Memoir of a Masala Dosa

As you enter the premises, you find a big arena for people to stand and sip their coffees or spend time with friends. Though the actual sitting area is deep inside, the aroma of the masala dosa hits your nostrils along with bustling sounds of cups and tumblers been tossed around to serve pooris, pakodas, and coffee to the never-ending crowd of customers and occasional brass bell rings, to remind people who have not collected their second order yet.

While you are busy buying the food tokens or waiting for your turn to be served, it was a normal thing to find so many known faces in the restaurant. Your teachers, local shop owners, neighbors, classmates and their family members, budding politicians, all busy, in relishing their reddish colored dosa, with a smile at you, which says yeah, even I am here …!!

There was no mobile phone craze yet and a symbol of that, there were boards all over – Please do not read newspaper here (indirectly asking people to vacate the place once done, allowing others to sit)

Now, if you can close your eyes for a second and recall this scenes, you can imagine a normal hotel with crowd being served with good food, however if you are from the old Bengaluru, like me, mostly you will end up in your imagination in Malabar restaurant, in Balepete area for sure.  

While watching numerous food vlogs in social media and while being locked up inside, famished for some different foods, memory took back to this nostalgic era which is difficult to put in words, but let me try – this is about a restaurant which had become a part of life in various occasions .

In early years of my memory, I can recall a tiny hotel, with Mangalore red tiles roof, self-serving, south Indian food and occasions of visiting it with family and later it got transformed to a proper restaurant, yet without losing the attraction.

Those who have lived in Bengaluru from many decades will recall the charm of the city, its people, traffic less roads and the relationship we had built with numerous people and iconic places.

This is one such place which served as multiple reasons.

This was not only a place for serving food, but also meeting for many friends for morning coffee, youngsters to exchange ideas, shoppers to fill their hungry stomach after walking around in the bustling roads of chickpet.  It was also a place where many shop owners take their visiting friends or loyal customers for lunch or snacks.

The cashier at counter had become a familiar persona, we used to have instant smile seeing him. He enquires about elders at home and convey his wishes, which is the bonding of interacting for years with generations of same family. Same goes with people serving food at counters.

When you enter the serving area (it was self-service mode – take your food, find your place) it was a sure bet to see at least one or two familiar faces and it was never an -eat alone situation.

Though they had various food items, the reddish color roasted crispy Masala Dosa embedded with red garlic chutney inside, along with potato stuffing and married to green chutney was the most selling food item and a must have. The uniqueness was the distinctive combination of its look, taste and aroma, which I am not trying to explain, since can’t find words matching it.

There were numerous sign boards indirectly asking people to relish the food and not to overspend time. I used to wonder how they can instruct customers like this, but it did serve a purpose - Eat & let others eat.. !!

Whenever we had close relatives visiting Bengaluru, it was on their personal agenda to ensure to visit this place at least once before going back and same with all those friends to have lunch after busy shopping in chickpet and avenue road.

This is not only a story of a dosa or malabar hotel, but how a place had woven the entire neighborhood as a common reason.  

After serving for 73 years, this good old eatery was closed few years ago, yet another iconic place we lost.

Sitting at home in this new era which is forcing people to go on isolation and learning new norms called social distancing, imagining this past glory brings back those golden days memoir which created social friendliness, recording it in this blog, treasuring for future.

Closing Note:  for some of the readers, from the old Bengaluru neighborhood, in place of Malabar, you can replace with Udupi Krishna Bhavan, Megha Darshini, Ramakrishna Lunch Room, Gokul etc.,  I am sure the story may remain same, and thankfully some have survived still.