Naivedyam, Gurgaon

All right. This one is about Naivedyam. Well, Inthe NCR region- Delhi, Gurgaon, there are lot of restaurants which serve South Indian food. Most are general purpose restaurants which serves almost all cuisines. then there are some special restaurant which serve only specific cuisines. Even in such speciality restaurants, there are some which are one off and then there some chain restaurants.

When it comes to South Indian Cuisine usually the most famous names in terms of a restaurant chains is probably Sagar Restaurant, which is deemed to be authentic and having branches all across Delhi.

For me, it is not Sagar Ratna. Personally I find it too highly branded, expensive and not so great food. If I were in Gurgaon and I have a craving to eat south Indian food, the place I'd recommend is Naivedyam. Naivedyam in Gurgaon is at Sushant Lok, C block, in a building called Vipul Square. Situated on the top floor, this is a restaurant which has been around for close to 8 years. Reason why I like it is because of few sraightforward reasons- simplicity, good food, good price, easy and accessible.

Usual fare for my order at Naivedyam is a plate of Vada Sambhar to start off with. I like my Vada's crispy and dry. It is served with Sambhar, Coconut Chutney and another variant of chutney which looks a bit orange. I have ordered the oothapam at a different occasion, and found it to be ok.

In the main course, usually we order Dosa's. The ones I would order is the Mysore Masala Dosa, Paneer Dosa. The mysore masala dosa is not too crispy. It is like pancake material with a stuffing of potatoes in the center. Pretty good and I order this almost every time. The differentiating factor for this dosa is that it has coating of a orange paste on the insides of the dosa, which is more like a bit spicy paste of garlic and spices. Due to this the dosa is not as crisp as the stereotyped image we have of a crispy dosa.

Next we come to is the paper masala dosa. While having the masala dosa, we craved for a crispy dosa. This one is super crispy and comes in the form of a open ended cylinder. No paste, so its crispy and has a bit of the stufing of potatoes in the center. Pretty good again.

Next comes the Paneer Masala Dosa, again a good one and a bit heavy and fulfilling as well. Highly recommended.

There is also the south Indian Thali - Veg thali, executive thai which are served. On a different occasion I have had this and I can recall it was quite fullfilling, but again just about descent and average.





I tried the Malabar Parantha, which is supposed to be a flaky parantha, more like the lacha parantha. Now I was quite excited at trying this parantha and I asked the waiter what I should have it with. It is served with a vegetable kurma. Now I probably thought it would be a Qorma called as Kurma. Once served, there were two protions of the paranthas and the kurma was more lik a cocnut based gravy with beans and carrots. To be honest, I didnt like it. Was just about avergae and nothing to boast about.

The best part of the meal comes at the end. It is the filter coffee. True authentic south indian filter coffee. Strong, a bit bitter and frothy, served in a steel glass and a small bowl with it. Love to just take this hot cup of coffee, add sugar and then pour it from the glass into the bowl and then back into the glass, repeatedly in a long stream and making more froth.  A full meal followed by the coffee just hits the spot.

This is a great place for South Indian Food. No Frills, just good food.

Average price for meal for two costs Rs 300/- to Rs 500/-.

Naivedyam Vipul Square, B Block, Sushant Lok, Gurgaon India

0124 4049810, 0124 4049811