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An underrated icon for thindi
Sometimes, I find that the word underrated is quite overused
Sometimes, I find that the word underrated is quite overused. However, in this particular case, it is a reasonable description of the place we are talking about this week. Gandhi Bazaar. Basavanagudi. Flower market, fruit stalls. The Thindi scene is epitomized by arguably the most iconic place in Bengaluru – Vidyarthi Bhavan. A place established before our country got independence. And it is a fantastic place.
However, it turns out that it is not even the oldest place in the neighborhood. That distinction belongs to Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room. Also called MLTR, which many people have jokingly equated to the band Michael Learns To Rock. It is located in the extended DVG road off the Gandhi bazaar circle. It is a little hard to locate as it is away from the heart of Gandhi bazaar, but once you see it, you witness a quick visage of that era. The name board is worn out. The pale yellow oval catches your attention, where ETSD 1926 is embedded. In red font, which doesn’t offer a good contrast against a faded blue background. None of this matters.
A characteristic of many iconic places in Bangalore is that sometimes, they just don’t care about publicizing themselves. There is no shortage of customers, and those who know it, stay loyal to it. Once you enter MLTR, you see checkered floor, wooden tables and benches for sitting, the tables have marble tops and the benches are orange. The food is simple. Vintage Udupi stype thindi. Their signatures are sagu masal dosE, masal dosE, bread toast and sagu with in house ketchup (I am personally not a fan of that ketchup though). The food is fantastic. No frills, no theatrics, no dousing of fats. Just simple, good, flavours. The idli is a typical akki ravE idli that soaks in the sambar and chutney beautifully. The kesari bath is an essay on extracting flavours with minimal fats. The prices are quite reasonable in spite of seating and service. It is not a darshini, per se, but it is one of the oldest places in Namma ooru and it often gets lost when one peruses current media for places to eat in Bengaluru. But I don’t thinkthe owners really care. They have a cult following regardless.
