• I love Little India! The area makes me feel like I’m a tourist in a foreign land! Out of my numerous visits, I wonder why I had never seen Ananda Bhavan Restaurant. It’s a double-storey Indian vegetarian eating house, also the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Singapore!
The place boasts fuss-free, no-frills dining. You queue up at the counter to order and pay for your food. You get a queue number (like the ones at clinics!) which would flash on the LED screen when your food is ready to be collected.
Mysore Masala ThosaiS$4+
The daily special was Mysore Masala thosai. It came folded into a triangular shape and boy, it was big! I couldn’t finish most of what was on the plate! It was served along with 3 different spicy pastes and a curry. The curry was watered down and bland. My favourite condiment to go with the thosai was the bright orange-coloured one.
Each thosai packed a pouch of potato, onion, corn and green peas. It was rich in flavour and yummy yummy! I love Indian food!
SamosaS$0.90+
We had samosas to go along too. For me personally, samosas are a staple in any Indian meal. I had been worried that the samosas here might be a little stale, but I was wrong! The thin crispy layer of skin wrapped around ample portions of filling. Yum yum!
At the next table, we noticed people eating thosai that were 2-3 feet long! Boy, am I gonna have one the next time I drop by!
Little India
58 Serangoon Road
Singapore 217964
Tel: +65 6297 9522 | Website
Jul 15, 2007
3472
Haha I am not sure if thosai is healthy. It doesn’t look particularly so. But if it is I wouldn’t mind making Indian vegetarian food a daily staple.
Jun 8, 2010
26
As a nutritionist, I wld say thosai, naans are pretty healthy due to their cooking methods (unlike their oily cousins, the pratas!)
Jun 8, 2010
26
correction: just read one of the comments. I think it’s rasa masala thosai!
Jul 20, 2007
4
yeah this is good delicious food. its a BIG thosai. indians know how to make it big:)
Jul 21, 2007
4
omg thosai so big…. and yeah its in singapore. i want to try it out!!!
Jul 26, 2007
1
ps: that “curry” you mentioned is not actually a curry.. its a dip too, thats why you found it watery.. its actually supposed to be like that :)
Jan 4, 2008
1
Very Worst Experience in my life at Anandha Bhavan, Serangoon Road (Upstair). Please don’t have your food with your family in this Hotel. I’m sharing Some bad experience in Anandha Bhavan, Need to queue in for bill payment & order, need to take water in a Dirty area, order will come one by one with 5 to 10mins interval(for 3items it takes 20mins approx).Even of there is not crowded these guys are not helping to serve the customer. For every order you need to go and pickup with your wet hand. There will be no smiling face. Even they are not interested about our visit. Don’t take any parcel from these hotel. These begger fellows only expect our money and don’t know how to server the customer. To enjoy all these and more bad experice, please visit Anandha Bhavan with your family (upstair & downstair) in Serangoon Road.
Sep 8, 2009
16
Thanks for this great post. Can’t get enough of the delightful spicy stuff.
Visited Ananda Bhavan today and tried the Rava Masala Thosai which I must admit was excellent. This is similar to a Paper Thosai but with extra herbs and spices infused into the batter. Gives it that extra dimension together with the accompaniments which you can refill on request.
Also must recommend something called “Sambar.Vadai” This is basically 2 pieces of vadai (doughnut shaped savoury dumplings) dunked in a small bowl of sambar. The vadai soaks up the sambar perfectly. Seriously tasty and a first time for me. Impressed much!
Sep 8, 2009
3472
Awww you have to stop it. You’re making my mouth water and my stomach rumble.
Thanks for the recommendations, as always :D
Sep 8, 2009
16
Pleasure! :) There’s something about the air in Little India that stirs up your appetite I reckon! Must be the spice trails? BTW, (just wonderin’) when will you have a recipe corner in this great blog or is there one already? Just a thought.
Jun 8, 2010
26
ooo…u r like the queen of indian food reviews. I almost forgot abt Ananda Bhavan. I went there again recently, was stumped at the (numerous) choices and I decided I’d order what a customer ordered (it looked really yummy plus she said it was good!)
U might wanna try it next time u r there! It’s something called Ravi (or Rava?) Masala
Dec 22, 2010
1
I am no longer in Singapore but this post brought back memories and taste of Little India. You should also try the Mysore Masala Dosai which is served with a wonderful vegetable kurma.
When I left Singapore in 2004, there were actually three branches of Ananda Bhavan. The oldest one used to be my regular eating place. I still remember the face of the old bespectacled waiter who used to serve me regularly. I wonder if he is still around. The taste and service was always impeccable.