Dakshina Mandapa Restaurant — Restaurant in Hyderabad

Ambience- Good, live Indian music Welcome drink- Unpleasant (was in two layers, either improperly mixed or left in the glass for too long) Starters- Avoidable (soggy something Chinese and a very dry Indian tikki) Main course- Indian- Left with bad after-taste and burps Chinese- Yuck (both in appearance and taste) Desserts- good (the only thing worth eating) Hospitality- Disgusting

The first guy who opened the door for us, very rudely said "Kya he? Kya hona" I thought I went into the wrong door and asked him for the lunch buffet. He gazed, blabbered something and walked away when the manager appeared. Now the manager tells me the rates and suggests me to go elsewhere. I asked him, "does our appearances make you think that we can't afford?" To which he quickly put up a pathetic excuse that he had to 'inform' me so that I spend wisely. (Btw the rates were displayed outside). And all this conversation at the entrance with the guy blocking our way into the restaurant. After minutes of unimpressive hospitality and further more minutes of unnecessary fake-pleasantries, we still went in because one of us was a very hungry...

The moment you enter the place, it is very pleasant. Ambience is quite decent and perfect for family lunch and gathering. Earlier they played live music which was very congenial but now they are back to the recorded versions.

Buffet system is the one which is usually preferred because of the variety of dishes they offer. Like most of the restaurants, the menu keeps changing but paneer, noodles are a mandatory in the menu. This a pure vegetarian place with a good mix of both north and south indian dishes plus they do have a live counter for chaat. It may not be the right place if you like extra spicy food. On any day there are atleast 4 dessert in the menu which are very well prepared.

The major drawback could be the service provided by the staff during rush hours as they take way more time than usual compared to other places on their peak hours. To sum it up :

Ambience : 8/10 Service : 6/10 Main course : 8/10 for their variety Desserts : 9/10 Cost : ₹500 /person on weekends...

I love the idea of a buffet breakfast especially on a Sunday!! And these guys have such a wide variety of South Indian options - and they have great taste too!

For INR 300, it's super cheap with the quality of food there is. They have the typical South Indian options - (cute little) mini dosas, idli, vada, pongal etc, with 3 different options for chutneys -- very delicious! Other options are fruits, porridge, parathas. One section which sort of doesn't go with the vibe is the one with bread-y options. Though they're just 2-3 options like strudels, fruit cake etc, it's seemed like it's been kept for people who may not prefer south indian food. They were very average by taste as well. So can do without that option.

Oh, the kesri bath is YUM. I was unfortunately too stuffed with the rest of the delish food, but definitely try the kesri bath!

Came here only once, look forward to coming here...