Adyar Ananda Bhavan
“Adyar Ananda Bhavan has great dosas, and surprisingly great samosas as well.”
“The coconut chutney was so good and I ate the idili, vada, uthappam and dosa with it.”
“Their Gunpowder masala dosa and onion chilli rava masala dosa are earth shattering.”
Adyar Ananda Bhavan
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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With a very inconspicuous facade, this little place is a gem! The service was polite, although they tend to confuse which orders go to what table. That's OK! Because the food and prices are worth it.
I believe it's very authentic southern Indian food. The restaurant had many tables of Indian people, which is always a good sign! Although I was tempted to order the huge dosa just for the novelty, we ended up ordering the Thali platters, which comes with coffee/tea, dessert, and an assortment of sauces to go with the bread and rice.
I thought overall, the sauces were good. They're pretty light on flavor, which I appreciated for health reasons, but it was very good. For $16, there's enough food for 1.5 meals I think. It's well-presented. There's actually a little bread/donut appetizer thing that comes out before the big plates. They forgot to get me the coffee/tea, but I was so full by the end that I decided against bringing it up.
Oh Adyar. You have such delicious dosas, but your service is lacking. Come on! I was (and still am) rooting for you. Came her with my mama for a dosa fix. It took a long time to get our menus, and an even longer time for you to take our order. There was no one around for us to even flag down. We wondered if you were having a bad evening and someone called out last minute because there really was a real lack of attentive service. When our meals were finally served, it looked like the chef brought it out from the kitchen… so perhaps you really were short staffed. The food was Delicious! I had the onion and chile masala dosa. Mom had the onion and chile rava masala dosa. I think she chose better, because her onion and chile were cooked into the dosa, not merely raw and sprinkled around inside. We also ordered a bhindi masala curry (kind of bland) which we simply took home with us because the dosas were both enormous. We both agreed that there is so much potential at Adyar. They have the product, but not the service. Haven't made up my mind yet if I will be back. Leaning towards yes.
We get delivery from this place all the time. Pretty solid Indian food! Usually we get the South Indian thali – but make sure to say if you want the DOSA thali or the normal South Indian thali!
The dosa one comes with a large uttapam (my fav!), dosa, masala, sambhar, and chutneys. The South Indian one is a mix of different South Indian sabzis with rice – still good, but just not what we were expecting. The sambhar sadly isn't that good, so don't expect a real fresh South Indian one. Their rasam vada is good though – the rasam is nice and hot!
Solid Indian food delivery.
A really nice little South Indian restaurant, tucked away near the Queensboro Bridge. I recommend giving it a try if you're in the area!
Do note that this restaurant is vegetarian only! But come on, it's good for you, and pretty tasty to boot (and I love my meats).
We first split the samosa appetizer, which came with two samosas. The skin on the samosas was a little different than I'm used to – it looked like Chinese eggroll skin. But it was really nice and crunchy, and thin (leaving lots of great filling!) Really tasty with the customary cilantro and sweet tamarind sauces.
Then we had the Mysore rava masala dosa (spicy level: gunpowder). It came with three nice sauces – a coconut-slurry-type sauce, a tomato-cream sauce, and a lentil-turnip sauce (more like a soup though). The dosa itself was filled with seasoned potato and peas, wrapped in a wonderfully crunchy and flavorful shell. This was really tasty and definitely good to split between two people. The sauces were excellent too, especially the tomato cream sauce (reminiscent, if not exactly, a masala sauce).
We also had a mango lassi, which I found a touch too sweet.
Overall a really good place to eat, and our dinner with all of this only came to $20. Very filling, and my only complaint is that the place isn't closer to me. I'm going to try more southern Indian now.
Delicious food; dismal service.
However, based on other reviews, Adyar Ananda Bhavan lived up to expectations. Ordering shares of the Paneer Pakoda, the Onion and Chile Rava Dosa, and the Baigain Bartha, along with two mango lassis, everything hit the spot! My favorite item was the dosa. Filled with cooked potato with onion and chili cooked into it, it was among the best I have had, and I highly recommend giving it a try.
One other note is that given the cold temperature outside and the lack of heat inside, my friend and I were both uncomfortably cold over the course of our meal, in spite of turtlenecks, heavy sweaters, and sweatshirts.
Authentic South Indian food experience. Onion Rava dosa was crispy, light and yummy. The chutneys and the sambar were really good! I definitely recommend this place for an authentic dosa, idli and Vada eating experience. If you want a sampler of a bunch of items, get the Deluxe thali (number 67). It's very filling and delicious and good value for money. Great service (timely and courteous)!
So good every time, and I've been here a handful of times.
Thalis are your best bet for 2 people to share a filling meal. They now serve lunch thalis for $11.95. Dinner thalis are $17.95. MUMBAI ROYAL THALI is my fave.
Here are the dishes I recommend:
_ IDLI ($5.95)
steamed lentil and rice mixed cake with chutney and sambar
_ MULLIGATAWNY SOUP ($4.95)
a traditional soup of split peas flavored with curry leaves in a vegetable broth
_ PALAK PANEER ($11.95)
savory creamed spinach with fresh cheese
_ CHANA MASALA ($11.95)
chickpeas, onions and cilantro
_ BHINDI MASALA ($11.95)
spicy okra sautéed with tomato and onion
_ RAITA ($2.45)
cold yogurt with cucumber, onion and mint
EVERYTHING TASTES DELICIOUS! You have to try it, and return often as I do!
This is my GO TO south indian place in ny. Absolutely no comparison to any other place. I am comparing it to south indian food on lexington indian curry hill area restaurants and jackson heights as well. Take queens and bronx as well. This place is as authentic as it gets. This is as close as it gets to eating south indian food in Madras itself. Ambience is ok. Peaceful overall. I have tried every dosa on their menu, their thali, the uttapam, masala papadam and madras traditional coffee. Every single item, every single time- perfect. Their Gunpowder masala dosa and onion chilli rava masala dosa are earth shattering. I wish they delivered to upper west side :(. But no worries- i order ahead after wrk, take the 6 train and it's all worth it once they serve the amazingness! I think I am craving their dosa now !!!!!