My friend Hardika took me to Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) for lunch today, and the food rocked. This is one of those place like Union Oyster House in Boston that is just built into the fabric of its city. (This review is dated but pretty accurate, and better on the food names and context than my memory http://www.rediff.com/travel/1999/aug/12mtr.htm) What was memorable for me was the system for service, and the quality of the food. You show up and pay. Then you go to the waiting room. When a table is available - and this happens in shifts - you are seated. When you are seated there is already a metal plate, and waiters begin filling it, they come around and dish food out of large jugs. (Did I mention a menu? No. You get what they serve.). When you are done eating you leave. No waiting for a check or offers of coffee. Very simple and efficient. In what I understand is just part of Indian cuisine, there is no concept of starters vs mains or dessert. Different styles are served together, so you can have sweet Cardamon rice porridge with your blistering hot curry. It works well. The food was really good. If a restaurant in DC served it on china plates with a glass of wine they would get four stars from Washingtonian. Hardika paid, but I think we were in the single digit zone in dollar terms. In the unlikely event I decided to become a vegetarian, this is the food I would want to eat. It was delicious, diverse and after numerous helpings I was totally full. As you can see in the first photo, there is construction underway in front of MTR. There is construction everywhere in Bangalore. I would like to be a cement merchant here.
Via iPad
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