• Early today morning, visited Vidyarthi Bhavan for the first time after it got renovated.
• Got to know from the cashier that it can hold 15 seats more than earlier.
• Looks more spacious, and lot more light
• Time taken for renovation – 25 days
• Cost: shhhhh!
• Kesaribhaath taste has gone down drastically (tasted like some Rave paste). And at Seven in the morning, Idly-Sambhar already had a somewhat sour feel to it.
• That was when I cancelled my Masale Dose order. I was sure it can NEVER EVER BEAT CTR.
• Not at all surprised that the Malleswaram joint stood first in a contest conducted by The Times of India as the ‘King of all Dose outlets in Bangalore’. (actually, it can compete with any Dose outlet in the Chaturdashabhuvanas).
• Last Sunday saw a great rush at CTR (after many got to know of its existence through TOI). The Hippies to the Heppies were all there from early in the morning till noon ordering BMDs (Benne/Butter Masale Dose).
• The toothless old man, a regular at CTR for years, wearing Panche, white shirt and having the traditional white-red-white lines on his forhead, was shocked to see half naked girls hogging “Butter Masala Dosa” seated behind him! And one of them was exclaiming – “Oh my….Thizzz heaven, isn’t it?” for which our good old man smiled to himself, sipping his cup of hot filter Coffee, and thought – Lady, CTR is the HQ of the heavenly abode called Malleswaram.
Related posts:
Rambling with Bellur 
July 15, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Bellur,
This is not acceptable. You needed to have tasted dosa. Kesaribath is not the yardstick to measure basavangudi…
July 15, 2008 at 4:23 pm
RK,
Without tasting you have passed the judgement. I feel its prejudice. From a Dosa connoisseur like I never expected this. Because I remember to have your earlier post on Sagu Masale. Anyway, you are free to have your opinion. Of course, even today i like dosa from Mylari hotel in Mysore only.
July 16, 2008 at 1:26 am
>>That was when I cancelled my Masale Dose order. I was sure it can NEVER EVER BEAT CTR.
>>
RK,
You started off by ordering the wrong items at Vidyarthi Bhavana. In fact, Vidyarthi Bhavana is known for Masale Dose more than anything else.
But I do agree, it is a close second to the masale dose in either CTR or Janata Hotel in Malleswaram.
Regards,
Mayura
July 16, 2008 at 6:57 am
on my very first visit to VB a few years ago, had masale dose (MD) and felt CTR was much better – both in taste and in appearance. so its not that i’ve passed the judgement without tasting! 😉
when i visited the place in dec ’06, had ‘idly-sambhar’ and then ‘saagu-masale’ which tasted good. on subsequent visits, have also been greatly admiring the sooper kesaribhaath at VB. thatz why i was disappointed y’day. added to that, idly-sambhar wasn’t up to the mark either. have never had a single bad innings at CTR for 3 decades!
mylari dose is one of my favs.! a few years back, after a visit to chamundi, visited mylari and surpassed my earlier record of 9 doses. (want to check my track record now!)
the vade-sambhar at janatha hotel is not the same anymore. sambhar has become very watery, and has lost the tinge of sweetness that we would all associate it with. aalugedde palya is the only saving grace in MD. another peculiar scene in janatha is that the servers (no old timers, all new faces) in the main hall keep looking at the customers eating doses like how the invigilators keep an eye on the students in the exam hall!
July 16, 2008 at 10:25 am
goods the mornings of bendakaaloor’s to bellurs
en saami, idyaathri bavna ittond kettogade antha ist lataagaa thilkandiddu. nan prende monne algoagi baykand bandru. bandidde thada phonetthi nang dial maadi aaa otlu gunagaana maadidde maadiddu. chikkapatte rEtu, jothege elloo ildiro tEsh2. ingaadrenge antha?
-@mbi
July 16, 2008 at 11:40 am
kelav isya jonumdall gottagakkilla, siva…..inn kelvu late-aagaana gottaytadalla….esto olledu, alva ambanna?
malleswarakke bandaga ringaysu….CTRnaage dose ruchi idistini!
July 17, 2008 at 5:14 am
CTR adarenu sivs VB adrene siva
namma bellur post bardralla ade
namage sirunde siva
kettoitu kesaribath VB halaitu Idly sambar VB
niraitu sambar in vade sambar of Janata
yenadrenu namma bellur bardralla
ade namage ishta siva
hege baritair namma siva
nimage sigali mattomme ollyeya KB 2 VBV siva
CTR climate halaita siva yella padde hudugaru
dali madidra siva panche janara gati yenu siva
yelarannu kapadu namma siva bellur siva
avarava bhavakke avarava anisike alva siva
nine kapadu nammannu kalabereke aharadinda siva
siva siva shiva shiva
July 17, 2008 at 7:51 am
Yup, no doubt that CTR has the best masala dosas in the world 🙂 Nothing can beat CTR 🙂
July 17, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Scantily clad girls and TOI seem to be closely connected ;-). Damn, I left BLR only 3 months back and this post makes me want to go back.
July 20, 2008 at 9:57 pm
LOL.. half naked girls 🙂
MY3 on Vijay’s blog should read this I think.. Today had been to Lalbagh and suggested Prashanth to take us to VB.. he said, tumba rush irutte.. Is it the better reason to avoid those high bills??
July 28, 2008 at 8:49 pm
aha..!! your post wants me to get back to BLR soon..!! CTR..slrrrpppp..just cant wait.
July 29, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Hehehehehe this is super!
August 13, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Visited your blog after long time. Try MTR in Basavangudi on DVG Road. Yes MTR !!! its Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room 😉 MD is good there. Am not sure whether this pitch allows you to surpass your record of 9 doses but I guess you can reach close.
October 30, 2009 at 9:55 pm
I feel there is a huge bias against VB particularly from folks from Malleswaram and its surrounding areas. I am from BGudi and have found CTR nothing extraordinary. Felt Upahara Darshini MD was much better than CTR.
I think its just the way we BGudians feel abt VB and Mwaram feels abt CTR.
Next time I am in Bangalore will definitely visit both VB and CTR and compare and will sure leave comments here (of course, no prejudice).
November 5, 2009 at 2:43 am
I am an objective,unbaised and neutral Banglorean. I have lived both in North Bangalore and South Bangalore — I belong to Malleshwaram as much as I belong to B’Gudi Brigade.On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being lowest and 10 highest) – I rate CTR BMD at 10 and VB MD at 4.
CTR Masale dOse anyday! (or evening, or night)
November 16, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Can anyone give me exact address of CTR,
sorry to ask this here. I am basically Bangalorean born,brought up in Bangalore, Basavanagudi, any given day my full Voting towards VB only 🙂 But after reading these many comments on CTR, my mind is telling me to visit atleast once CTR, then give my wise rating !!! Still i do say i Love VB’s Masala dosa ! Wah.
April 18, 2022 at 2:11 pm
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