My 5 best vegetarian foods to eat in Bangalore are: filter coffee, idli, dosa,vada and coconut water.  Technically speaking coffee and coconut water probably qualify as drinks. Now that I have shared the list let me share why they made it to my 5 best vegetarian foods to eat in Bangalore.

Every year on my annual visit to Bangalore the first thing I do is to head straight to Haati Kaapi’s kiosk’s right at the airport.There is nothing like a strong cup of filter coffee made from local coffee beans to get your day started. Filter coffee is different from the way coffee is brewed in the US. Filter coffee is brewed in a slow drip method and the decoction or brew is then mixed with milk along with a liberal dose of sugar. Those first 2 cups of filter coffee from Haati Kaapi are  just the start of my coffee affair in Bangalore.

Bangalore has a thriving and robust coffee culture and you can grab a cup of great coffee anywhere in the city. A couple of my favorite places for filter coffee include Kalmane Coffee and the local darshinis or fast food chains Bangalore style like Adigas and Brahmin’s Cafe.

After filter coffee, the best things to eat in Bangalore is my favorite breakfast combo of idli, dosa and vada. This is my holy trinity of breakfast food in Bangalore.

Some of the best places to get idli, dosas and vadas are the local darshinis like Adigas, Veena Stores, Shri Sagar (Central Tiffin Room), Brahmin’s Cafe, Sukh Sagar, Shanti Sagar, Vidyarthi Bhawan and Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR). Idlis come in different varities – ranging from the plain old idli to the spiced-up rava idli made famous by MTR, which serves filter coffee in silver tumblers. Dosas or fermented lentil crepes range from plain to benne (butter) to stuffed. Vadas are typically described as salty donuts.

And finally, no visit to Bangalore is complete if you don’t drink fresh coconut water. This is not coconut water that comes in  fancy bottles or a colorful tetra pack. This is the honest-to-goodness tender coconut water that is freshly harvested and served to you right by the roadside. You will find roadside coconut sellers in practically every nook and corner of the city. And like everything else in Bangalore variety is the spice of life – you get 2 kinds of coconut water – one that has lots of “neeru” or coconut water and one with “malai,” or cream where after you drink the water, they cut open the coconut and you get to scoop out and eat tender pieces of coconut.

These are just 5 of my favorite vegetarian dishes to eat in Bangalore from a longer list that includes traditional Udipi style lunch with all the fixings, or a typical lunch from Uttara (Northern) Karnataka. Bangalore offers a lot of options when it comes to vegetarian foods. Let me know what are your favorite dishes and places to eat in Bangalore.