Mavalli Tiffin Room, Lalbagh Road, Bangalore

We had a great party here and a big family get together for my uncle made marriage anniversary. It ended in a boring party with the waste meals. Nothing special and not even sambar was good for rice. We all threw away many items, even chapatis was not good.

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I visited here on one occasion with my friends for lunch. The price almost made us leave but we were reluctant. The prices were around 230 per plate and so we just decided to give it a try. They made us sit in a row, and started serving us in banana leaves. Starting with several types of sweets, puri was good and then several kind of rice items before ending with a sweet pan. We were over satisfied and our tummies were totally full, we even skipped dinner that day. Please go empty stomach to taste all the savouries served here. Try to skip breakfast as well. It was totally worth

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One of the best South Indian meals I've had in recent times, this place has an old world charm, was packed to the core and have a complete orthodox feel to it. But when it comes to food and service it's top grade and mesmerizing. From authentic sabzi and grape juice to pulao, plain rice with sumptuous sambar and rassam to khajoor halwa, everything was a masterpiece crafted with finesse. A beeda and fruit ice cream to wrap up your meal in the end was an experience.

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Mavalli tiffin room is a famous restaurant started in 1924 by Parameshwara Maiya along with his brother as'Brahmin coffee club' at Lalbagh road serving coffee and idlis. Now, has become  a legend in the restaurants and food products in Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka.

MTR, as it is popularly known is no longer under'Maiyas' as they sold the company and after 2 years started another similar giant'Maiyas' restaurants and food products.

Coming to the restaurant and the taste, its awesome, specially their variety of dosas and south Indian rice items.

It tastes like home food and my mom prefers this restaurant because of their hygiene and the taste.

It is a nice place for breakfast and lunch. Whenever we go to Lalbagh and nearby places, we visit MTR for lunch. There will be a little rush most of the times and you will have to wait around 15 minutes and sometimes more, just to go in, so if you are very hungry and looking for fast food, this would not be a good option. There is also self service in the ground floor, but it will be too crowded and hardly any air to breathe, so we prefer first floor.

Among the rice items they make, I suggest you to try their Bisi bele bath, I like that the most and among dosas, rava dosa is very tasty. All the items on the list are exceptional in taste though these are my favorites.

It is an ideal place for family and if you and your friends want to taste south Indian food, this is the right place which gives you the right taste.

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Today, we had been to MTR, the iconic and legendary destination of Benuluru.sure it was.I had the opportunity to relish all the goodies way back in'93 and later onwards.

But today's experience is sorely disappointing.We preferred a mini lunch than a regular full lunch with teeming number of items jostling for precious real estate of taste buds.

Ambiance: Mini lunch is served in self-service counter, adjoining the main entrance. This place is absolutely cluttered, stuffy, dingy and virtually delapidated.not on the lines of a well maintained heritage property but dreary weathered old structure without any lights/AC/flow of air etc.,

Service: absolutely nonchalant incommunicado serves by sheer presence of the customer than by virtue of any semblance of warmth or genuine interest in serving the patron.what with the iconic status

Cleanlines: less said is better.neither the tables are cleared nor the cleaning is sufficient.its an ugly mess of eye sore that welcomes the guest in such claustrophic environment

Food: we have ordered very trepidatiously a couple of Bise Belle Bath.another local favorite dish.well its hot.but nothing to relish or savor

Ovrerall: its best avoided till MTR shuts this entire joint, renovate, reorient their staff and offerings yet retaining the old world charm.lest its aggrandizing the overly milked up so called heritage joint.

Rating:  1 only due to the earlier positive experiences

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Being a north Indian it was bit tough to find good food, my hubby n I came across dis food junction. We were not that hungry to have 2 plates as sharing  was not allowed.

We thought taken a rick of 210 per plate. We checked d ambiance and d crowd over there, thn d food wz served from dfrnt ppl n all dfrnt dishes. We cudnt finished d entire food n d exp wz awesome. loved d food n especially d fruit cream. would luv to visit d place agn vid my entire family.

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Mavalli Tiffin Room is not your regular restaurant or food joint. Mavalli Tiffin Room or more commonly known as MTR is a tiny place that looks more like a cafeteria and less like a restaurant.

What MTR is really famous for is its authentic ghee doused South Indian food. MTR has been serving people for donkey years now. Along with providing tiffins too people all over the city they also have this tiny cafeteria on Lalbaugh Road.

On any given day be ready to wait in a queue(actual serpentine queue) for atleast 20-30 minutes especially in the mornings. In the morning people folk in from afar to have a quick yet delicious breakfast at MTR.

MTR is famous for it’s Masala Dosa, Rava Idli and Kesari Bath. The coffee here is the best you have ever had.

MTR is not a place you can hangout at for a long time because there is always a queue so you quickly need to devour whats on your plate and rush out to help mankind.

The place is not well kept but it doesn’t matter because we hardly get time to soak in the ambience. You will be served quickly and the food will keep you occupied until there is nothing left on the plate. It is guaranteed!

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I recently shifted from Mumbai to Bangalore. I had never heard of Mavalli Tiffin Room(MTF) until I heard some colleagues in the office talking about it.

Soon after my colleagues took me, one morning to MTR I was taken aback by the sight. It looked like some shaddy shop and people were queuing up in front of it like it was a Ration queue. We stood behind them and after 20 minutes we were ushered inside.

The interior was a reflection of the outside; I didn't expect anything different either. We placed our order and it arrived in less then 5 minutes. The idilis were piping hot and super fresh. The sambar was light and went well with the idlis. I also called for Masala Dosa and it was delicious, I ordered another one as well.

I didn’t quite like the ambience but I eventually figured why it was the most  popular restaurant for South Indian food. They serve the traditional fare and the best part is that it is served fresh.

I would definitely come here again.

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Be it a breakfast of piping hot Rava Idly/Masala Dose or the sumptuous Lunch/Dinner served in plate, MTR still rules! Over years it has managed to maintain its heritage and'ambience'. For starters it might put them off, but for someone like me, who was introduced to MTR as a kid, we relish the old world charm that is found in the restaurant(I am reviewing the main MTR at Mavalli).

The taste has not changed a bit. That itself is a big plus point to a restaurant which has a very long history. Though Adigas/Maiyya's have propped up in the last decade in Bangalore, MTR still maintains it's loyal customers(I prefer Adiagas' Rava Idly to MTR's, but still am a fan of MTRs food).

I would recommend MTR to everyone who wants to have a good tasty breakfast and lunch. The waiting might be little tough(and also the slightly indifferent/high-headed service), but if you are fine with that eating should be a delight in MTR. Since childhood I have always wished for the service at MTR to become a little more friendly, with bearers/waiters patiently tending to the customers, but my prayers have never been answered. The food is quite pricey, but its worth it.

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We reached at MTR quite in advance at around 12:40 noon so that we dont have to wait for getting a table. Later on only did I find that even if I would have come late, number of tables were amply free to be occupied.  At 12:40 saw some people still nibbling away their light bruch and then we were told that lunch will start 1noon. So we killed time for 20 minutes and were back sharp at 1.00.

Precisely at 1:00 they started the service and the ambience in the MTR at forum value mall was good.  Half of the tables were under the covered area and other half of the tables were in balcony.

This was my first visit to MTR and had good expectations.  Ran through the menu which had eye catching items listed which I myself have never heard of them.  The lunch was served for Rs.200 and it was unlimited.  When the service began it started with Sweet Pongal a pure south indian dish which I would term as average/okay.  Followed by a salad which was a mix of sprouts like green dal with raw cucumber.  This too was quite average.  On the other sweet items, payasam was served which was way below par by any standards.  The coconut laddu served was good.  One red chilly stuffed hot looking beans curry, which was too much spicy.  I could see the items getting wasted in most of the plates.  One more curry was coconut based one vegetable, which was quite average to mention.  The serving started with rumali roti, which was prepared long back and was not hot.  To eat with Rumali a south indian version of the korma which was again spicy.  Then they served bisi bele bath, alongwith onion cucumber rayata.  Rayata was good and bisi bele bath was too much spicy but hot.

Then followed plain rice with sambhar which was too much sweet and spicy too.  Then rasam was plain simple and then finally ended with curd rice, quite plain and simple.

Finally a plain ice-cream to end the lunch.  Then came to the table a south indian version of pan/beeda  with the bill.

Ambience:

Ambience was good as it was part of the Forum Value mall

Cleanliness:

The drinking water was dirty and the glasses and plates were not washed properly.  Especially we were the 1st batch to have the lunch.

Service:

The service was very poor not a single soul asked what I wanted for a second time, rather I had to spend half of the time to get a merciful glance of a server to get the item that I wanted.  And they served the second round with hearted manner as if its a favour.

The old gentleman supervisor who was over looking the tables was only concerned with when the ice-cream is finished and he can place the bill on the table.  Never did he bother to check if the guests are being serviced properly.

Food Quality & Taste:

Food quality was very average or I wont have hesitation to rate is a below average, since the same type of stuff you can get it any ...sagar type restaurants also and that too 10% of the price which MTR Forum Value was charging.  Taste wise other than ladoo and ice-cream nothing is edible.

Bottomline:

I did not find it worth for my money, will never go there again.  Realised why not much crowd is there at MTR at Saturday lunch time.

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How many years back my first bite at MTR it must have been at least 45 years back and since I was in teen age the memories are not at all there but later by my 20th age that is 40 years back the FRAGRANCE OF TASTE REMEMBRANCE IS AS NEW AS TODAY.

MTR means Mavalli tiffin rooms but the whole of Bangalore knows what is meant by MTR .

Liva little hot sippa gold spot, in this advertisement 45 years back Rekha in her blue dress and the spring type background and the amazing picture really made everyone just for Rekhas fresh face look, me too succumbed to taste Gold spot juice.Gold spot means Rekha such popular drink it became.

Gold spot and MTR but today gold spot is vanished but MTR has stood the test of time.WHAT IS ALL SO MUCH ON MTR are not there any many other TIFFIN hotels in Bangalore.I will definitely impress the reader why this hotel is forever a place to enter enjoy and remember for life.

THIS IS THE ONLY VEG HOTEL IN INDIA ONE CAN SAY STOOD THE TEST OF TIME.It is not veg hotel because veg means exclusive many type of dishes that is not meals, here in this . Super speciality hotel the aroma, the place, the smell inside the hotel makes one feel his tongue isfeeling the saliva asking for the dip of the taste of dosa, ravaidli, jamun, kesari bath, the coffee the very smell of steaming cofee makes one to fall in love with coffee of MTR.

Masala dosa by itself in MTR is very superiour, I just cant give any adverse remark on the Masala dosathat is manufactured in this hotel.Manufacture this word means it is like a factory branded product and I am sure for this day the MTRhas kept the promise of keeping the Masala dosa as super speciality that only this hotel can bringfor the feel of one who is eager, hungry and at any cost wait and feel the joy of it.

EVERYONE IN THE CROWD LOVES AND JEALOUS ALSO.

When the next table wala gets nice crisp and the oozing smell of Masala dosa its aroma can faint any one who miss it.Faint means nearly fall in love with looking at the dosa served to the next table andthe way the family of four newly married with her father in law and mother in law,

Mother in law acts like a bride in MTR. Yes Mother in law and father in law love the value of MTR masala dosa so much they wont wait for the

daughter in law to start, they cut the edge of the dosa first and open to make sure enough alu mixed with onion is stuffed inside evenly.EVENLY THE ALU AND ONION IS MIXED is too tasty ofcourse.Along with they serve enough chutney which is made out of coconut .

PROMINANCE IS ON STUFFED ONION AND ALUMIXED AND CHUTNEY IS NOT TOO FAMOUS.

There is deliberate distinction not to give major prominance for chutney it is all due to the stuffed inside the masala dosa has to be consumed in order to feel the total raptureous feel of it.EVERY BITE OF MASALA DOSA IS LIFE LONG REMEMBERANCE.

Yes it is, you have fallen in love with the dosa and since it is made of pure ghee and also the cleanest kitchen ever introduced in Bangalore started firrst in MTR.MTR KITHCHEN AND CLEANINESS IS FAR HYGENIC OVER ANY FIVE STAR HOTELS IN BANGLRE.

Yes this I can vouch the staff are neatly dressed wearing south indian cotton dhothi and shirt and all are BRAHMINS.The staff look more like cultured servers unlike in other restaurants the feel for us they are not at all

neat and fresh in their face.

THE HOTEL IS ALWAYS JAMPACKED FROM EARLY MORNING TO EVENING.Timing of this hotel is 7 am to 12 pm. 4 pm to 8 pm in the evening.NO SEAT AND ONE HAS TO WAIT, IT TAKES AT LEAST 10 TO 15 MINUTES FOR A FAMILY.

Be patient and courteous to the staff, this hotel has got traditional behaviour and they dont consider more on the customer, their main aim is to give QUALITY DOSA AND RAVA IDLY.

RAVA IDLY MUST BE TASTED.

They place cashewnuts and also enough chutney and sagu is a liquid dish so well in taste since theygive liberal ghee when it is mixed with the hot RAVA IDLY u feel it is HEAVEN FEEL TO EAT.

COFFEE, THE SMELL OF THE COFFEE MUST BE TASTED.

The end of MTR visit is INCOMPLETE unless one taste the superiour coffee that is not avaible any where in Bangaloare.

ONCE YOU VISIT MTR THE FEEL IS SO NICE NOT FOR EVERYDAY.

Yes MTR means it is a place to remember that you had enough of its dosa and rava idly and ofcourse

coffee.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.You need a year to come back because it is always crowded and you must love to wait.

YOU FEEL DISTINGUISHED FEEL, YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PERSON HERE.Yes everyone who visit MTR behaves as if he is from USA.

That is the value of MTR.

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I am a true-blue BengaLuru huduga and I know my share of good hotels and restaurants. MTR was one such place that my family, friends and I loved to visit for the lip-smacking food they served - some dishes were literally Ambrosia(heaven-like). MTR was a place known for its quality, discipline and no-nonsense attitude towards good pure food. The restaurant was like this for all the(25+) years that I have known it. Alas! Things have changed now and it saddens me when I realize that Namma BengaLuru has lost one of it's legendary places to eat-out at.

I had the chance to visit MTR today with my family, for evening snacks. We reached there around 6:30pm and were made to wait in the all-so-familiar-yet-extremely-dull waiting room. After about 30-45 minutes, we were called in and were seated at our table. When we sat down, the table was not yet cleaned - something that was never seen at MTR. The cleaner boy then came in and lazily swept the traces of food that were on the table. After he left, I noticed that the table was still not clean and had to call him again to do his job correctly.

Later, our orders were taken by a very arrogant waiter who didn't have the courtesy to wait till we finished giving our orders. When we were still contemplating on what to eat, he was already half way down the hall and we had to yell out the remaining orders to him.

After what seemed like ages, he got the food on our table - the regular Masale Dose and Jamoon, all at the same time. The Jamoon was hard and tasted like uncooked dough. The size has also reduced - It's about the size of a Pani-Puri's Puri, but flatter, almost like a smalllll cutlet. It was brought in a saucer which was really dirty(compared to the standards MTR usually maintains). The taste was OKKKK - nothing out of this world(as one would "expect" at MTR). Also, when we asked for spoons(yes - we had to ASK for spoons . the waiter didn't give us spoons when he brought the jamoon), he just gave us those which were lying in a show-case kind of cabinet. They were simply there - no plate / paper underneath. God knows how clean that show-case cabinet was!

After the disappointing Jamoon experience, we dug into the Dose, expecting crispy, yet soft Doses that would just take us to cloud 9. To our shock, and surprise, the Dose was not even hot(like it has always been all these years). It was just cold on the outside and slightly warm at the center. Sometimes, the Dose that we get from other restaurants - packed for home(parcel) will be hotter when we eat it at home. This MTR Dose was cold! Not what one expects. The chutney for the dose was kept in open cups in the same dirty cabinet in which the spoons were. The filled cups were just lying there - open. We didn't even have a clue about what time they were kept there - morning / afternoon / last night?!?!? Who knows?!?!

Coming to the quality of the dose . it was under-cooked. Unevenly baked edges made the dose soft and chewy(leathery and tasted like batter/dough) - not what you'd expect for 42 bucks! I've had better for less than half that price. Later, when we asked for extra chutney, the waiter took 5 minutes to give it to us.which made the cold dose even worse. The size of the Dose has reduced too. The tringular shaped folded dose will now easily fit on a(dirty) porcelain plate that has a diameter of about 6 or 7 inches.

After labouring though a chewy dose, we ordered coffee which was brought in cups that had brown stains on them. I doubt if they were even washed properly. It looked as if they were just dipped in water before refilling them with coffee for the next gullible "MTR" customer. Earlier, they used to give us coffee and sugar, and we could mix the appropriate amount of sugar. Now - the sugar is added to the coffee and is not even stirred. I realized this the "bitter-sweet" way, when my coffee was bitter and strong at first, and later became utterly sweet at the end. The coffee tasted OK. again. I've had better and for lesser prices.

After a disappointing evening snack, I got the biggest disappointment - the bill. The casual evening snack had set me back by about 250 Rs, which was atrocious. I could have had the same amount of(better tasting) food, probably even bigger doses, with almost no time lost in waiting, and with better service for less than half the bill amount.

I think that the MTR is now surviving only because of die-hard MTR fans who would not step into another restaurant, just because they feel MTR is.well. "MTR". It was like that before, but sadly, its not the "MTR" anymore.

Its just an old building with crumbling paint on the walls, dingy corners, plastic chairs(those Nilkamal types without arm rests) for seats, dirty floors, arrogant waiters, unhygienic silverware, open food and a fanatic fan-following that makes it survive in today's competitive world. What's worse is that they dont even have a proper hand-wash area. There is a small(dirty) sink in a corner of the waiting area which has a tap that hardly closes(thanks to greasy palms of dose eating customers). Overall, a great restaurant, now ruining itself.

As a last note, I'd just like to compare MTR with another giant, which is now losing out it's valuable customer base in very similar circumstances - Nokia. Nokia mobiles were known for their quality and build(and later, Symbian software and smart phones). Unfortunately, they never changed and thought that they will still be market leaders in smartphones. Now, after iOS and Android(and the Berry), Nokia smartphones are becoming "expensive regrets". I was a Nokia fan too . I no longer am one. Similarly, I was a MTR fan too .but again, I no longer am one after today's disappointing experience.

That's how I;d like to end this review of MTR - an expensive regretful experience. Dont waste your time and money here - it's not worth it anymore.

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It was the shock of life for us on visting MTR last evening. We entered around 5:00 PM knew perfectly well that it will be slightly crowded & need to get the names registered and got it done. The guy was such a maniac that anyone giving him a tip of 5 or 10 Rupees he would let them in early bypassing others. If you know the MTR staff then you can get in faster by-passing the line.

This guy started foul mouthing & ordering people to sit. When my wife went to enquire how much more time it will take, he said "Please be seated in the line, I will call you when your time comes, dont act smart" he started replying in English

Meanwhile he started letting in people who he wished. Later one old man with his dhoti lifted up came and started shouting at everyone there to sit down else not to come in. Started calling out a set of names - who had apparently had sneaked in much earler & were seated already. Then he called out my name and said now you can go & made unwanted facially expression. I politely tried to speak to him, but instead he was in no mood to listen a word, he get inside and told next...

Service: You better order now itself what you want else you will not get. Chandrahar - the one time most favorite item was ordered, along with Poori & Dosa. Instead Chandrahar the sweet was brought first and while trying to cut a small portion with a small, almost broke the porcelein plate as it was rock hard. I had never seen it so hard or tasted it like that.

Next came dosa - leathery & salty, & the poori with Salty Saagu. Coffee was served in Silver plated cup and when asked for a spoon to mix the sugar in the coffee - the server refused to give a spoon stating it will scratch the cup.

Meanwhile one couple who were seated in next table were uncermoniously evicted out of their seats (by then they ordered food) and sent to an adjacent room. On another set of tables, 5 persons were seated spread across two tables. He started yelling at them to sit in one table itself so that he can use the remaining seats to accomodate rest of crowd

Did not give any tips for this bad behaviour and service just paid the exact amount and walked out. NEVER AGAIN SAY MTR is what my family said the moment we were out of resturant. We were really hurt by this kind of shabby treatment meeted out to us. May the MTR Resturant perish & go down the drains is what we felt.

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Would you prefer to sample DELICIOUS MASALA DOSA, UPMA, GOOD SOUTH INDIAN COFFEE and maybe, more? If so, read on.

*PROLOGUE

*This isn't your usual South Indian restaurant in Bangalore. This has a brand name, a reputation, a quality tag and hence; evokes a keen sense of curiosity - by word of mouth or other; especially  if you're not from Bangalore by birth or descent.  At this place; you can choose from a decent menu of genuine Karnataka "Brahmana" or Udipi Brahmana style-cuisine items. The flavor is authentic, hence, what we perceive as "taste", may have you happily agreeing on it, for this style of cuisine.

Not quite airplane cuisine, huh? You bet - this review is about  MAVALLI TIFFIN ROOMS, locally popular as"MTR".More on the brand at: https://mtrfoods.com/

MTR, the restaurant:(See pictures, please!)

From a brand and business perspective; MTR is the pride of Bangalore for 80+ years. The restaurant offers authentic Karnataka style vegetarian cuisine in a style that South Indian brahmanas or "brahmins" would love/identify/prefer to call it their "own".   Located close to Lalbagh gardens, this restaurant has yummy menu choices.

MTR, the menu, the range, the snacks:

-Idli

-Rave(Soojee) Idli, an MTR invention

-Medu Vada(This Karnataka version when prepared correctly is the most authentic in flavor, taste and texture)

-Dosae(In general - Plain, Set, Masala, Paper, Rocket and so on are choices in many restaurants)

-Uppittu also known by its Tamil name Upma

-Kesari Baath(sweet)

-Puri or Pooree(not puree)

-Hot Karnataka Coffee, typically South Indian in flavor

HEY, WHAT'S FOR LUNCH?

A normal lunch order may offer you, quite substantial by choice and quantity, of course quality. The meal is considered authentic Karnataka fare and enjoyable by most folks that've been there.

Fruit juice

Kheer or Payasam

Kosambari(a grated cucumber, lentil and coconut preparation)

Vegetable gravy

Masala dosa(In Karnataka M.Dosae is offered with coconut-coriander chutney, not sambar in general)

Vangibath(normally eggplant or brinjal is stir-fried with rice & spice, all nice)

Rice

Tomato Rasam

Gojju or sweet chutney style offering

Sweet pongal, a sweet

Jalebi, a sweet

Crisp Ambodé

Yoghurt or Milk-curd

Fruit salad

-

HOW DO THEY MEASURE UP?

Positives - Overall rating 9/10

• Brand value, image - 9/10

  
  




• Quality, flavor, taste - 7/10

  
  




• Old Bangalore charm - 10/10

  
  




• Traditional values in cooking - 10/10

  
  




• Moderate use of spices - 9/10

  
  




• Easy access in city area, near Lalbagh Gate

  
  

-

Not so good

• Too crowded inside

  
  




• Make the ambience neat, simple but modern

  
  




• Reduce ghee and fat

  
  

-

*Suggestions

*- Bring in some of those wonderul North Indian snacks - Samosa, Chats etc

• Reduce waiting times

- YOU TELL ME!

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MTR or Mavalli Tiffin Room is one of the most famous and oldest restaurants in Bangalore serving authentic South Indian Bangalorean dishes . It is located on Lalbah road and very easy to miss if you do not watch out carefully.  The building is very old and doesn't stand up to its reputation.

However you must try eating here since you will hear MTR brand name everywhere you go.They do not have a branch anywhere else in the city .

However there is always a huge sizeable crowd waiting to be served and so be prepared to wait atleast an hour before your turn comes. Parking will be difficult on the road, however there is a parking lot available on the opposite side of the road.Inside the restaurant on the hallway,  The walls have old black and white photographs depicting its history. Please try out rava idli, masala dosa, normal dosa, tea/coffee and if you have still space left in stomach, try out the other dishes.You will see lots of families eating out here . The taste is different and good; however the ghee will fill up your stomach soon; So recommended to eat once in a while and not everyday.

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For those Bangaloreans who were used to the MTR of the old, the current establishment is a pale reflection of the old. There is more hype and image than quality. The old management insisted on the quality that was delivered and hence stuck to their adherence to the decades old practises. The new avatar is slowly killing the quality while hyping up the hype. The fare dished out, especially on crowded Sunday mornings (the only days us working types can make it comfortably), is going from bad to worse. My wife and I have gone to MTR atleast once in 4 months just for a change. There are numerous eateries that offer Sunday breakfast/brunch, but we still force ourselves once in a while to get up early, go for a walk in Lalbagh and then end up at MTR.

The last few times we did this, the result was very disappointing. We are still made to wait, still made to register out names, still endured the gloomy waiting room for 45 minutes (mind you, you need to be there before 8:30 am to get in faster than that) and finally entered to sit down. What is available? Usual Kharabath, Rava Iddly, Masala Dosai (Iddly, Poori and other items get over before 8:00 am on Sundays). I ordered Rava Iddly and Masala Dosai, my wife opted for Kharabath and M Dosa. We thought we will have a sweet while waiting. The sweet was very hard, but passable, . The sweetened milk gravy sort of made up for the hardness once you managed to break it up. Rava Iddly took a good 10 minutes to come. It was not hot. Moreover it was quite hard. It looked like it was made from the packets of Rava Iddly mix that MTR has been branding about of late. The accompanying potato dish was nice, but the quantity was just barely enough. Earlier, there was more than enough quantity. My wife was happy with her Kharabath and said it was ok.

This is followed by another 10 minutes wait for MDosa. It finally arrives. The Dosai is quite poorly made. It looks like the batter has gone more sour than required and hence rava and fenugreek paste has been mixed to hide the taste. Again the potato masala is barely enough to eat the Dosa. It is extra thick in pieces and not uniformly soft. The chutney that comes with it is very hot (chilly hot) and you are advised to pour the ghee to mollify the chilly. There are better establishments of the old (like Vidyarthi Bhavana in Gandhi Bazaar) where much better Dosas are made. Disappointed with both the Iddly and Dosai, we order Coffee. Both my wife and I are unequivocal in our condemnation of the quality of the Dosa.

While waiting for coffee, we saw lots of the sweet that we had earlier (minus the thickened sweet milk gravy) carried downstairs in a ugly looking blue bucket. We just hoped that it was cleaner than it looked from outside and tried to forget we had that sweet just sometime back. I forgot the name of the sweet, but the waiter had proudly told us that it was a Sunday speciality!!! Coffee used to be served in two silver tumblers (the other one for mixing) and is usually served piping hot. This time around, it came in cups. It was quite brackish (the decoction tasted as if it has been reheated) and very strong (almost dark brown in colour). It was also quite watery perhaps due to hot water poured in the decoction to increase the supply of available coffee. I asked for some milk to lighten it up. This took another 10 minutes to come. The waiter bought what was essentially very dilute milk. I poured it in the coffee and mixed it. It became lighter, but now it was almost like brown water. I stopped drinking it. My wife had Badam milk which was thankfully pre-prepared and that was the only saving grace.

We walked out of the establishment with a very dissatisfied feeling. Looking back, the past few times that we came here too were not memorable with some disappointment or the other. This time around, we found an appreciable drop in both quantity and quality while the hype still remained as ever. We told each other that it is time we stopped coming here. Look at our experience, we spent close to 2 hours, about Rs 120 (Rs 60 per head) and came out dissatisfied with the quality of the food. It is probably not worth the hassle anymore.

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Readers who are more into ambience than the taste of food, skip the review.

Now that you are still reading the review after my disclaimer above, here is a small intro on the the place, Mavalli Tiffin Room, popularly called as MTR was started in 1924 by the Maiyya family from Udupi district. They are located next to Lalbagh and Urvashi theatre. Few key achievements to their name.. they INVENTED rava idly, they started the 'ready to eat' range of food products commercially[it was invented by CFTRI for Indian army] , their products are available all through out the world satisfying the gustatory organs of indian diaspora. They are also known for fair treatment of their employees, they had started provident fund for their employees long before govt made it mandatory, most of the employees are there from times immemorial.

Now lets come to the meat of the topic, I suggest you go to MTR with plenty of time with you, preferably on a saturday or sunday morning after a stroll in lalbagh. bascically there are three parts in the hotel, ground floor to the right is meant only for coffee/tea, there are around four tables there, rest of the ground floor is general compartment, here people can sit wherever they get a chair, most of the times you will have people waiting for you to get up, standing next to your seat. then the first floor is a bit more organised, with a guy writing down your name as soon as u enter the waiting room and you get called typically after 20 minutes. The dining area has a separate compartment for families & ladies, the interiors is typical pre independence, the lights, cupboards walls are all antique stuff. The waiters typically wear a shirt and a dhothi folded in half. Idly, Rava Idly are the favorites here, I would suggest you go for Rava Idly for a simple break fast, if you are the heavy eater type then you can have one masala dosa and one plain Idly. Most important of all dont forget to order Coffee, that the best I have had in years, its Caffeine at its best, you get coffee served in two silver cups, one with coffee and sugar unmixed and another empty one, you need to mix the steaming coffee by pouring in inbetween the cups and drink a sip at a time... ooooooooooohhh .. well the feeling after the coffee would typically be 'Now that I have tasted such a coffee .. is there anything else to live for...', the taste wont leave you for another three hours minimum, its the filter coffee at its best.

Other trivia about the place, you have a pedal operated wash basin [pre independence], it works great, you have a shop selling MTR goodies next to the hotel, they have some wonderful sweets from across karnataka, an icecream parlour serving variety of flavours. Around 200 people work in this 120 by 60 area of a hotel and two shops.

Its the best place to taste South indian delicacies in Bangalore, few other places of repute are Vidhyarthi Bhavan in Gandhibazar, Adigas Jayanagar, Majestic. A visit to Banaglore is surely incomplete without savouring MTR.. Dont Miss it....

inthi,

Nimmavanu

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When it is time to give your taste buds a treat and delight your pallets with delicacies, we more often than not, think of eating out. Coming from Bangalore, that should not be too much to ask for at all. Moreover we always relate eating out to lunch or dinner. What if you wake up one morning and realize entering the kitchen is the last thing on your mind. Well, then all you have got to do is go out for breakfast.

Sounds weird? Obnoxious? Breakfast date? Chillax, it is not that absurd! It is just that we are so caught up in a quicksand of fast food, fried chicken outlets, cafes, pizzerias and burger huts that the idea of going out to eat our very own indigenous cuisine doesn’t quite fit in.

Well before you give me a look of consternation let me tell you what I am getting at. Well, it is the mouth watering Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) situated at Lalbhagh, Bangalore. A traditional restaurant that serves a spicy, oily, crispy and calorie rich cuisine. A succinct menu consists of dosa, Idly, and upma. Along with the coffee and tea.

Our country has always been a labour oriented one. In which men & women were supposed to eat a lot. Men to till the soil and women to produce children. Loads of high calorie food has always been a part of our staple diet. Plus ours was a country where status was judged by a potbelly rather than fancy hats. This rich, yet yummy tradition is carried on to date. Foodstuff prepared in a lot of oil, garnished with a lot of ghee, lots of spice are a common thing for us. There is this other myth that the more you eat the greater will be your strength and stamina.

MTR is one of the oldest restaurants in Bangalore and it has proudly stood the test of time. People throng MTR like bees are attracted to cosmos or dahlia stalks. This is testimony to its quality. It has only two floors. The ground floor is like a fast food place with no seating available. The first floor has seating for families & gatherings. let me warn you that this place is known for its food.the place is renovated now but still you cannot go there and find waiters in uniforms or dim llighting and calm ambience.

You have to reserve a table (after going there), wait in the lounge (build up an appetite) before you can treat your taste buds. People from all walks of life frequent this place. Families, friends and oldie goldies. Not many youngsters come here although.(perhaps coz they don’t wake up early)

The discovery channel series ’Globe trekker’ featured this place on their show when they covered India and did a special on Indian food specialities.

The food: triangular dosas ,crispy crunchy and perfect. They also give you very soft idilies and uppma as well. Everything is prepared in limited amounts. If you are not early enough in the mornings you probably won’t get dosas. (In demand!)

The service and treatment rendered is commendable. They do not accept a TIP.

So you can rest assure you are ensured prompt service.

They open now only for breakfast and are closed on Mondays. A MTR bakery has come up right beside the restaurant a couple of years back.

The next time you are ravenous in the morning and want to go smack smack over dosas, you know where to go. Do remember to be there early; coz the early bird gets the worm, or dosas!

Consider this:

The early bird gets the worm, but look what the worm got for being early.

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The hype about MTR (or Mavelli Tiffin Room) forced me to make a beeline to their restaurant on 4th April 2002. MTR, for those of you who are not aware is a south indian 'haldiram' - the old family-run show which has donned a new image and is marketing a lot of ready-to-eat stuff, snacks, pickles, mouthwatering easy-to-make rasams etc.They have a restaurant in LalBagh Road in Bangalore which I checked out and .......

It was about half past one when I walked in. It is an old building with a guy sitting behind a wire-mesh protected counter (reminds you of the SBI Teller Counters eh!).

''Only meals'' he proclaimed tersely. I nodded in submission.

I exchanged 75 bucks for a token and walked up the flight of stairs where I was ushered into a waiting room. Yes, you wait in the room till one batch is through and then the next gets in!

The waiting room was small and was fast filling with people, all kinds - old, urban, not-so-urban, village belles in half-sarees and bright yellow ribbons holding two plaits of hair, guys in Louis Phillippes and Givenchy ties (software city - mind you) all sweated it out, waiting to get in.

Then the call came.

We trooped in and sat down as a team of servers (waiters) sized us up. The waiters were attired in Allen Solly's 'Friday Dressing' - dhoti and as-you-like-it shirts, t-shirts and whatever!

We sat down as the waiters started in clinical precision - the big stainless steel plates came first, then a glass of grape juice, four or five small bowls for the curry followed, a glass of water, a spoon (for the softies??!!)

the sabjis came, then a couple of puris - soft and fluffy, korma, then a sweet,.......

the list is impressive and taste is superb.

Some of the typical kannadiga recipes are really mouthwatering - bisibelabath ( a kind of sambar and rice - premixed and cooked with a lot of nuts), served hot with ghee.

Ambience, well, wassat? an old gloomy building, no candle-lit stuff here to whisper sweet-nothings in pretty pink ears, definitely not the place where I'd take Ian Robinson or Kate Smith and the waiters are certainly snobbish.

Music was good, Dire Straits - Walk of Life ( I luv the guitar interlude). Hey! Wait a minute! I had my walkman on!! In MTR, the only music is the clanging of plates and tumblers and loud slurps of fingers being licked and the impatient jostling of people waiting in the waiting room to get in next!

If you are a true connoisseur of food and will endure anything for a good meal, this is the place. Otherwise, give it a skip - it simply isnt worth the 2 hours time it takes.

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