Bikanervala | Nungambakkam Chennai — Restaurant in Zone 9 Teynampet

Bikanerwala in Nungambakkam is a popular spot for anyone craving authentic North Indian and Rajasthani vegetarian cuisine, particularly its chaats and main courses. I recently visited and had the opportunity to try some of their most talked-about dishes: the Chole Bhature, Dahi Puri, Sev Puri, Raj Kachori, and Pav Bhaji. ​The Chole Bhature here is a standout. The chole (chickpea curry) is rich, spicy, and tangy, perfectly balanced with the flavors of various spices. The bhature (fried bread) are fluffy, soft, and have just the right amount of crispiness. They aren't greasy at all, which is a common complaint at many other places. The combination is a hearty and satisfying meal on its own. ​For chaat lovers, the options are plentiful and delicious. The Dahi Puri is a delightful mix of textures and flavors. Crispy puris are filled with a potato mixture and topped with a generous amount of sweet yogurt, tangy tamarind chutney, and spicy green chutney. The cooling yogurt and the crunch of the puri make for a perfect bite. ​The Sev Puri is another winner. The crispy puri is loaded with mashed potatoes, finely chopped onions, and tomatoes, and then topped with a medley of chutneys and a generous sprinkle of sev (crispy chickpea noodles). Each puri is a burst of flavors—sweet, spicy, and tangy—all at once. ​The Raj Kachori is a must-try for anyone visiting Bikanerwala. This is a giant, crispy kachori filled with an assortment of ingredients like boiled potatoes, chickpeas, moong sprouts, and topped with a variety of chutneys and yogurt. It's a culinary masterpiece that is both visually appealing and incredibly flavorful. The combination of the crunchy shell and the soft, spiced filling is simply divine. ​Lastly, the Pav Bhaji was a bit of a letdown compared to the other dishes. While the pav (bread rolls) were soft and buttery, the bhaji (vegetable curry) was a little bland and lacked the robust, spicy flavor that is characteristic of a good pav bhaji. It was decent, but it didn't quite match the high standard set by the other items on the menu. ​Overall, Bikanerwala in Nungambakkam is an excellent choice for a casual dining experience with friends and family. The chaats, particularly the Raj Kachori and the Chole Bhature, are phenomenal and worth a visit on their own. While the Pav Bhaji could use some improvement, the other dishes more than make up for it. The service is quick and efficient, and the restaurant is clean and well-maintained. If you're looking for a taste of authentic North Indian street food in Chennai, Bikanerwala is definitely a place...

I came to know about this newly opened popular food joint through a Facebook page. Today had some work in the nearby area, decided to go for lunch over here. This place is easy to locate. Valet parking 🅿️ is available.

Ambience is good, bit crowded when we went. Need to wait for ~10min for placing orders / billing counter. But got table without much hassle. Seating is comfortable.

Menu has decent varieties but many were not available. To quote few Hyderabadi Biriyani, Methi Paratha, Bun Samosa, Vada Pav, Badam milk, Kadhi Pakoda etc. Even Dhokla they said not available while it is available in counter which based on my information they took order. Also person sitting in 1st floor billing counter speaks only in Hindi which could be difficult for Non-Hindi speaking customer to understand :-(

Once you place your order, we carry token to our table seeing which our food are served to our table. Even ordered placed in ground floor is served in table of 1st floor. Best part is, the food ordered are served in no time.

We 4 people Ordered Special Thali, Chole bhature, Kachori, Panner Pakora, Pav Bhaji, Pani Puri, Masala lemonade, Dhokla and Mint Mojito. Also tasted few sweets and Fruit muffins.

Thali consist of Naan, Paratha, Panner Butter masala, Mix Veg curry, Fried rice, dal, sweet, papad, salad, pickle and boondhi raitha. Taste-wise everything is good except for fried rice which is more like normal steam rice with very very few vegetables. Dal is bit short of salt.

Kachori, Dhokla, masala lemonade and Chole bhature are excellent 🥰 Pav bhaji was not hot and ok😐 Pani Puri is let down. Puri was bit hard while pani is good. They serve puri, filling, pani (sweet and spicy) separately. We need to do filling on our own 😤 Mint Mojito is not great 😔

Tasted Pista Chakkar, Anurodh and assorted Kaju sweets. Everything is good 😍 Even the fruit muffin is excellent. Pricing is ok considering the location and quality. Value for money 💰 But for waiting time and non-availability of few items, it was satisfying experience.

PS - They also sell packaged snacks, breads, cakes, khakra etc....

It's one of those typical places combining a North indian sweet shop and a multi cuisine restaurant. I started with a snack which was quite good. The paneer cutlet was full of paneer with a crisp outer covering unlike ones that you get in similar places where they put some pieces of paneer within a potato filling in the cutlet. We also tried kachoris (both varieties) and matar Kulcha all of which were decent. Most of them carried a suggestion of desi ghee.

We also had a chola bhatura and a Manchurian noodles combo. Once again it wasn't a disappointment. Well made swollen bhaturas and a good amount of chalet with some potatoes and paneer. The noodles carried a smoky flavour and wasn't too garlicky. One thing however was that none of the items had any strong memorable flavour or taste. All of them were "safely" made. Noone would have any complaints about the food. But then it wouldn't be counted among you best food experiences. Even salt is on the lower side in most items. The paneer Tikka sizzler seemed to be a popular dish as several people were ordering it. But remember that its a sizzler plate full of paneer .so it might be suitable for only larger groups.

Sweets are again decent. The rasagolla is quite good and reasonably priced. Though not comparable in any way to those that you get in the eastern part of our country, it is far better than the leathery, squeaky and crumbly ones that you get in Chennai. Gilab Jamuna was good with Kesari in it. The gur Malai roll was interesting but not something that you would like to go back for.

Most of the ground floor is a self service store for prepacked fried snacks. The snacks are of a brand called bikano, probably their own brand of snacks Apart from that you have sweets and chats on the ground floor with one small row of seating. The restaurant is in the first floor. So people who have been to nagpur might be familiar with the model. A difference though is that the restaurant has...