Cafe Madras

Rest : Cafe Madras
Loc : Sion Circle
Meal : Sunday Breakfast

I get a call from my mate Happy over the weekend to grab breakfast at Cafe Madras (previous visit here), which is in my opinion a great way to start off a Sunday morning. Located bang on Sion circle Cafe Madras is an unassuming place serving South Indian and some Maharashtrian fare that harks back to the days when the area was a strong hold for their community.

The menu has more than half a dozen varieties of idlis and nearly two dozen dosa options besides the assorted snacks such as rasam vada, medu vada and a bunch of uttapams.


The Misal was pretty good, however i recommend the Madras Dahi Misal which is even better, a must have on the menu.

The butter idli is fairly decadent, you can also get the idli plain with a side of butter to control you butter to idli ratio.

Thums Up, accept no substitutes... for there are none.

The rasam vada was actually average, one would think it would be superlative too but no such luck. Probably better off getting the rasam in a glass which is an option.

The madras filter coffee is awesome, fun to drink and you should be able to go through at least a pair of em before you leave. For foreign readers, Madras filter coffee is a sweet, potent mixture and prepared differently from regular filter coffee abroad. Everything from the way it is prepared, poured and served is unique and its surely a must try, there are numerous options around Cafe Madras.

Overall, the place gets very, very busy, we got in at 10am and there must have been atleast 25 people waiting already, fortunately Happy had grabbed a table early and was guarding it.. the fact that he is buddies with the managers helped too. The sheer variety of the dishes means, its better go with a larger group and then share, pick the dishes you liked and order more. Will allow you to try some of the lesser known dosas.

The food is pretty good, familiar yet different from the regular Udipis one comes across in the city, a leaning towards the ethnic with minimal fuss in preparation and presentation. Simplicity is the key and they dont try to lean towards the tastes of any particular ethnic group.

Service is chaotic, our waiters changed twice, a few of the dishes did not show up until much later, some didnt show up at all and my Mysore sada turned into something else all together. However, i guess its all good, place was packed and i was just happy to not have waited.

Food : 8/10
Service : 6/10
Damage : 600 for 3.