Sri Raghavendra Stores — Restaurant in Bengaluru

After skipping a visit to this place umpteen number of times, I finally got an opportunity thanks to the mad queue at CTR. I decided to take a walk all the way from CTR to Raghavendra stores.

I was blessed with the perfect bangaloresque weather. A mild drizzle, cold breeze, the near empty lanes of malleshwaram, the beauitiful trees that adorn these lanes and some of them really unique, beautiful independent houses some of them with modern architecture and some still retaining that quaint look. I chose to criss cross the lanes to enjoy the magic that's malleshwaram.

I eventually reached the lane of Sri Raghavendra stores and the first thing you would see is the Sri Varadanjaneya Swami Temple followed by the very quaint Malleshwaram station. You might easily mistake it for a old house from the Malgudi days thanks to the huge trees.

I can only imagine how people must have enjoyed exiting the station and landing directly into the store. While there was queue at Raghavendra stores as well, it moved really fast thanks to the female cashier who was really fast maybe thanks to the hot RS coffee she was sipping.

In the limited menu written only in kannada, I chose to order idli, vada and kesari bath. To my surprise they didn't add chutney, and I was told you will get that on the left side and yes there was a guy standing with the chutney tank on top of a Cylinder. A generous pour of chutney and I finally had the first bite of idli and wada both of which were done exceptionally well. You can feel the bliss when you hear the crisp of the wada when you bite it The chutney just take it to another level. The kesari bath had a very nice texture to it and was not overly sweet which is exactly how i prefer.

They also serve khara bath with generous pour of raita which i didn't eat but unlike most raitas which are watery, this one was thick and rich. The other items include Shavige bath, chow chow bath, coffee/ tea. They don't serve sambar or Masala Dosa here.

The place is truly an experience and will give you a glimpse of how blessed Bangalore was or...

Small store serving upittu kesari bath idli and bisibele bath with their authentic chatni tasting differently from other restaurants. Excellent and yummy yummy breakfast destination to have here. This is very small place and you don't get place to sit and have the breakfast but the taste here will make the people to stand in queue and have softy idli, crispy wada, Kesar Baath etc.so, if anyone visits this area then they should not miss this destination. Finding Raghavendra Stores requires skills. First, you should know the timings (early in the mornings and late afternoons. Second, you should never look for it straight - you need to look for it out of the corner of your eye. Third, you should approach very respectfully.

If that all sounds very Harry Potter well it probably yes, because in addition to all of the above, Raghavendra Stores is also right next to a railway station.

Yes, Veena Stores may be more famous, CTR attracts the crowds and Janta Hotel gets all the hipsters, but Raghavendra Stores is that hole in the wall which beats them all. You will not find better vadas, idlis or shaavige uppittu.

The true quality of any place serving south Indian tiffin is the quality of the chutney and by that measure alone, Raghavendra Stores is hands down the best of the lot. The consistency that they manage with consistency is something needs a multi-million dollar research to truly understand but it takes only the price of a couple of idlis to...

This is a small shop near Malleshwaram railway station serving excellent food at reasonable prices, with self service and no dedicated seating area. The place is small but easy to spot as it is right beside the main road. When we went, there was some although manageable crowd. The menu has typical breakfast items available in Bengaluru. It is a prepaid self service restaurant. We had Idli-Vada, Shevige Bath, Chow Chow Bath, Masala Dosa. Idli was decent, Vada was crispy and excellent. There is a small counter serving chutney; chutney was decent but not the best for me. Shevige bath was good. Chow Chow Bath was the best of all. The Kesari Bath was optimally sweet and had optimum amount of ghee as well. Khara Bath was one of the best. Masala Dosa is available at another counter right across the road from the main restaurant. Dosa was bit too crispy for my liking although the taste was Ok. Coffee was good.

Service was good and fast, except that Dosa took a while because of queue of previous orders, which is typical of Dosas.

All the time, it had decent crowd of people, which was around 8-9 am time frame.

There is no dedicated seating area so one has to look around for any seating spot if available or have it standing. Cash & UPI payments are accepted. There is no parking but it's possible to find a spot for 2 wheelers, at least during early morning. All in all, a good restaurant especially for one of the best...