Iyer Vegetarian Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

My friend/godfather Peter Smith and I are always extremely happy with both the food and service at Iyer, including during both our latest visit there earlier today on 18/03/2025 and previous visits.

So sorry to the owner/chef and his staff, I am so sorry for not previously typing and posting a 100% positive Google review, I have no excuse and I hope this first one ever for Iyer makes up for it.

Many thanks and lots of gratitude from Peter and I (and his nephew Brendan Duncan who accompanied us at least once) to Iyer's owner/chef and staff for both the always absolutely amazing food and absolutely amazing service we received from them both during our aforementioned latest visit earlier today on 18/03/2025 and each one of our previous visits.

Iyer's owner/chef and staff there are always perfectly nice, friendly, fast, efficient and helpful and their food is always absolutely delicious! Each and every single time, we had the Small Thali or in my case today I had the Special Thali meal.

Perfectly showcasing Iyer's expertise in making not only the absolute best South Asian vegetarian food but the absolute best vegetarian food, the Small Thali is comprised of a large round metal platter comprised on a metal bowl filled with rice that is topped with a Pappadum and surrounded by eight smaller metal bowls - accompanied by a savoury donut called a Vada - each containing a distinctly different sweet of savoury elements, namely three distinct vegetarian curries (my apologies for not knowing the names of them), the spiced lentil stew clef Dhal, seasoned mixed dried beetroot, the cucumber flavoured yoghurt sauce called Raita, the spicy soup like Rasam and a Coconut Sago (cooked tapioca balls in coconut cream or milk). The Special Thali is the same as the Small Thali, but with the addition of a freshly made flatbread called Naan.

It's only $14 for the aforementioned Small Thali and for $17 you get the special Thali - which is the Small Thali with the aforementioned added Naan - both of which Peter and I very highly recommend to everyone, especially if it's their first time at Iyer.

EVERY single element of the Small Thali and Special Thali was meticulously and flawlessly name, and all so beautiful and perfectly presented, I have uploaded photos I took of both to Google review so you can see for yourself! Many thanks and lots of gratitude to Iyer's chef/owner and staff for going above and beyond to make every Small Thali and Special Thalo we had!

I paid for the meals of Peter and I today as well as a takeaway Small Thali for him to take home to his wife Althea. For the absolutely amazing food and absolutely amazing service we received today plus to make up for how long it's been since our last visit, I also gave a $10 tip that the owner/chef and staff of Iyer 100% deserve.

The owner/chef as always took the time to talk to Peter and I as we were having our meals. He's originally from Sri Lanka bur he had spent 7 years in my home country of Malaysia (from 1992 to 1999) serving at a Buddhist monster and he spoke very highly about Malaysia and it's local cuisine especially how you can get absolutely delicious food for so cheap! Many thanks and lots of gratitude to him for caring this much about customers like us! The female staff members was perfectly nice, friendly, helpful and welcoming as well, many thanks and lots of gratitude gratitude to her too.

So to every food critic, food lover, food blogger anf food social media star - especially the vegetarian ones and the ones who love vegetarian South Asian food...go to Iyer today, spread the word around (like I am via Google reviews and via giving out their business cards with their address Nd details that I took photos of an uploaded title it) by Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or TikTok and via Google reviews let everyone know how super awesome Iyer is; 100% deserving of every award and all the praise in the world.

Peter and I very much look forward to returning to Iyer! We cannot praise it and is...

A bit late to review this amazing restaurant. We went to this restaurant on Saturday for having special thali. This is the best restaurant for south indian meal in all terms : Authenticity, portion size and taste of the food, Customer Service, Price affordability and Valuing customer needs.

Authenticity : If you want to experience home style Tamil Nadu thali, this is the place to go. They haven't tweaked traditional dishes and recipes to sound fancy and charge extra. Food was simple, tasty, healthy and perfectly spiced (not overly spicy).

Variety and Taste: The special thali included rice, roti, papad, vada, sambar, rasam, okra curry, curd, spinach dal, mix vegetable thoran, veg curry and a sago semiya payasam. All of them were simple preparation and taste was excellent. Vada was very fresh and crispy. My personal favorite is roti and okra curry. Roti was mind-blowing. The same kind of thin and softest roti I've had by my mom 2 years ago and never expected the same from a restaurant. Thank you so much to this restaurant for the awesome experience.

Customer Service: Restaurant is run by very honest and soft spoken people. We were warmly greeted at the counter. Table was cleaned as soon as we sat and water jugs + glasses were provided. They came twice to check in while eating if we're all good.

Valuing customer needs: I liked the steel container that came in with rice. We can eat the rice along with all the curries directly from it without messing it up in and out of the plate. Also liked that a small separate spoon was kept in the payasam bowl so that we don't have to mix the big spoon that we use for savoury food in payasam.

Price affordability: It's a bit hard to believe you get all this for just $12.5 unlike other restaurants that charge super duper extra which sells similar food. It's value for money.

We went all the way from Box Hill to Dandenong to have this special thali. It was truly special. It was worth every penny. We will definitely come back again and will recommend to our friends. Thank you so much Iyer Vegetarian restaurant for such an...

Don’t bother with the healthy, home-style foods here, especially the ‘Special Thali’ for lunch, if you're only interested in commercial takeaways that are harmful in the long run.

Avoid this place if mild, ancient, spiritual (non-religious) background instrumental music that creates a positive vibe isn't your thing.

Skip this spot if you prefer to pay more for your meals at super commercial establishments.

Don’t try the ‘ancient sages designed, wholesome, freshly prepared, made-from-scratch, traditional method cooked food’ (Thali & Special Thali) if you're not familiar with the correct order of eating it. This order is designed to align with human anatomy and promote a balanced diet. The correct sequence along with rice & veggies should be: (i) Dhal/Spinach Dhal, (ii) Sambar, (iii) Kuzhambu, (iv) Rasam, (v) Curd, and (vi) Dessert (Paayasam).

Stay away if you're not interested in healing your body from the constant intake of commercial, harmful foods.

Don’t try this place if you only appreciate eateries equipped with microwaves and freezers. Neither is present here - only a fridge, used primarily for storing essentials like milk and dosa/idly batter, as...