Vidyarthi Bhavan… If you think it's a name of some educational institution, you are wrong!!. This is a small restaurant near the Gandhi Bazar market where we get yummy masala dosas. It doesn't require neon signboards to attract customers. Never miss an opportunity to have the mouth watering crispy masala dosa, which they serve with the tasty chutney.

Vidyarthi Bhavan is housed in an old rented building at Gandhi Bazaar in Bangalore. It was taken over by Ramakrishna Adiga in April 1970, keeping in mind the large number of students going through Gandhi Bazar to colleges like National College, Acharya Patashala and BMS College. He named the restaurant as Vidyarthi Bhavan since majority of his customers were students.

"We use only quality rice and the best of ingredients for all our dishes, and the cooks are there with us since we started the restaurant," says Adiga revealing the secret behind the success. "We also serve other items like poori, idli and vada but they are not doing as well as masala dosas. Once a customer tastes our masala dosa, he becomes a customer for life. We are maintaining the taste and quality of masala dosa and other recipes since 30 years. At the same time we also take care to keep the restaurant neat and tidy," he adds. With the restaurant doing well, Adiga seems to be a satisfied person.

Here, the Masala dosa is served on a steel plate. The well roasted dosa stuffed and rolled with onion and potato Masala, tastes great when it is eaten with Urukadale chutney. Chutney is served to your heart's content and goes well with the hot dosa. According to Adiga, Kannada cine star, Vishnuvardhan, Janata Dal (U) leader PGR Sindhia, Former Chief Justice of Mysore State and Gandhian Nittur Srinivasa Rao and many others are the frequent customers of Vidyarthi Bhavan. Editor of Lankesh Patrike, late Lankesh and Kannada Prabha Editor, late Y N Krishna Murthy were also customers of Vidyarthi Bhavan. Local newspapers, TV channels like Udaya and even BBC have featured this restaurant.

The price of a Masala Dosa at Vidyarthi Bhavan is worth compared to other restaurants. A Masala Dosa is priced at Rs 12, Coffee Rs 4, Vada Rs 5 and Idli Rs 3. The restaurant is open between 6.30-11.30 am and 2-8 pm. It's closed during noon. Usually, the place is more crowded in the evenings than in the mornings.

Adiga wants to maintain the same quality for Masala Dosa and other items and retain the goodwill of his customers he has earned over the years.

Visit Vidyarthi Bhavan once and you will surely relish the experience.

Weekly holiday: Friday

Address: Vidyarthi Bhavan,
Gandhi Bazar, Basavanagudi,
Bangalore. Phone: 667 7588

Y. RAMA MOHAN

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