Sendhoor Coffee, Indiranagar, Bangalore South Indian Restaurant

Sendhoor Coffee – Revisited [14/10/2022]

On the occasions I must eat breakfast in a hotel and am faced with the excess that is the five-star buffet, I almost always head to the counter where the idli is set out and chefs are making dosa at the back. Luxury hotels are not the best places for these items. Still, for me there are few things better than South Indian fare for breakfast. Is there anything more nourishing and soothing than a plate of soft idlis drowning in sambar with whole shallots and drumstick and, perhaps, a hot vada on the side?
One of my favourite places for the South Indian breakfast repertoire is Sendhoor Coffee. That it started with a modest tiffin room in Cambridge Layout and has now become a recognizable chain is proof of its popularity. I went for early breakfast at the outlet near the derelict BDA Complex in Indiranagar. At 8 am it was buzzing. I had my usual single Idli with Vada. It was served on a banana leaf-lined plate. The idlis were soft, with the essential sourness that the proper degree of fermentation yields. The medu vada, soft on the inside and golden-crisp on the outside was perfect, too. The sambar was the way I like mine – with dal and not sweetened. The coconut chutney was fresh.
My companion had a Masal Dosa. It was nicely done as well. All the tiffin centre dosa staples – plain, paper, ghee, podi, onion, ghee podi masala – are available here. The coffee was excellent, the perfect pick-me-up on a nippy morning. There’s a reason the filter coffee maker is called ‘master’.
This time I did not have the Pongal which is a Sendhoor signature and very very good. This is pepper-studded comfort to be sure. The Poori Set, 3 puris and a lightly spiced potato curry, is also one of the things I like to eat here. For a hit-the-spot breakfast for two we paid just over 200. Places like this perform such a useful service in our cities, providing satisfying meals to vast numbers of working class people. Just because it’s cheap it doesn’t mean it’s of inferior quality. Sendhoor is one of my top choices for Tamil Nadu-style tiffin in the city.