Andhra Pradesh Bhavan

While up until this point we had visited the canteens during lunch or slightly later, PJ's father's eagerness to eat at Andhra (Pradesh) Bhavan, one of his favorite cheap-eat spots in Delhi, led us to a late dinner at what is perhaps the capital's most famous state-house restaurant.

We arrived to Andhra Bhavan a bit after 9:00pm and the place was hoping. Lucky timing landed us a spare table upon arrival, but we saw others having to wait a few minutes after we arrived—apparently not an uncommon occurrence at this most-loved of bhawans.

A simple atmosphere filled with customers 

The style of Andhra Bhavan is no frills. All visitors are required to purchase a thali, which costs ₹130 during both lunch and dinner and includes various vegetarian delights. In addition, non-veg side dishes are available. Chicken, mutton, and fish can all be ordered either fried or in curry, with prawn curry rounding out the options. (In addition, for Sunday lunch Andhra Bhavan offers a Hyderabadi dum chicken biryani.)

As is typical of most thali restaurants, refills of the standard vegetarian options are unlimited. And at Andhra Bhavan, the refills come quickly. The whirl of sounds, sights, and spoons makes sure one is stuffed soon after arrival, but thankfully they don't seem to hustle customers out the door too fast.

The standard thali (rice is also available)

The thali offerings were fairly standard yet satisfying. The fried mixed vegetable (second from the top left in the photo above) was delicious though soaking in oil. The plate also included a difficult-to-decipher curry-dal hybrid (top left) that Brett adored but PJ did not. In turn, PJ liked the yam curry (third from top left). The rotis were too thick for PJ's liking, although Brett appreciated their freshness. The tapioca halwa (bottom left) proved a sweet ending to the meal.

As for the meats, we opted for the fry version of all three choices, although it must be noted that in this case "fry" refers more to a pot-fried, heavily spiced style of preparation than a breaded and/or super-crispy dish to which western palates might be more accustomed.

The mutton fry is Andhra Bhavan's most famous dish and it lived up to its reputation. Boneless and tender, the meat mixed magically with the spices and left us lapping up every last morsel. By contrast, the fish fry was a bit under-spiced for our liking (although we didn't have stomach space to try the rich accompanying curry) and the high number of bones left us a bit unsatisfied. The chicken fry fell somewhere in between on both the spice and bones spectrum.

The chicken and mutton frys

Overall, Andhra Bhavan certainly lived up to its reputation as a whirl of sights, sounds, and smells. Of all the canteens we've visited, its efficient energy was certainly the most intoxicating.

We left satisfied. Biryani is served up on Sundays. So, who knows? Maybe we'll be back soon.

Price of dinner for four: ₹1050

1 Ashoka Rdm
Hyderabad House,
New Delhi, Delhi 110001


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