Bengaluru

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keema

Here is nothing glamorous about eating at a mess, and rarely is it an exotic gourmet experience. But what it does is give you a taste of completely local food, designed mostly for those who have no intention of cooking at home, or do not have the means for it.A mess would ideally have the simplest possible menu, similar to what you would cook at home. These meals are sold at fairly low prices, when compared to an eatery that serves a thali or a full meal.In, local messes are found all over the city, and while most of them focus on the local cuisine, you would even find some that sell North Indian food, including even Bengali fare. We take a look at some of the local messes that have been around for a while, and continue to do good business in a city that’s bursting at the seams with food joints.More than 50 years old, Ajantha Mess serves breakfast – or tiffin as they like to call it – lunch and dinner. The early meals are usually all about idlis and vadas, and the lunch and dinner meals typical comprise a poriyal, sambar, rice, papad, one fried item, rasam, curd, and chapati, servedon a banana leaf at one go. This one is completely vegetarian though.WHERE: S C Road, SeshadripuramWHEN: 7am-10.30am; 11am-3.30pm; 7pm-10pmHOW MUCH: `90 per meal (lunch and dinner)This generations-old mess – established in 1959 by PV Mahadeva Iyer – serves what people like to call a typical Iyer meal, which is of course vegetarian. You get rice, curries, papad, curd vada, appalam, dal vada, pickle, a poriyal, chapatis, rice, sambar, rasam, and some curd for both lunch and dinner. The feedback for this appears to be quite mixed – some love it and some don’t. The service is quick and you have to keep up with it. Waiters walk around asking if you want a second serving of anything, like most meal joints, and it’s advisable to stay alert. On Sundays, they add a few special items, a payasam for instance, just to make it different. Incidentally, Iyer Mess is really popular among some of the city’s actors and politicians, with quite a few diners dropping by regularly decade after decade.WHERE: 7th and 8th Cross, West Park Road, Malleshwaram WHEN: 11.30am–3.30pm; 7.15pm–9.30pm (closed on Saturdays)HOW MUCH: `70 per mealConsidered to be one of the oldest messes in Bengaluru, the ragi mudde rules the roost here. What you basically get is a delightfully soft mudde with sambar, pickle, and a poriyal. You also get rasam and rice, and buttermilk to wrap up the meal. What is really cool however is the way it’s served. The waiters give you water to clean your plate (for the ones with OCD) and they’ll stick a bottle cap under one corner of the plate so that when they do pour in the sambar, it doesn’t run all over the place – pretty nifty thinking. You can also buy khara bath, lemon rice, masala vade, and ragi mudde rice to take back home with you. It gets really busy during the week, so a weekend might be a better bet.WHERE: Sagar Complex, 5th Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Majestic When: 8am–10am; 12.30pm–3.30pm; 7.30pm–9.30pmHOW MUCH: `90 per mealYet another mess dominated by an Iyer kitchen, what you get at Sri Rajarajeswari Iyer Mess is a simple meal served on a banana leaf. From rice to two different kinds of vegetables, sambar, rasam, curd, pickle and papad, the meals are quite popular among mess junkies. They keep changing the vegetable preparation and sometimes serve even majjige huli. Once they’ve served you the meal, you can ask for seconds of anything you might like. However, the rice is served either in full or half portion. They also serve a payasam to complete the meal and rumour has it that some people can’t wait to finish their food to get to the sweet. But don’t expect to eat in leisure, everyone is in a hurry here.HOW MUCH: `65 per mealWHERE: Near BSNL Office, Margosa Road, Malleshwaram When: 12pm–3:.30pm; 7.30pm–10.30pmYOu won’t find Aunty Mess on the Internet, and the best way to experience this place is to just go there. They serve different kinds of meals for lunch and dinner – chicken, mutton,ball, kebab – and you can choose whether you want chapatis or ragi balls with it. And everything is quite spicy here. Almost 25 years old, Aunty Mess is packed pretty much all the time, but is definitely worth the experience.HOW MUCH: `140-`190 (per meal)WHERE: Mission Road WHEN: 11.30am-3.30pm; 7.15pm-10pm