Quick Poll: Mysore or Udupi Palace for noobs

My gf and I and 2 of her friends are going out for dinner Saturday, and they want me to pick a place since they know I do a lot of food research. I want to introduce them (read: gf) to Indian, since she claims to not be a big fan, but I don't think she's really been exposed to it properly. (I love Indian food) She claims to not like "gloopy" foods. Anyways, long story short, they want me to pick a place I haven't been, so I've decided to try South Indian since I haven't had it since coming to Chicago.

I've only been to one of those - Mysore Woodlands - and it wouldn't be my choice for an introduction to Indian food. I'm sure you aware that it's vegetarian, which makes its menu more restrictive than places that also serve meat and seafood/fish. A great choice for vegetarians, but otherwise, not so much, IMHO. I'm not vegetarian, and I didn't like it as much as Mount Everest or Tiffin. (I'm not voting because I haven't been to Udupi Palace.)

mdpilam wrote:She claims to not like "gloopy" foods.

Well, there's tandoori chicken (as well as tandoori lamb or prawns). But not at Mysore.

I haven't been to Mysore Woodlands, but I really like Udupi Palace. Lots of things to try, most of which are not gloppy.

Yeah, my initial inclination was to take them to Viceroy, Tiffen or Sabri Nehari, but they want a place I haven't been to yet, which narrows my list.

Udupi Palace - get the cottage cheese croquettes.

There is a lot of overlap in the two menus. I'd say the dosas and legume fritters are better at Udupi and the vegetable curries are better at Mysore. If your friend's preference is for crispy, fried dishes over gravies, then I'd say Udupi is the way to go.

Been to both a number of times. I think I like Mysore a little better, but either would be a good bet. As your gf is new to Indian food, a great introduction would be for her to order one of the 3 thali specials. That way she could try a bunch of little dishes and hopefully find one she likes. Better yet, both order different ones and share. I believe there are some overlaps though.

Both places serve both North Indian and South Indian stuff. But if you are looking specifically for south Indian, I would recommend Udupi.

Mysore Woodlands south Indian stuff is just not authentic tasting. Source: I am from south India.

If you decide to go to Udupi, here are the authentic south Indian things to try:

Idli
Vada
Uthappam
Pesarattu
Pongal/Aviyal
Payasam (dessert)
Adai (if they have it).

Many of the curries at Udupi are south Indian; but you would have to be there with a southie to make sure.

South Indian food is rice based for the most part. And the curries are not the 'gloppy' style of North Indian cuisine. The curries usually tend to be dry and the stews (sambar, rasam, kootus, thorans etc.) are mixed with rice. Curries are usually for side flavors; not for mixing with the rice by themselves.

But the best introduction to south Indian foods is through the 'tiffin' things I mentioned at the beginning. If you want to impress people; order the Paper Masala Dosa and prepare to be amazed.

Just a quick note, no vote. Both places you're considering are vegetarian. Noting this because the "can't vote for places" are all Pakistani, I think. In my very limited knowledge, the Pakistani places are more meat-centric, so, if you are not wanting to go to those places, but you are looking for similar eats, you're not gonna find the meat dishes. If you are specifically looking for a vegetarian joint on Devon, Uru Swati used to get a bunch of love, maybe throw that into the mix as well?

seebee wrote:Just a quick note, no vote. Both places you're considering are vegetarian. Noting this because the "can't vote for places" are all Pakistani, I think. In my very limited knowledge, the Pakistani places are more meat-centric, so, if you are not wanting to go to those places, but you are looking for similar eats, you're not gonna find the meat dishes.

Yes, this was my point, above. It seems like you're hellbent on choosing places that your friends are more likely to DISlike, assuming that they're not vegetarians. Sort of like, "You say you don't want gloopy, well then you can't have meat or seafood, either - take THAT!" I think you'd be better off taking them somewhere that includes meat and seafood on the menu, as their introduction to Indian food, instead of giving them an additional reason to not like their first taste of Indian food.

Incidentally, I don't think Viceroy of India or Tiffin are Pakistani.

This, from today's Trib, is timely:

Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious

turkob wrote:There is a lot of overlap in the two menus. I'd say the dosas and legume fritters are better at Udupi and the vegetable curries are better at Mysore. If your friend's preference is for crispy, fried dishes over gravies, then I'd say Udupi is the way to go.

Yes, far more similarities than differences. At one time, maybe a decade ago, the two menus were virtually verbatim copies, down to the same idiosyncratic descriptions and misspellings. Since then the menus have expanded, but they've expanded almost identically. An example is the newer "Manchurian" dishes that are now served at both restaurants (Manchurian iddli, anyone?). I never understood why these two restaurants have long had such similar menus. I don't think they're under the same ownership. Does anyone know the story?

Asked to choose between the two, I'd probably go with Udupi Palace, mainly because I ate there more recently (last summer) and thought it was excellent, as good as ever (I've been eating there for about 25 years). It's close to what you'd get in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu. A friend from Madurai agreed.

mdpilam wrote:I want to introduce them (read: gf) to Indian, since she claims to not be a big fan, but I don't think she's really been exposed to it properly. (I love Indian food) She claims to not like "gloopy" foods. Anyways, long story short, they want me to pick a place I haven't been, so I've decided to try South Indian since I haven't had it since coming to Chicago.

It seems to me either Udupi or Mysore might be ideal if you want to avoid "gloopy." I might be reading too much into your words but South Indian cuisine is far removed from the generic Mughlai cooking so common on Devon, with its overreliance on excessively rich pinkish creamy sauces (I'm indebted to zim for introducing me a dozen years ago to the term "pinkish creamy sauce," as shorthand for a certain style of cooking, as useful as "Ameri-Thai" or "suburban Jewish Chinese").

Last summer, a few days after Udupi Palace, I ate with the same friend at Indian Garden in Streeterville (chosen strictly for convenience), a place I hadn't been to since that ancient Chowhound thread (see this post for my experience with IG's PCS). Try as we might, we were unable to completely avoid the pinkish creamy sauce. "We don't eat like this in India," he reminded me.

nsxtasy wrote:It seems like you're hellbent on choosing places that your friends are more likely to DISlike, assuming that they're not vegetarians. Sort of like, "You say you don't want gloopy, well then you can't have meat or seafood, either - take THAT!" I think you'd be better off taking them somewhere that includes meat and seafood on the menu, as their introduction to Indian food, instead of giving them an additional reason to not like their first taste of Indian food.

Obviously, if the group doesn't like vegetarian food (or is uninterested in exploring the distinctive cuisine of South India), either Udupi Palace or Mysore Woodlands would be a poor choice. Plenty of places to get a nice plate of butter chicken on Devon!

Also - mdpilam -
Let us know where you wind up, and what you had - all that. I'm always looking for data points on this subject.

Haha, so after telling her we were going to Udupi, and just to be aware it's South Indian, which means vegetarian, she suggested we go to a non-veg place, even if it means a place I've already been. So we are going to Sabri Nihiri. I will post back on how they like it.

mdpilam wrote:we are going to Sabri Nihiri.

Just don't try going to their website; it's been seriously hacked...

We had an excellent dinner at Sabri last night, and everyone loved it. We ordered a mixed grill platter, chicken boti, haleem, nihari, frontier chicken, bindi masala, mattar paneer, and a bunch of naan. The haleem and mattar paneer were most people's favorites, but nothing disappointed. I think the nihari was probably my least favorite (but by no means anywhere close to bad), just because it feels a little more one-dimensional and oily. Even my gf who claims to hate okra dishes (except fried okra, which she loves), really liked the bindi masala.

Only quibble, which I've come to expect, is the relatively subpar service.