Dining at the famous Andhra Bhavan Canteen in Delhi

Andhra Bhavan Canteen in Delhi (

For years, we had only heard about Andhra Bhavan, never been it – me, despite living in Delhi-Gurgaon for almost 4 years a decade ago, and Jayanta, all his growing up years!!! Somehow, the ‘plan’ had never materialised. And we left NCR a decade ago, ignorant of how good or bad the place was…

That changed finally though…we were on our way to Uttarakhand last winters (Read: Uttarakhand Roadtrip in the winters), and upon landing in Delhi, we stopped by at Andhra Bhavan for lunch before starting off for Haldwani.

Run by caterers that dole out Andhra food, have to admit, we weren’t quite prepared to see the sea of diners there. Noisy, with staff rushing past tables serving food hurriedly and expecting the diners to rush through the meal too, this looked more like an office canteen. That is what it is, corrected the all-knowing husband. Ok, so I had over imagined, thus blaming it on myself….

Seeing us somewhat hesitant, one of the waiters gave our table a good scrub, brought us water, empty steel plates and stood there like a headmaster urging us to choose from the day’s menu. We sought his guidance instead, much to his happiness. This makes his job easy after all. So he said that most people order the Thalis that come with one hellishly big spread of rice, pooris, curd, dal, veggies, rasam. And then promptly added that we could order prawn curry and mutton fry separately. And we did just that. We stuck to the ‘headmaster’s’ advice, ordering thalis, prawn curry and mutton fry. And fell for the food!

No frills, no attempts at making this fine dining, the food is fine though and completely value for money. Remember, they serve the famous Hyderabadi Biryani only on Sundays.

Park at the lane behind. And make sure you go during breakfast, lunch and dinner hours only. They do not keep it open throughout the day.

Want to dine at the restaurants of other state bhavans in Delhi? Read this list where we have compiled our experiences…and choose the one you want to go to the next time.. Do-Not-Miss State Bhavans’ Dining in Delhi – List of Delhi’s BEST State Bhavan restaurants