The old world taste

Popular haunt

A man from South Canara with a zeal to make a mark in the food industry, B S Manjunath opened this eatery in 1984.

As Manjunath had a vast experience in the hotel business, the eatery became popular within no time.

During the initial years, the menu was restricted only to South Indian items like dosa, idli, puri and vada. Later on with the increase in the number of young IT customers, the North Indian cuisine was also included in the menu.

“My tryst with the food business started when I was 15-years-old. Before opening this joint, I took training in this business. Now the business has grown tremendously and we have earned so many regular customers,” says Manjunath.

The simmering coffee, bisibelebath and idli sambar are the fast moving items for breakfast and the North Indian meal is a big hit with the young crowd. It comes with roti, pulav, two sabjis and curd rice. The outlet also has delicious sweets to offer and carrot halwa is the popular option of customers who can also enjoy an array of fruit juices.

An interesting thing about this food joint is that most of its employees have been with the eatery for many years. The main cook, Narayan, an 82-year-old-man has been serving here from day one. Many of the staff members have been here for more than 15 years.

“It shows the way they are related to this place. I have not seen Manjunath, the owner, treating them as workers. He cares for them like family members,” says Gopala Krishna, a regular customer.

“The eatery has an elaborate menu to suit every tastebud. Often I gorge on Idli-vada as I like the flavour of sambar very much. The North Indian section also has some good items to offer,” says Nitisha, one of the customers.