant mix from MTR here.



Ha Ha ....

[Chetan]

Following this up on a serious note, another video on MTR and its success as featured by CNBC. Also features Arvind Maiya managing partner at MTR.

[Chetan]

I think they might have stopped serving poori's, just dropped into MTR in the evening and asked if they had poori and it wasn't available then as well.