Dalma — Restaurant in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation

"A simple restaurant serving traditional Odia cuisine with quite a few food options in vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian and impressive portion sizes. Hospitality is pretty good and pricing is good/affordable as well."

Food: We tried their Dalma (with roti), Dahi Pakhala Non-Vegetarian and Vegetarian Platter, Rasabali, Chhena Jhili, Chhena Poda, and Chhena Chakta.

Dalma: The restaurant is named after this dish. Dalma is a simple and comforting dish. Essentially nothing but dal and vegetables curry (pumpkin, brinjal, etc.). Had with roti/rice.

Dahi Pakhala Non-Vegetarian Thali: Very satisfying, comforting, and filling. Best had in summers. We get fermented curd rice and various accompaniments/side dishes such as mashed potatoes, sweet dates chutney, fish/prawn fry (delicious), saag (leafy vegetables), aloo and drumsticks in mustard paste and oil (sharp, pungent, and interesting flavours), and badi chura (crumbled fried lentils dumpling). Brilliant side dishes, each one of them goes great with fermented curd rice.

Rasabali: Chhena soaked in milk, soft and nice Chhena patties in sweetened milk. Pretty good.

Chenna Poda: Burnt but soft Chhena cake (burnt cheese/paneer).

Chhena Jhili: Fried Chhena in sugar syrup (like gulab jamun but made of chhena instead).

Chhena Chakta: I was told it was made of chhena as well. Almost like kheer.

Service: Very good hospitality. One of the staff members patiently helped us with the menu.

Ambience: Simple, minimalistic, and air conditioned. Gets the job done. Could get a seat easily.

Overall, a great place in Bhubaneswar to try out traditional/native Odia thalis, Dahi Pakhala, desserts, and other...

Dalma restaurant now remains just a name. Their brand reputation has inflated their price. But you get zero value for money.

Located in the 1st floor, the reataurant gives a false Odia vibe by adding wallpapers of some Odia legends. Although the interior is neat and clean, the inside of the reataurant has some echo problem. People chattering turns into loud annoying echo across the restaurant. Even with minimum people inside, it felt like This is a public buffet party. AC doesn't help.

Service boys are prompt and offer packaged drinking water as soon as you reach a table. And they give a very classy designed menu which lists all the overpriced and overhyped items they offer.

Usual wait is within 10 mins. I ordered mutton thali which contained 2 small bowls of rice, one katori of dalma, one small katori full of aloo bharta, few slices of raw cucumber and a plate with 4 mutton pieces and 1 potato piece.

The rice was okay, not soft but you can chew your way through. Dalma was good but not as it used to be. Even your home cooked dalma might test better than what they serve. Aloo bharta was tasty.

Now coming to the mutton, out of 4 pieces, 2 pieces were meat and 2 pieces were bone and cartilage. The meat was not well cooked, had to pull them from the bones with teeth by force. The gravy however was good.

The thali costs a whooping Rs.400 and you get a bill of Rs.420 for 5% GST. The menu doesn't include GST.

If you have spare money to waste or have nothing better to do with your life, visit this restaurant for their...

Food - 3/5 We ordered Special Thali(Veg), Chingudi Rai, and Pomfret Tawa Fry.

Special Thali had lots of side dishes. It was average but a few dishes in the thali were really good - namely Bitter Gourd Fry, Elephant's Apple Curry and a curry made with Vada (dunno about the name). The rest of the dishes were okay and not so special. Chingudi Rai Curry was underwhelming for a 350 INR food item. Pomfret Tawa Fry was delicious. Plain Rice was charged extra so it felt atrocious.

Service - 4/5 Server was polite and attentive. Him knowing a bit of Hindi with medium fluency helped the case a lot. The servers were attentive to refill request.

Atmosphere - 3.5/5 The ACs were not that efficient and room temperature was a bit warmer in the humid weather of Bhubaneswar. The basins of the restaurant felt a bit dirty.

Summary - 3.5/5 We had our first meal in the state of Odisha here. The authenticity in the Odia meals were felt in the dishes served. Although I have a strong hunch that there might be better options as compared to Dalma. But I ai believe the food is good if you are okay with low oil and less masala food items. Almost like a...