The leaf of plenty

Homely affair

It was in 1984 that Krishna Reddy started ‘Nagarjuna’. The idea was to introduce Bengalureans to Andhra cuisine and show them how homely it is. Needless to say, the ‘biryani’ and the vegetarian meals became extremely popular and the restaurant turned out to be gastronomers’ favourite haunt.

Mohan Reddy, son of Krishna Reddy and the current CEO of ‘Nagarjuna’, recollects, “My father, brother and I started this restaurant because we wanted to share our love of food with others. Back in those days, Andhra restaurants were rare. Since we hail from Andhra Pradesh, we knew we had to do something. That’s how this business started although we had no prior experience in the hospitality sector.”

The first branch in the City was opened on Residency Road. “We started off very small where we had room for about 60 people to sit and 15 items on the menu. My father was the brain behind all the items on the menu and we haven’t altered the recipes at all. Till date, we haven’t added much to the list as we want to keep it simple for all our customers,” he recalls.

Today, the Residency Road restaurant has grown to hold 240 seats and is open throughout the week. So what makes ‘Nagarjuna’ food special compared to others? Mohan says, “We believe it has to do with the ingredients we use. They are all fresh and made with the best items. And the spices we use make a huge difference as well — they have a slight Chinese influence which many South Indians are fond of.”

He also claims that since they serve affordable dishes, the customers want to come back for more. “Although we are a non-vegetarian restaurant, many of our customers come back for our vegetarian meals. We think it’s because we provide them with unlimited food at a great price. We are happy to give the ‘ghee’, rice, and the side dishes in abundance and make sure that they return with their stomachs full.

But the food that we make is also not that filling that one would want to skip dinner,” he says, proudly.

Over the years, they have stuck to their original recipes and eco-friendly plates — the plantain leaves. “We’ve never thought of bringing in plates to the restaurant; actually, we don’t even own any! The food we serve tastes better on the banana leaves and eating with hand makes the entire experience a memorable one,” he adds.

Mohan also recalls that many loyal customers have been returning for their food and hospitality. ‘Nagarjuna’ is proud to have developed a relationship with their
customers, most of them return with their spouses, children and grandchildren. Some of the popular dishes that they come back for are vegetarian meals, ‘Chicken roast’, ‘Mutton biryani’, ‘Chilli chicken’, ‘Chicken 65’ and ‘Spinach daal with ghee’.

“Our policy is to let our

customers eat as much as they want and still be comfortable; to make them feel at home
so that they don’t hesitate to come back to us. We are happy that we have served everyone well in the past years and we hope to continue with the same,” Mohan adds.