Worlds best Masala Dosa and Vada Sambar - CTR and Janata
My wife and I are proper foodies. We just love food - any food (anything vegetarian that is). The facilities/admin manager at my workplace knows that -since I am probably the only guy who goes and thanks him for the good free food we get :) Anyways, he has been telling me of a couple of really old food joints in one of the core kannadiga-heartlands of Bangalore - Malleswaram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleshwara ). It is where True Bangalore lives. Beautiful, breezy, clean, no pollution. Nice. Anyways, getting back to food, He had mentioned two joints, each famous for different things.
The first was CTR - Central Tiffin Room, aka CTR. Apparently the name board alone has changed to Sree Sagar. Why do I say - apparently? Because the new name board is written fully in Kannada as well. So I would not have realized it either ways. My dear manager friend had given me spot-on directions, to reach the place, and even where to park (opposite side of the road - near the ground periphery - the cops ticket you if you park on the hotel road). But he had not mentioned how big/small it was. If you are going there for the first time, I am pretty sure, you will miss the hotel in the first go (like we did). But ask anyone, they will point you to the hole-in-the-wall entrance.
You will defenitely miss it, if you do not know how to read Kannada.
The worlds best butter masala dosa (benne masala dose).
Once the dosa had been gulped down, it was time to go to the second joint that my manager friend had recommended - Hotel Janata - famous for its Vada Sambar. You need to walk down to eigth cross for this (CTR is in 7th Cross). It is but a 10 minute walk. It is difficult to miss this hotel though. English name board and prominently displayed too.
Hotel Janata
The worlds best vada sambar.
All in all, what started off as a 'what-the-he**, let us just try these places today' morning, became a wonderful morning spent on delectable kannadiga good.
*BURP*. I mean *AMEN*, I mean *Thathaasthu* :=)