Whenever I don't feel like cooking but want a full course vegetarian meal, it has always been Nagarjuna at Jayanagar. For the past nine years that we have lived in Jayanagar, we have visited the place at least 4 times a month and more when I was carrying junior. Sudhakar always used to worry that they would charge us more than the regular price, considering I used to eat my share and then what remained in his and still asked for more.
There are lots of places that have interesting variations of the vegetarian meal. You have the ragi rotti meals of Kamath, the jolada (corn) rotti meals of Pai, and of course the pappu (a sambhar of greens) meals at Andhra joints like Nagarjuna and Nandini. So what is different about Annabrahma is that it serves Arya Vyshya food or rather the traditional vegetarian fare that you will find homes of Andhra-ite vegetarians like the Settys.
In terms of location this is the same building as Chung Wah (which is on the semi-open roof) and Java City (a review will follow soon) which is on the open air ground floor. Annabrahma is where Kamath Ahar used to be and the management of all is split between the duo - Rajaram and Raghu Kamath.
Now finally to the food. Before us was placed a steel plate with several partitions, just like most of us had when we were kids. First came a carrot milkshake and some buttermilk. I was quite skeptical about how carrot juice and milk (yes I know gajjar ka halwa, but that is carrot and this was the juice) would go together. But it really did go well together and was yummy.
Carrot milkshake and buttermilk
Next came two sweets - obattu ( a jaggery stuffed pancake) and pineapple sheera. Anoushka demolished the obattu and I saved the sheera for after dinner. Am still not used to the sweets before dinner habit.
Obattu and pineapple sheera
Next came a round of savouries - hot and crisp onion bajjis, sandige (fried crispies) and chaklis. Needless to say, Anoushka was the happiest. The four partitions were filled up with a chutney, tendli or tondekai palya (small gherkins), a raita and a kosambari (cucumber dish). The roti of the day was that of toor dal, a first for me. Yummy is the verdict for all.
Crispies and below with all the veggies and the rotti
Next came my all-time south indian favorite - the bisi bele bath with the crispies. It was hot and absolutely hit the spot.
Bisi bele bath and below the same, just because I took two photos
This was followed by rice with a greens sambhar and then again with rasam which was dal based. Both good, but rather on the sweeter side for me. I am more of the chilli and pickle types and if you put both together I will be the happiest.
Rice with the greens sambhar and below with the dal based rasam
The meal was thoroughly satisfying and has now taken the official place of Nagarjuna when it comes to comfort meals. The menu changes all the time and you will have ragi rottis, rava rottis, a change in the chutneys as well as the rice dishes in place of the bisi bele bath that we had. The drinks to vary with coconut water, jal jeera, kokum and other such being served. Same goes for the sweets. In Rajaram's words, the restaurant was created more out of passion for such food. And the hope is that people will take to it. From the looks of the people who were eating there that night, I would say that Annabrahma has hit the right notes.
Service is very friendly and you could ask for as much of anything as you wanted. The meal was Rs 11o a head which is pretty good considering the number of items on offer. There is only one loo for the entire establishment and that's in Chung Wah. A nice place for a nice meal.
This review is also available on the Sify Food site
Address: #63, 18th Cross, 3rd Block, Above Java City, Jayanagar, Bangalore - 11
Phone: 32488588, 32488688
Cuisine: Arya Vyshya
Wallet factor: Rs 220 for two
Cards Accepted: Yes
Parking: Nothing exclusive but you should not have any real trouble
