Taste of Authentic Karnataka Cuisine @ Rayaru’s Kitchen

Have you heard of Military Hotels? Well, I had not till I came across some of my foodie friends write about such hotels in Bangalore. I was curious about it and did my bit of digging and realized that these hotels are establishments which serve authentic Karnataka cuisine and some of them have been around for ages.

Why are they called Military hotels or referred to as one? Again a bit of asking around and googling lead to me understand that since some of these hotels have been around for 40-50 years they probably used to be the meeting point where the soldiers used to get together for a meal as well discuss plans and strategies in those earlier times.

Bangalore has its share of some very old and well known military hotels but in this post I am going to share my experience of a similarly styled hotel.

Being a part of the food circle in Bangalore, it is but often I come across friends discussing or sharing experiences of different restaurants via social media and Rayaru’s Kitchen is one such restaurant that I recently heard about.

I am a true South Indian at heart and I love tasting each regions cuisine hence an invite to taste authentic Kannadiga food was accepted with much anticipation. I decided to take my hubby with me for this meal as he is a born and bred Bangalorean aka true Kannadiga and I knew he would enjoy this experience.

Till date, I have tried Akki Roti and Ragi Mudde and truth be told, I am not a fan of Ragi but I did like Akki Roti.

The invite was extended to me by the owner of the establishment, Mr.Balakrishnan who was quite specific in wanting me to just enjoy the taste and feel of Karnataka cuisine. In other words, he did not want me to waste time taking pictures and just dive into the food.

Before we started our meal, the owner had a chat with us on the roots and history of establishing this restaurant and one of the main things I gathered from this chat was the love he has for Karnataka be it the food or the state. He is very passionate about the food such that he prepares the bases for all the dishes himself and then his cooks prepares each dish as per the orders.

The restaurant has 2 floors providing a similar seating arrangement on both floors. The restaurant aims to serve food lovers from families to office goers. The owner is a aquarist and is passionate about keeping some wonderful species of fishes which he knows and recognises by first glance. If you take a closer look, one can see the efforts put in to ensure the water in tank undergoes the right process keeping the tank clean. It is such a pleasure to see someone so dedicated to a hobby.

We were served initially with a soup called Leg Soup which is essentially cooked in lamb leg. The flavours are spot on with pepper adding that zing to the soup.

For starters we tasted the Chicken Paddu and Chicken Koliwada.

Paddu is a common enough dish in South India. I have eaten the normal vegetarian paddu with chutney though I find it difficult to find them in Bangalore and hence I am always on the lookout for a place serving good paddus. This restaurant has taken this simple dish and made it even more special by serving non vegetarian paddus – Chicken and Mutton. I had the pleasure of tasting the Chicken Paddu and the chicken keema used in sinfully soft and melts in the mouth. In addition to the texture, the seasoning and spices used make it a dish you must have here.

Chicken Koliwada is not a South Indian dish and hence I was a bit taken back when we were told we would be served this dish. The owner thoughts were to take a Mumbaiya dish and make it his own using some special Kannadiga tasting spices. A simple unassuming starter is what we got but the flavours and spice levels are perfect and though I do not recollect the Mumbai Koliwada this dish was very good.

Since this was not a bloggers meet and it was just two of us, we decided to head on to the main course and we were served with Beegaroota. This assorted meal consisted of ghee rice, mutton curry, chicken dry, chicken semi gravy, fish fry, boiled egg, salad, white rice, rasam,buttermilk, pickle and papad. Normally it served with mudde but we opted for bun Parota which I have heard is very good.

The meal is no doubt an assortment of the different gravies and is quite filling for one person. I especially enjoyed the chicken dry items as well as the mutton gravy with the absolutely soft bun parota. It is wonderful to finish the meal with white rice and a very different rasam from what I have tasted in my many years in Bangalore.

Just when I thought I ended my meal on a great note, we were served with a simple looking dessert called Coconut Lappa which is grated coconut and sugar sandwiched in a thin layer of parotta. Sounds simple enough, but sometimes its these simple dishes which are outstanding and we loved it.

I come away from my experience at this simple restaurant with great memories with a definite intention to return here, this time with my father in law who loves Kannadiga food.

If you are looking for a place which serves some lip smacking Kannadiga non veg dishes and of course the famous Donne Biryani then this is definitely the place to head to!

Ambiance – 3.5/5   

Service – 4/5

Food Taste – 4.5/5

Quantity/Quality – 4/5

Value for Money – 4/5