Dakshinayan

Rest : Dakshinayan
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Teenbatti, Walkeshwar

Dakshinayan sits on the insanely busy Teen Batti/Walkeshwar stretch, in fact the restaurant is bang opposite the turn where teen batti meets the road towards Hanging Garden.Beware of rush hour.


Though they have been around for a while, i have always been partial to the Matunga joints for my South Indian fix. So on a complete lark at 9.30 on Sunday night we decided to go check Dakshinayan out (Jjamppong sits about 120 meters away)

We started with the rasam of which there was a bowl full. Good stuff this, immense heat but not too spicy and not very sour either. The only thing annoying was the boat load of pepper that I had to keep spitting out.

The molgapudi idli was pretty good, mrs Jain thought it was the best she had tasted in a long time. While i didnt think it was that great it certainly was not bad. A little ghee or butter would have really made it awesome.

The garlic rava dosa was quite spicy, had opted for the rava and no the mysore to avoid the fiery stuff but it showed up nonetheless. Had to leave half of it.

Their sambar is not bad, mild and not to sweet.

they serve two chutneys and the brown one is a LOT spicier than the red one.

The appam and stew was not bad. The appams could have been better and the stew was very mild and bordering on the sweet.

The curd rice was pretty decent, however add the pickle they serve on the side and it completely changes into all kinds of wonderful! Absolutely brilliant.

Overall Dakshinayan is a decent option to the Matunga belt, especially if you live 10 mins away like us. The food is decent and if they just tweak things a little, it could be stellar. They need to make a little effort and it could really push things up a notch.

For example, the china they serve the food in, is not only chipped but inconvenient to eat from. Rasam can be served in a glass, and without the 100 pieces of pepper. The stew in a soup bowl is very inconvenient.

Also, the idlis we had were definitely not the freshest, the appam was okay, the stew was sweet. Maybe it being Sunday night, they had prepped things for speed.

Service is efficient but not very friendly, the waiters seem to have the aloof South Indian style down pat. They are also a dubious lot, serving bottled water on the table and adding it to the check without asking. When we did point it out, they took it off by scratching it away.

Worth a try if you are in the mood but not willing to go drive to Matunga.

Food : 7/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 500