At Bengaluru Cafe in Northern Liberties, South Indian home cooking takes center stage
A Virginia couple serves the crisp dosas, soft idlis, and house-made chutneys of their childhood in Karnataka state — and it's all vegetarian and vegan.
At Bengaluru Cafe, the dosas are crisp, the idlis are steamed, the chutneys are house-made, and the pitch is direct: This South Indian vegetarian food is from the home kitchen, not the banquet hall.
The restaurant opened in March at 809 N. Second St. in Northern Liberties, the second location for owners Sri Saravanan and his wife, Radhika, and their first outside Fairfax, Va., where they opened near George Mason University two years ago.
Saravanan, who was born and raised in Bangalore — now Bengaluru — moved to the United States in 2012 after studying textile engineering and fiber sciences. He and Radhika, who previously worked in human resources, did not come from restaurant families.
The business grew out of Radhika’s desire to do something of her own. They landed on Philadelphia during their drives between Fairfax and New York.
New York felt like too big a leap for a second restaurant, Saravanan said. Philadelphia offered a market with a strong vegetarian and vegan audience, and a sizeable Indian community. Northern Liberties felt like the right place to test the concept.
Saravanan signed the lease last September for the former Uncle Pan, a short-lived Vietnamese restaurant.
Part of his work, he said, is reminding diners that Indian food does not begin and end with naan, butter chicken, paneer, and biryani.
Bengaluru’s menu is rooted specifically in Karnataka state and its capital, Bengaluru. The menu includes regional specialties like benne dosas, buttery, crisp-edged crepes made from naturally fermented rice-and-lentil batter; masala puri, crushed fried bread drenched in spiced green-pea gravy; mirchi bajji (chili fritters); and vada pav, which stuffs a deep-fried potato dumpling into a soft bread bun.
Small cups of sambar, the lentil-and-vegetable stew, come with nearly everything. The filter coffee, a South Indian specialty, is made by combining dark roast coffee, chicory, and hot, frothed milk.
“This is the food we grew up eating,” Saravanan said. “If you come to my home as a guest, you’ll see the same thing.”
Ordering is by kiosk, with each dish photographed and described.
The Fairfax restaurant gave the couple confidence that non-Indian diners would find their way in.
Philadelphia, Saravanan said, has reinforced that — especially in Northern Liberties, where first-time customers work through the menu. Take the idli, the soft, savory steamed cake made from a fermented batter of rice and urad dal and coated with ghee. Saravanan said he has seen customers mash it with milk and feed it to their babies.
One wall of the dining room has a mural inspired by Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Opposite it, a floor-to-ceiling faux boxwood wall adds texture and color, warming up the room’s harder surfaces.
For now, Bengaluru Cafe is closed Mondays, though Saravanan said he expects to move toward seven-day service once the staff is settled.
Bengaluru Cafe, 809 N. Second St. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. It closes between 3 and 4 p.m. daily. Closed Monday.
