A few days ago, we took one of our binge breaks during lunch for an unlimited thali. And the name on top of our list was the restaurant at Brindavan Hotel. Easily among the best places for a vegetarian thali if you can manage a “post meal snooze” that is inevitable.

The taste here is truly typical of a “Bangalore/Mysore” thali, if there’s one.

You start your “session” with a banana leaf that has at least four vegetable “kootus” and “poriyals”, along with soft, fluffy chappatis (you can eat as many as you want.) You then have the sambar, rasam and curd sessions with rice – again unlimited. Another highlight here is this chap who keeps floating around with a tray of appalams – catch his eye and he’ll hand out an appalam and a smile.

The interiors here resemble a military mess, with marble top tables; nothing’s probably changed for the last twenty years. You need to buy a lunch coupon first at the counter at Rs 70 per meal. (Was around Rs 50 not too long ago, but still worth it if you can do justice to the “unlimited” aspect of the meal.)

Brindavan Hotel is near the traffic lights at the MG Road / Brigade Road intersection. Coming in from Mayo Hall, you need to go past Shankar Nag theatre and turn left into a narrow lane after the gas station (well before the traffic lights.)

Brindavan was among the top 10 restaurants last year
in the Times “Dosa Coffee” contest.