Saturday night ,10:00 pm and it is buzzing energetic at Sarvanaa Bhavan, one of the most famous south Indian Restaurants at Sunnyvale. It is almost a compulsory haunt for every south Indian foodie out here. Surely there is something so homely about it. For me it is a pathway back in time to my good ol' college days in Bangalore.....and my home.
This place has slightly dirty floors, and an aroma of MTR masala and fresh filter coffee fills up the air, probably stimulating the taste buds. And to the hungry, it brings in a vivid imagination about the food which they'd wanna order. In fact I use the term "by 2 coffee" whenever I visit this place. It might seem to be an odd term out here, still the waiter gets the term well enough, and it brings in loads of college canteen memories to me.
Engineering college days, where we all used to find the canteen - however unkept or inadequate,
still a place to unwind and relax. For us every thing we ordered was 'by two' or 'by n' to be more specific. Our dosais used to evaporate by the time it reached the table from the counter. We shared everything including idlis or joys en sorrows, and it all happened in the canteen....!
I remember finding various categories of people haunting the college canteen. Students who used to bunk classes, the ones thrown out of class, hostelites, candidates preparing for an interview or an exam, cosy love birds and the very happening lot.
In fact the canteen table was a platform where several engineering concepts were dissected and seen in a new light, most likely in a lunch break over an exam or internal.
Sarvanaa Bhavan also reminds me of all the South Indian fast foods in in Bangalore, where in less than a few hundred square feet area there is enough place and price to make and serve fresh Idlis, Dosais , Vadas right out of the kitchen. Mostly these places are named ending with "Shree" or "Darshini"....Dasashree, Sapthashree, Meghashree...etc.
I wonder what the Shree/Darshini tag has to do with South Indian food. Nevertheless I loved them....and I visit the Sarvanaa Bhavan or Madras Cafe (another South Indian favorite) whenever I crave for that feeling.
It is quite common to find the Sambhar very perfect in these restaurants....and also the concept of unlimited servings of Sambhar orchutney is quite tempting. The golden brown and crispy dosai finish along with steaming idli rice preparations lightly garnished with coriander leaves or cashews......mmmmmm!
The ingredients for these preparations are quite universal. Yet they taste best when savored at a South Indian Fast food place.....served fresh and ready to slurpp!
I miss the waiters parroting the menu all in one breath....Plain dosai,Set Dosai, Masala Dosai, Rava Dosai, Rava Idli, Plain Idli, ....etc. Even today when I place an order at a South Indian restaurant I prefer to hear it out from someone rather than reading through the menu...
Well...to the joy of tasting Idlis and Dosais!...cheers!
