Uduppi Dosa House Bensalem Review
Uduppi Dosa House - Very Good Food & service; Bad Desserts
Uduppi Dosa House is that rare Indian vegetarian restaurant that has maintained a consistent quality of food over the years.
Located in Bensalem, Uduppi Dosa House serves mostly South Indian vegetarian fare in a small strip mall, away from the hustle
and bustle of nearby Philadelphia.
Since we went on a rainy week day, there was not much of a crowd - just about 10 people in all during the hour or so that we
were there.
$6.99 Lunch Buffet
We wisely opted for the Lunch Buffet after seeing the wide choice of food laid out on the table.
At $6.99, the Uduppi Dosa House Lunch Buffet is excellent value for money. And very tasty too.
Besides the usual South Indian fixtures of Idli and Vegetable Bonda, the Buffet table included Rasam, Sambar, Bisi Bele Bath
(a speciality from the South Indian state of Karnataka), Chow-Chow Kootu, Poriyal, Gobi Kozhumbu, Alu Mutter and Yogurt Rice.
Rasam, Sambar, Gobi Kozhumbu and Chow-Chow Kootu were delicious and earned high marks from us. We made return trips to the
Buffet Table for the Rasam and Gobi Kozhumbu.
With the exception of Poriyal, which lacked flavor and was too bland, the other dishes were above average.
Chutney, Vegetable Pickle and Onion Raita were also part of the Lunch Buffet. Chutney was cold and seemed to have come
straight out of the fridge. It was also too bland, lacking the spicy, pungent taste of good Chutneys.
Mysore Masala Dosa
An attraction of the Uduppi Dosa House Buffet is that it comes with Dosa as well. Our waiter offered us a choice of Masala,
Mysore Masala, Sada Dosa or Uttapam. My companion and I opted for the Onion Chilli Uttapam and Mysore Masala Dosa
respectively. We had no cause for complaint with either the Uttapam or the Mysore Masala Dosa.
Avial Take Out
To get a better feel for the restaurant beyond the Lunch Buffet, we also ordered takeout of Avial ($7.99) and Gutti Vankkai
($7.99). The Gutti Vankkai (Indian eggplants filled with spices) was delicious and rightly spiced that we dug into it with
great gusto. The Avial was so-so, a little too bland for our taste buds.
On the whole, we felt the Chef was adept at his job but would have preferred the food to be a tad more spicy.
Desserts
Although we weren't thrilled with the Chutney and Poriyal, our principal complaint about Uduppi Dosa House is its dessert
selection.
We weren't too happy with the Gulab Jamuns that came with our Lunch Buffet. So, we decided to try the Badam Halwa ($3.25) but
disappointed to learn that it might not be available. Our friendly waiter Periyar Selvan disclosed that Badam Halwa is
prepared only once in a while since it's not much in demand. He, however, volunteered to check in the kitchen and came back
with a cup of Badam Halwa but our enthusiasm for it waned when he revealed that it was prepared two days earlier for a party.
It had just been taken out of the fridge and overheated in the microwave. Predictably, it tasted awful.
Sympathising with our situation, Selvan then got us Rava Kesari ($2.99), again out of the fridge and microwaved. Again, the
taste was unpalatable.
By this time our patience had been tested enough and we gave up on the desserts.
We decided to seek solace in the Madras Coffee. The coffee was good but not spectacular.
Besides the food what we liked about Uduppi Dosa House was that they were nice enough to not charge us either for the Badam
Halwa, or Rava Kesari. To our pleasant surprise, even our two cups of Madras Coffee came gratis.
Uduppi Dosa House Rating
But for the disappointing Desserts, Uduppi Dosa House is a fine South Indian restaurant and we are already planning our next
visit. - © PhillyIndia.us
Philadelphia Indian & Other Food
