Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Thinking Woodlands? Forget shoes, think of food!
|
Think of Woodlands, think of shoes? Well, not always. Now you can think of Woodlands for food too! For some of the best South Indian food, just reach out to Woodlands restaurant in Karol Bagh, says UPENDRA TANKHA... .
|
FROM CHENNAI TO DELHI: The Woodlands restaurant now offers quality South Indian food in Delhi.
DURING THE 1970s and the `80s when I was staying at Defence Colony in South Delhi if the family cared to eat good South Indian food, the place to visit used to be Woodlands at the nearby Lodhi Hotel. It was a large restaurant but always, if one arrived at mealtime, full up, and one had to register one's name at the reception and wait for some time. But it was worth waiting for as the food, even though priced on the high side, was authentic and invariably well done.
I still remember their king-sized paper dosas the like of which I have never had anywhere else. The sambhar used to be served piping hot and the coconut chutney was delicious. However, a decade ago it folded up and then the place to go to was Dasaprakash at the Ambassador Hotel near Khan Market which had better ambience and was a wee bit steeper.
Now the good news is that a 98-seater plush Woodlands restaurant has opened up on Desh Bandhu Gupta Road at Dev Nagar in Karol Bagh. The franchisee is Mangla Enterprises which has done up the place rather well in largish rectangular space with a deepakstambha -- lamp pillar -- in gleaming brass in the middle.
I speak to Anil Kumar Mangla, Managing Director, who assures me that the kitchen staff comprises experienced workers from the various Woodlands restaurants across the country. He says under S. Ramesh Rao, the founder's grandson, Woodlands had gone global. Today there are Woodlands restaurants in London, Middlesex, Dubai and Singapore.
Besides South Indian fare, the menu includes many North India items too. I am told that these had been included for those in a group, kids for instance, who would like to avoid the spicy South Indian fare, which like every good cuisine, needs an acquired taste.
I have a rasam at first and follow it up with a rava masala dosa. The rasam is rather high on salt but the dosa is crisp and filling. For pudding I try a coconut halwa. The prices are reasonable and, of course, minus the extra hotel tariff.
There are several types of dosas, idlis, upmas, vadas and uthappams to choose from. For a hearty eater I recommend the Woodlands' royal thali which at Rs.100 per head has two kinds of rice served with rasam, sambhar, vegetables, papad, salad and pickle. The drink is buttermilk and the sweet dish fruit salad with ice cream.
The first Woodlands restaurant came up at Madras in 1936. It was set up by the late K. Krishna Rao who hailed from a village in Mangakore called Kadandale. From a small beginning near Parry's crossroad in Madras, it moved to the drive-in restaurant off Mount Road which is doing roaring business today.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
|
