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Having lived on both coasts and in India, I can say that the lunch buffet at Udipi Cafe on 161, west of Cleveland Ave., east of 71 is well worth the money. They nailed South Indian food at the lunch buffet!
They not only nailed the food, they nailed the odd restaurant-in-India authentic decor, and the plethora of wait staff that mill about seemingly doing very little. It’s really strange just how spot on this place is. For those of you that have eaten at restaurants in India, you’ll know what I mean.
When I moved to Columbus, I never expected to find a good Indian restaurant. I certainly never expected to find a South Indian restaurant. And I most definitely never expected to find a really good South Indian restaurant.
For those of you that don’t know, South Indian food is very different from North Indian food. North Indian is what 90% of Indian restaurants around the globe serve. South Indian is usually all vegetarian and its main staples include idli (rice patty cakes), uttapam (sour dough pancakes with vegetables), vada (non sweet doughnuts), dosa (crepes with various fillings), and soupy sauces such as sambar. A truly unique cuisine.
At any rate, you simply must go to Udipi since it is one of Columbus’ best ethnic eats and a good lunch value.
Oddly, they are closed on Tuesdays for lunch. Make sure to get the superb lunch buffet (I’ve never actually eaten dinner here). Included in your lunch buffet, they will bring you a masala dosa fresh from the kitchen. Their free lunch dosa is OK, nothing to rave about but the buffet is consistently great.
I also recommend the mango lassi (yogurt drink) and the chai (Indian tea) with the meal.
It gets really packed in here at lunch around 12:30 or so. A lot of Indians and Indian-Americans eat here – always a good sign.
(Note: Udipi is a chain and I normally don’t recommend any chains, but I’ll make an exception for this one.)
You can get sick from eating anything. I doubt it was the type of cuisine and more of the specific food you ate at the time being bad.
Either way, food poisoning sucks! :?
Naan is mostly North Indian, No? I was told this pretty emphatically by someone from the south, but I’ve not heard it anywhere else.
Food poisoning can come from anywhere. I’ve personally eaten south Indian food many times before (I prefer it) and never had a problem. I have to say I’m not very careful either :-\
Yes. You’re correct. The two main South Indian breads are Poori or Puri, which is that fried bread that is puffy and kind of looks like a chef’s hat and the other is Chapati. Based on the description it sounds like the gentleman who got sick had Chapati.
I believe the gentleman who got sick is describing a Dhosai or masala Dosa which is a is made by stuffing a dosa with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices.
I will go there and Sher e punjab on Henderson & Kenney too.