What to eat in Bengaluru: 8 must-try dishes

As India’s buzzing tech hub, Bengaluru is home to an itinerant population from across the country, and this mix of cultural influences has given rise to a vibrant food culture. The city is also the capital of the state of Karnataka, making it the best place to sample cuisine from across this geographically diverse region. From coconut-imbued curries of the coast to spice-laden dishes of the mountains, here's some of the best food in Bengaluru you’ll want to save your stomach for.

1. Benne dosa

A breakfast staple across South India, dosa is a thin, crispy crepe made with fermented rice-and-lentil batter. You’ll find dosas stuffed with a spicy mashed potato (masala dosa) or shaped like a cone (ghee roast dosa), but Karnataka’s specialty is the benne dosa, a variant that comes slathered with butter (benne). Eat it with fresh coconut chutney at Central Tiffin Room (CTR), now known as Shri Sagar – an iconic venue dating back to the 1920s and famous for its crisp golden benne dosa. 

2. Ragi mudde

Millets are being touted as the next big superfood all over the world, but for centuries, finger millets – locally called ragi – have been grown and eaten in Karnataka. The grain was once considered a peasant staple; now, ragi mudde, or ragi balls, are found at eateries around the state. A spongy ball of boiled ragi is perfect for mopping up veg or meat curries. On weekday afternoons, ragi loyalists flock to the fuss-free New Krishna Bhavan for its “Ragi Meal”, featuring ragi mudde with accompaniments like sambar (a lentil soup).

3. Chicken Ghee Roast

Perched on the coast of the Arabian Sea, Mangaluru is a quiet city with a fiery culinary heritage. Its best-known export is ghee roast – a velvety, deeply aromatic dish slow-cooked with local Byadagi red chillies, heaps of ghee (clarified butter) and spices. This base is used to cook meat, seafood, or even cottage cheese, but chicken is the most popular choice. The story goes that chicken ghee roast was first cooked in the small town of Kundapur at the family-run Shetty Lunch Home ; their newest outpost in Bengaluru serves the same recipe.

4. Pandi Curry

A tangy, spice-laden pork dish, pandi curry is the hallmark of Kodava cuisine. Tucked into the Western Ghat mountains of Karnataka, the region of Kodagu is carpeted in spice and coffee plantations and home to the Kodava people. The cuisine of this warrior community is defined by whole-roasted spices, locally-grown ingredients, and the generous use of kachampuli – a dark vinegar. This is the souring agent that gives pandi curry its kick. Dig in to a dish at Oota , a restaurant known for championing flavours from across Karnataka. 

5. Mysore Pak

This decadent ghee-laden sweet made of gram flour has its origins in the royal kitchens of Mysore, when it was made for Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar in the 1800s. The king enjoyed the dessert so much, he asked the chef to open a sweet shop selling Mysore Pak, and since then, it has been Karnataka’s dessert of choice. You’ll find it at every sweet shop in Bengaluru, but iconic stores like Sri Krishna Sweets and Asha Sweet Centre are particularly known for their Mysore Pak. 

6. Thatte idli

Idlis, or steamed rice cakes, are commonplace across Southern India. These light and spongy delicacies come in various sizes – from tiny “button idlis” to Karnataka’s large thatte idli. In the local language Kannada, “thatte” means plate, and it refers to the idli’s flat, round shape. The addition of tapioca to the regular fermented rice batter makes the thatte idli extra spongy. You’ll find it at small eateries across Bengaluru, like IDC Kitchen , served with accompaniments like tangy sambar, an array of chutneys, and sometimes topped with a spicy red podi chilli powder. 

7. Vada

There’s nothing as satisfying as biting into the perfect vada – crisp on the outside, soft and airy on the inside. This doughnut-shaped savoury snack is made with lentil batter and flavoured with curry leaves and whole peppercorns. It’s the essential South Indian fast food, quickly dispensed in newspaper wrappers at roadside stalls, or served with chutney and other trimmings at restaurants. Join the locals as they queue up for their morning vada and filter coffee at eateries like Veena Stores , dating back to the ’70s. 

8. Thali set meal

At lunchtime, office-workers across the city stream into no-frills restaurants for a wholesome set lunch that’s simply marked on the menu as “meal”. It typically consists of rice and pooris (fried flatbreads), palya (sautéed veggies) like beetroot or cabbage, sambar lentil soup, an array of chutneys and pickles, and payasa, or vermicelli milk pudding, for dessert. The components may vary depending on what’s in season, but what’s guaranteed is a nap-inducing helping of home-style cooking. Head to the historic Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan , which has been serving hearty vegetarian “meals” since 1926.

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