Darshini (restaurant)

It is well known that the Darshini culture was introduced by Mr.R. Prabhakar Rao in 1983. Inspired by the fast food chains abroad, he started the first Darshini called 'Cafe Darshini' in Jayanagar. The success of Café Darshini saw the proliferation of several darshinis and the many existing coffee bars renaming themselves into some "darshini". Wikipedia calls Mr. R. Prabhakar Rao as "Darshini Brahma" since he started the concept of a darshini and made the cost of food affordable to the general public. It is learnt that there are over 5000 darshinis in the city itself. There are several darshinis which have maintained a good quality of food using fresh and quality ingredients. The menu includes mostly South Indian breakfast dishes. Food is generally served in stainless steel plates. Plates may be placed on tall tables or held in one hand and the food eaten while standing.


Features

All darshinis are pay-first-eat-later similar to most fast food restaurants or fast casual restaurants, intended primarily to serve the rush hour crowd in Bangalore. Darshinis usually are identified with small round steel tables around which customers stand while eating. The emphasis is on serving good food quickly and cheaply.

The first darshini was Upahara Darshini near Nettakallappa Circle, Basavanagudi, Bangalore. Most of them are run by Kota Brahmins, Shivalli Brahmins and Koteshwara Brahmins.

Typical menu

A typical darshini menu comprises rice-based dishes like Idly, Vada, Sambar and Dosa. Indian filter coffee is also available. Some darshinis also serve North Indian dishes.

See also

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, September 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.