Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where to Fill Up?
South India has oodles of restaurants, from ramshackle street eateries to swish five-star
hotel offerings. Most midrange restaurants serve one of two basic genres: South Indian
(which usually means the vegetarian food of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and North Indian
(which largely comprises Punjabi/Mughlai fare). You'll also find the cuisines of neighbour-
ing regions and states. Indians frequently migrate in search of work and these restaurants
cater to the large communities seeking the familiar tastes of home.
Not to be confused with burger joints and pizzerias, restaurants in the south advertising
'fast food' are some of India's best. They serve the whole gamut of tiffin (snack) items and
often have separate sweet counters. Many upmarket hotels have outstanding restaurants,
usually with pan-Indian menus so you can explore various regional cuisines. Meanwhile,
the independent restaurant dining scene keeps mushrooming in India's larger cities, with
menus sporting everything from Mexican and Mediterranean to Japanese and Italian.
Dhabas
(basic snack bars) are oases to millions of truck drivers, bus passengers and sun-
dry travellers going anywhere by road. The original
dhabas
dot the North Indian landscape,
but you'll find versions of them throughout the country. The rough-and-ready but satisfying
food served in these happy-go-lucky shacks has become a genre of its own known as '
dhaba
food'.
