A dosa isn’t just a dosa here, it brings back memories, rekindles old friendships and transports one back in time to an era where food delivery platforms didn’t exist. Here are a handful of heritage restaurants in Ernakulam that are still popular among people for their vegetarian food and old-world ambience.
Bharath Coffee House | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
Bharath Coffee House
Relishing an undampori,the mildly-sweet, deep-fried snack made of wheat flour, at Bharath Coffee House “hits different”. The ubiquitous snack acquires a whole new personality here for you are eating it with a side of nostalgia. The building is of 1919 vintage and Bharath Coffee House has been functioning here since 1955, serving bonda, undampori, sughiyan, cutlets and dosas in addition to other vegetarian fare. Started by A Gopalakrishna Rao in partnership with B Govinda Rao, who later started another restaurant Bharath Tourist Home, the restaurant has retained its ancient charm — teak doors, (teak) wooden roof and walls painted in old rose to add to its effect. “Though we had considered changing it to a more modern space, we had our reqular guests who repeatedly requested us to retain the heritage structre,” says G Muraleedharan, son of Gopalakrishna Rao, who now runs the restaurant along with his brother G Haridas. Over time, the menu changed, however, to include north Indian fare, even momos. It is open from 8am to 9pm.
Try the signature vegetarian cutlets, loaded with beetroot and crispy on the outside, with sweet coffee.
Udipi Anantha Bhavan on MG Road | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Udipi Anantha Bhavan
Behind a row of shopfronts at Jos Junction on MG Road is this heritage vegetarian restaurant that serves simple traditional meals and snacks. Started by P N Anantha Rao in 1964, this restaurant was known for its south Indian staples — dosa, idli, vada (parippu and uzhunnu), pazhampori. “In those days, we aimed at serving homely food and there was a huge demand for vegetarian fare,” says P A Babu, one of the sons of Anantha Rao, who runs Anugraha, a relatively new vegetarian restaurant in Vytilla, along with his brother P A Ramesh. “When our father opened it, it was only a lodge with over 100 rooms, but later we opened a restaurant,” Babu adds. “Things have changed today, but we continue to serve different varieties of dosas — masala dosa, coconut oothappam and carrot oothapam to name a few — and have added north Indian dishes too. Meals for lunch include both north Indian and south Indian options. It has ample parking space and is open till 9pm.
Try the nostalgia-evoking tomato soup, delightfully garnished with croutons, served in steel bowls.
Ratnavilas near Ernakulam Siva Temple | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
Ratnavilas
Savour a sughiyan (a four-o-clock snack stuffed with greengram-jaggery mixture) at this quaint restaurant behind Ernakulam Siva Temple. Opened in 1953 by Venugopala Pillai, it was a popular hangout for students of Maharajas College, who thronged the place for its sensational puttu and kadala. In the 2000s, however, it ran into bad times and closed down. Saddened by its closure, four friends B Hariharan, L Gopakumar, Ajay Menon and Pradeep Alappat decided to take over the restaurant from Venugopala Pillai’s son in 2011. “We had been regulars here ever since our (Maharajas) college days and we wanted to carry forward its legacy. The friends retained the ancient building, gave it a few new coats of paint, got some graffiti done on the walls and refreshed the menu to include a few more traditional snacks such as aval laddoo and north Indian dishes including chaats and even Chinese. “People come from different parts of the city just to have the sughiyan here,” says Hariharan, who is also the co-founder of event-management firm Impressario. Ratnavilas is also a popular hangout for film writers, directors and politicians.
Try the puttu and kadala for breakfast, a simple rice-sambar-thoran meal for lunch and the sughiyan at tea-time.
Bharath Tourist Home on Durbar Hall Road | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
Bharat Tourist Home
Since 1964, Bharat Tourist Home at Gandhi Square on Durbar Hall Road has been an evergreen favourite destination for ghee-laden, golden brown, crisp masala dosas and hot filter coffee. Started by B Govinda Rao, BTH as it is popularly known, has kept up with the changing times serving its usual fare including south Indian meals, snacks and dosa-vadas, along with north Indian meals and snacks. With rooms with a view of the lake and banquet halls, the hotel offered a complete package, especially for a tourist. Today, it houses two restaurants — Subhiksha for buffet breakfast, sadya served on banana leaves and dosa; and Kempu for dosas and snacks including cutlets and pazhampori. Kempu is open from 12noon to 2am while Subhiksha is open from 7am to 3.30pm and 7pm to 11pm.
Try the masala dosa and ghee roast and the banana leaf sadya.
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