Arya Bhavan, Matunga (East)

I cannot claim to be a die-hard fan of South Indian food but there is no denying the fact that it doesn't leave you feeling as if you have just consumed a whole elephant plus some part of a hippopotamus. What I mean to say is that it is pretty light on stomach.

But Komala's at Phoenix has closed down and since then I have been on the lookout for a nice place serving the cuisine. Then an article in a newspaper - that covered eateries around Matunga - mentioned Arya Bhavan. I decided to drop in to check it out.

A group was already waiting patiently when we reached the place. The place seemed to be full. But upon inquiring we were told that the wait will not be more than 5-10 minutes. Turned out that this period was not mentioned in Indian Standard Time units and we really were inside within 5 minutes of our arrival.

We decided to ignore uttappam, sandwiches, pizza, pav bhaji and rice sections of the menu altogether. And decided to go for Brahmin Idli, Idiyappam with coconut stew and Appam with stew.

Brahmin Idli

The waiter had told me that Brahmin Idli is cooked in Ghee. So I knew it would be soft - I just had no idea how wonderfully :-) Each idli looked like a mound of creamy kulfi! The dish was served with the usual accompaniments of sambhar, coconut chutney and tomato chutney. But there were two more small bowls - one was of what I suspect was podi and the other was molten ghee. When mixed together, they formed a spicy mixture that did wonders to the idli. The Sambhar was delicious and the chutneys, simply heavenly.

Idiyappam with Coconut Stew

I had seen the Idiyappam being cooked in a recent episode of 'My Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita. The one that was served to us was as fluffy and tasty as the Idlis. But the stew was very disappointing. Despite the presence of red chillies, it was very bland and hardly had any vegetables in it. :-(

Appam with Stew

I guess we should have gone for something other than the plain Appam - a Mysore Rava Masala dosa perhaps. Because I think this Appam wasn't much different from the Idiyappam. Ah, maybe some other time!

We finished the meal with Anando's Choco Almond and Choco Vanilla. Frankly, I wasn't impressed by either one. But this was the first time that I tasted their products. Looking at their website, they seem to have a lot many offerings - Blackcurrant Delight, Splendid Strawberry and Tango With Mango, for example - than the eatery seemed to have stocked. Perhaps, I should have gone for the Thandai or Paan version that they did have.


So, in all probability it looks like I will drop in again (and again!) whenever I feel like having an Idli or dosa with a bowl of nourishing Sambhar or tasty tomato chutney :-)