Mysore Cafe Chanakyapuri – A Hole in the Wall Popular Kannadiga Cafe

I have known this area well. In fact, I have lived here at my friend Amit Agarwal’s house when his father, Shri JP Agarwal, was an MP from Chandni Chowk.

I have visited Rashtrapati Bhawan, Sena Bhawan and Vayu Sena Bhawan with my father, Late Shri Suresh Malhotra, for outings, various chores and meetings.

I am establishing that I have been familiar with this area; however, Mysore Cafe never appeared on my radar at the time.

So when Sujit & I were taking a break in Gurgaon on our way to Kolkata, we drove off to meet Kamal Kumar at Chanakyapuri. It was late afternoon, and we were famished.

Kamal recommended visiting Mysore Cafe for a quick and filling bite. I wasn’t aware that such an outlet even existed, so I was quite surprised to find this hidden culinary gem in Lutyens Delhi, as Kamal insisted it is.

Mysore Cafe is situated near the majestic Rashtrapati bhawan located in MP hostel blocks on South Avenue.

Being located close to the President’s House (Rashtrapati Bhavan), MP Hostels, Sena Bhawan and a few Ministry offices nearby, there is a continuous flow of consumers of such food that doesn’t weigh heavily on your pocket.

Iti s technically a hole-in-the-wall cafe located in an alleyway of a prestigious location, and it is thronged by mortals from all strata of the New Delhi society to no end. 

Even though the outlet is located in a narrow passage (gali), hidden from major roads.

Frequented by enthusiastic cyclists, it seems to be a common hangout place for them, especially on weekends. So, the word-of-mouth promotion is working for them. One of their walls carries the photographs of the cycling groups that visit them.

Once inside, you see that the six-table layout within this tiny restaurant completes its cramped seating arrangement. So, you may end up sharing seats as well.

The green panelled walls adorn a few paintings, pictures of God, advertisements, bookshelves, a menuboard and some notices.

So, it’s not the place you’ll go for the ambience. However, the whole vibe of the outlet is quaint yet still rushed, being a budget restaurant. 

However, I feel Kannadigas will find such a cafe welcoming and nostalgic after seeing the cafe’s name written in huge Kannada letters right above the English letters.

The ambience may also remind them of small restaurants down south. Such restaurants exist even to this day in Bangalore and other places.

The location of Mysore Cafe is prime; however, the congestion inside the restaurant and space for parking remain big issues.

Still, the place is usually full at all times, and one has to wait on average for 20 minutes at least. 

So, why should we visit this quaint, old-school cafe in Chanakyapuri? 

It offers a cosy Kannadiga winter breakfast/ lunch experience.

However, the place can feel stuffy with no air conditioning, and make the experience of enjoying a hot meal a bit unpleasant in Delhi’s summer heat.

So here we were, perched at a wooden bench in a space with basic interiors, with wooden benches and stone top wooden tables, waiting for someone to attend.

Browsing the menu, I found the usual suspects on the menu: dosas, idlis, vadas, and filter coffee.  

It seems this place is packed in the morning for the piping hot Idlis and dosas. An absolute value for money since tables were churning quite fast.

They serve a variety of Dosas and uttapams. It may be a good place for breakfast if one is in the neighbourhood for those morning walks, runs and rides.

Finally, upon our yeelling a server appeared to take our order. Their stuff usually gets over by the time the clock hits 4 PM. We encountered this at 3 PM.

This part is what didn’t go well. We had ordered Masala Dosa for all, and Cold coffee for myself. Appe & Spicy masala for Mysore Masala dosa were not available.

So this definitely warrants another visit if and when I am in that area.

The Masala Dosa was crisp and well-stuffed with nice, moist masala. However, the sambhar was quite watery in my opinion.

Their single watered-down customary coconut chutney with the dosa was another disappointment.

The service was slow and disorganised, so that’s another negative that I observed.

It was inappropriate for a coffee lover like me to order a cold coffee here. It wasn’t cold, there wasn’t adequate coffee liquor in it, and the milk tasted awful.

I dropped the glass instantly upon tasting it. So no high marks from me for the food and the solitary beverage.

My opinion is exactly the opposite of that of others who have shared theirs. So, I should go back and do the taste test once again to be fair to the reviewers and the outlet.

Dining area of mysore cafe chanakyapuri

So in my opinion, I don’t tick any of the checkpoints for Mysore Cafe except for the Masala Dosa. And I think, given its popularity, another visit should be made to give them a fair chance.

Hopefully, I would notice and assess everything a bit more carefully for the food & service without being gullible. Hopefully, the owner will notice this too and will have made sufficient changes, if he is not fossilised in manner already. The ambience is definitely not in their control.