Mavalli Tiffin Rooms — MTR to everyone in Bangalore — opened in 1924 and has never really changed what it does. The restaurant serves pure South Indian vegetarian food: masala dosa, idli, vada, bisibele bath, and the famous lunch thali with fifteen dishes, all made to the same exacting standards the Maiya family has maintained for a century. MTR is also credited with inventing rava idli during World War II, when rice was rationed — they improvised with semolina and kept going.
The setting is a long, white-tiled dining room near Lalbagh botanical garden, and on weekend mornings the queue stretches out the door. The food arrives fast, served by waiters who have been doing it for decades. There is no Wi-Fi, no elaborate menu, and nothing remotely fashionable about the place — which is exactly the point. Order the masala dosa and the filter coffee, and plan to wait.