Satiating the South-Indian Soul in You

I love my Idli Dosa. 

And the Vada and sambar, and good rasam and delectable chutneys.  

Now that you know my bias, you can understand why it is important for me to find a restaurant serving good South Indian cuisine wherever I am. 

Thus, this ode is to Sarvana Bhavan, Connaught Place (CP). 
Though there are 2 outlets of the same in the area, this is about the most amazing food and filter coffee experience at the Sarvana Bhavan in the outer-circle, at P-15. The other outlet, equally reputed, is on Janpath.

Having eaten South Indian food at Karnataka Bhavan, Andhra Bhavan, Sagar Ratna, and Haldiram, in Delhi, Sarvana Bhavan's taste and quality definitely impress me every time I pay a visit. It would be safe to say that it is one of the BEST SOUTH INDIAN (Vegetarian) RESTAURANTS in Delhi. 

First things first. The Food, simply put, is Amazing. 

The Dosas, are piping-hot, golden-brown, and absolutely crisp. The filling is flavorful and proportionate rather than just being a huge, un-finishable, lump of mashed, boiled potatoes, as experienced across many eateries in the city. The Sambar is yummy and served hot, with frequent replacements and refills. It also has abundant use of vegetables and thus tastes authentic and extremely tasty.

The Idlis are soft and fluffy, melting in your mouth almost instantly, and the awesomest feature about them is the accompaniment by the mighty, "Gunpowder". This fiery, red-hot, chutney is a Southern-specialty and believe me, no one in Delhi does it better than Sarvana Bhavan! Served in ghee, it is one of those accompaniments that can force you to order an extra plate of Idli on a completely full and satiated stomach.

The plate looks almost like a color palette! 
From the left, the tongue-tingling array of chutneys includes the traditional coconut chutney in white, the mint and coriander infused green chutney, the gunpowder in Ghee in the small bowl, and a tangy garlic and tomato chutney with plenty of red chillies. The last bowl is the aromatic and spicy, hot sambar, completing an interesting and inviting spectrum of flavors for the palate. Even a picture can make the salivary juices flowing!

Other offerings like upma and uttapam, and rice preparations and pooris, are equally tasty and interesting, and though the food is too tasty for you to notice the ambiance or the super-quick and efficient service, it still helps to have an uninterrupted supply of sambar and chutneys, and water and any asked-for refills. 
The seating is comfortable and almost always in high-demand and short-supply! The place is especially difficult to get-into during meal timings and on Sundays (which are typically considered South Indian food days by most North-Indian families!!). However, the experience is worth the while and most certainly justifies the time that you have to spend standing outside, sandwiched between a McDonalds on the right, and a pan-shop on the left, as you wait to park yourself inside and munch on some gorgeous food!

Rounding up the meal, is one of my all-time favorite things in the world. FILTER COFFEE! Revered as the drink of Gods, Coffee is one of those things I can live my entire life on :) Devour yummilicious food and drink scalding-hot, extra-strong, almost poisonously dark coffee forever. Happy thought :):)

The beautiful, aromatic, heavenly-smelling, and boiling-hot filter coffee at Sarvana Bhavan is actually like a little piece of God. Like a window to heaven really. Gurgling gently, calling me with a frothy face, it is the most-apt completion of a phenomenal and insanely filling meal. 

Clean, cooled, and happy, the Sarvana Bhavan eatery, in addition to the yummy food and coffee, also offers multiple sweets and other traditional preparations like butter-muruku, and  namkeens, and coconut barfee and ladoos, from a small corner on the ground-floor of the restaurant that doubles up as a selling counter. 

As you begin to move out with a satisfied heart and tummy, there is another winner, a parting-gift of sorts, that the restaurant offers, which has the potential to brighten up your entire day. If you are a fennel or saunf fan that is. The roasted, sweet, and extremely flavorful fennel on offer is too good to resist and is one of the items you'll invariably end-up asking for more of. The solutions is right there, behind the counter. 

Now the meal is complete. Tanked-up on lovely food, satiated with heavenly-smelling coffee, and mouth-shut due to flavorful fennel, you walk out, trying to catch the staff's attention to pass generous smiles, but they are busy with someone else already. Another customer needs an urgent chutney re-fill. And so the service at the Sarvana Bhavan (meaning everyone's hall  or everyone's place) goes on. 

Well, so long, till another day, another batch of dosas and idlis, and of vadas and coffee! The love affair shall continue. Hoping to catch some of you South Indian food lovers over some coffee at the Sarvana Bhavan someday!