The Rameshwaram Cafe @ Rajajinagar — Restaurant in Bengaluru

Well, this Cafe chain has built a cult like following across Bengaluru, to the extent people like me are under duress of FOMO & even feeling a sense of life’s accomplishment of cherished goals, by visiting the place.

Environment: quite airy, clean, hygienic, welcoming. But chaos personified due to not so proper crowd arrangements. Space is overcrowded to say mildly, @930am on Sunday. Quite an inconvenience to every one indeed.

Order booking: Self service kiosks are available, but only one of them works. Staff don’t bother to get the other one up & running despite crowd & feedback by customers. Kiosk need to automatically relay the order to the food counters with token details, to cut down unnecessary serpentine queues( if there’s one). There’s no signage on what needs to be done after taking order tokens. For there’s a unwritten norm that token needs to be shown with another person before handing to service staff at Dose counter. There’s no signage about counters & order token fulfilment.

No seating by design, only stand & eat policy. Cleanliness at Handwash counters needs thorough improvement. Uris at water dispensing counters & handwash counters are refreshing change and are maintained really well.

Wait staff: are very polite, patient, fairly prompt, helpful service.

Food: Masala pedi Dose stands out. But nothing to rave about. Much Better tasting delicacies can be found @Hotel Udupi Srikrishna Bhavan or Lakshmi Nataraj in Avenue road or Raja road, but in unpretentious way. Dose is drizzled in ghee but not greasy though. Accompaniment chutneys are ok, but sweetish. So is sambar, though it’s far better than the ones we get in umpteen Dharshini, Udupis, or even iconic joints. Sambar is full of body, veggies, ghee, but sweetish. Portion size is less compared to prices. Sambar idly is ok. But coffee is really good. Portion size of Ven Pongal is not at all upto the mark. Ordered Bisibelle bath with Raithu. Got only bele bath.

Tables are so crowded, we wonder if one is eating from one’s own plate or not, though each patron is very sensitive & courteous, to others. Cutlery is by far bio degradable.

Overall: taste of food is good, but not to be overwhelmed by the hype.

Prices: way too high at minimum 50% higher at minimum than in similar iconic joints.

I feel, if at all happens to be in & around there, one may try once, only to whet one’s curiosity, but even then it’s just passable...

Have tried this place multiple times and fail to understand the hype and reason for the crowds that throng the place!

Pros:

Super clean - Open Kitchen so you can see how the food is prepared Token/Self Service - have a traditional counter plus multiple self service kiosks Food Counter - The orders are called as per the token number on the bill Taste - Strictly OK & Nothing to rave about

Cons:

Dosa Token Number System: For the kind of profits that the place & it's owners/partners rake in - they should have some sympathy on their staff who has to keep shouting out token/Bill/order numbers for the Dosa.

In this age and time of computers - How difficult is it to have a Token Number Display with a call out loud speaker? The customers have to either crowd the counter waiting 5 to 15 minutes at times for their Dosa!

With the large outlet that this place is - if you are not near the counter - high chance that you will miss your order number being called out!

Dosa: Ordered the Ghee Pudi Dosa - was super crisp with loads of ghee! However they seem to be Skimping on the Pudi to increase bottomlines maybe - my Pudi Dosa has miniscule amount of Pudi on it. (Check Picture)

Sambhar - The Katori/Bowls provided for sambhar are tiny - max 4 to 5 spoons of the lentil soup. Given the Crowd the places sees and dearth of enough number of tables - who in the right frame of mind would like to go back & forth for multiple helpings? Maybe should try asking for more number of bowls next time and see if they oblige :-)

Chutney - Chutney is nice - serving provided was tiny - asked for a more generous helping in the beginning itself to save the trouble of going back!

There are far better places in Bengaluru that would provide much better Pudi Dosa and Sambhar along with table service for the price (Rs.120 for Ghee Pudi Sada Dosa)

P.s: It is not fair to pay Rs.120/- for a Ghee Pudi Plain Dosa & then hunt for a place to keep the plate! The place is always crowded and they don't have enough tables. Seniors and others may find it difficult to sit as they have just a few benches.

Most people end up squatting on the steps!

Coffee - Coffee was the only saving grace of this place for me.

Summary: If going to hyped places and posting pictures is your thing - this is the place for you!

If your focus is on food - there are far many better places in Bengaluru that offer table service along with better food for the...

It took me almost 7 months to visit this place even though I used to visit this area very often for movies and shopping. Maybe the crazy crowd even at late night on weekdays might have scared me. But all my fear vanished when I visited this place on a weekday night and saw their swift service.

This restaurant is located on the prime junction next to Orion Mall on Dr. Rajkumar Road, Rajajinagar. It's very hard to miss this place as the crowd will definitely catch your eyes. Ambience reminds you of heritage culture. The dining area is quite big with options like stand eat tables, few stone benches to sit and stair cases for those who love low key. They have 3-4 self billing kiosks which accept only UPI payments and 2 cash counters where they accept cash as well as UPI & Cards. Getting the token can take 3-5 mins depending on the crowd!

The kitchen area is also vast which facilitates quick service. They have a separate section to cook and serve each dish. They have Wi-Fi buzzers for Dosa counters which they assign as per token priority. I was really impressed by their adaptation of technology.

Service is really impressive as managing such huge crowds is an art by itself. Though you might not receive top notch hospitality, on time delivery of food feels enough to rate service as satisfactory.

Food was delicious. I ordered Ghee Podi Masale Dose which was crisp and tasty. Podi ghee idli was definitely star of them all. I love the chutneys they serve which compliments the dishes very well. Beverages like coffee & juices are at par good. They also serve paddu after the evening which I highly recommend to try.

Wash area, drinking water area was clean. The whole premises seemed to be hygienic. Parking could be difficult in the near by streets. But, if you are ready to walk some distance you can park in Orion mall or in some distant streets around.

Since it is open till Midnight 1AM and serves good quality delicacies, I would recommend this for the unique concept and the traditional feel it...