For generations of folks who have lived in western Maharashtra, especially places like Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, the experience of "South Indian" food has been defined by the friendly neighbourhood Udipis. So whether it was a quick breakfast or a working lunch or an outing with the family in the evening, the standard fare of idli/vada sambar along with various types of dosas and uthapams could always be relied upon. Of late some of these places have evolved with the changing times and tastes to offer improvisations with noodles, cheese/pasta and other international add-ons.
Hence, its nice to come across a restaurant which sticks to the fundamentals and offers reasonably authentic vegetarian south Indian food to the local Puneite. Dakshinayan on JM Road near the Sai Service station is at the very same location which old timers would recall as Portico, an extremely popular "bar & restaurant" of the nineties. Its the same compact place with limited seating and the same vintage car placed outside the entrance, but of course with a very different menu.
The menu itself is not very elaborate, focussed on the key essentials and this I believe is the secret of how they manage their kitchen resources and ensure super fast service. They do a mean tomato pepper rasam which we opted for starters accompanied by the molgapudi idli, just the right combination for the chilly weather this monsoon in Pune.
For the main course we ordered more or less the usual favouries like masala dosa, myore masala dosa, veg and onion uthapam and medhu vada with the bisibelle bath being an exception of sorts. The mysore masala had just the right amount of chutney spread on it which allowed one to enjoy the taste of the dosa itself as well as the accompanying aloo bhaji which was excellent. The uthapams were up to standard and so also the bisibelle, though some more spice would have made it more interesting. Relatively speaking the medhu vada was a tad disappointing, though I would put it down to our conditioning over years of eating this item across various udipis which seem to have developed their own formula.
The accompanying chutneys add an interesting flavour and help to complement the main items resulting in an extremely satisfactory experience overall. A word on the sambar, which for my wife and mother constitute the yardstick for concluding on the authenticity of the place and which is one of the reasons that we never visit Pune's most famous Udipi located nearby on the parallel FC Road. The sambar at Dakshinayan met with approval and seems to have passed the acid test !
We concluded the meal with the rava kesari for dessert. Portion size was large and ideally should be shared by two people. Good to taste with the right level of sweetness leaving us satiated yet wanting more. Quite definitely a place that I will visit again, to try out other items on the menu including one of my personal favourites - lemon rice.
Hence, its nice to come across a restaurant which sticks to the fundamentals and offers reasonably authentic vegetarian south Indian food to the local Puneite. Dakshinayan on JM Road near the Sai Service station is at the very same location which old timers would recall as Portico, an extremely popular "bar & restaurant" of the nineties. Its the same compact place with limited seating and the same vintage car placed outside the entrance, but of course with a very different menu.
The menu itself is not very elaborate, focussed on the key essentials and this I believe is the secret of how they manage their kitchen resources and ensure super fast service. They do a mean tomato pepper rasam which we opted for starters accompanied by the molgapudi idli, just the right combination for the chilly weather this monsoon in Pune.
For the main course we ordered more or less the usual favouries like masala dosa, myore masala dosa, veg and onion uthapam and medhu vada with the bisibelle bath being an exception of sorts. The mysore masala had just the right amount of chutney spread on it which allowed one to enjoy the taste of the dosa itself as well as the accompanying aloo bhaji which was excellent. The uthapams were up to standard and so also the bisibelle, though some more spice would have made it more interesting. Relatively speaking the medhu vada was a tad disappointing, though I would put it down to our conditioning over years of eating this item across various udipis which seem to have developed their own formula.
The accompanying chutneys add an interesting flavour and help to complement the main items resulting in an extremely satisfactory experience overall. A word on the sambar, which for my wife and mother constitute the yardstick for concluding on the authenticity of the place and which is one of the reasons that we never visit Pune's most famous Udipi located nearby on the parallel FC Road. The sambar at Dakshinayan met with approval and seems to have passed the acid test !
We concluded the meal with the rava kesari for dessert. Portion size was large and ideally should be shared by two people. Good to taste with the right level of sweetness leaving us satiated yet wanting more. Quite definitely a place that I will visit again, to try out other items on the menu including one of my personal favourites - lemon rice.
Sudhir,
ReplyDeleteNow I can make a comeback from Bangalore with Dakdhinayan in Pune.
Surprisingly this also reminds me of Vinod Dua in you on Zaika INDIAKA NDTV show.
Hi Sudhir,
ReplyDeleteNice, vivid descriptions! Next time I'll accompany Joe during his Pune visits.
See if you can add visuals too.
JP