The Udupi Palace  – 1423 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4L 1Z7
Country: India         
Must-try dish: Vegetable Uttapam
Dinner guests: Pornstar Sam & Uncle Yusuf 
Seating: Indoor seating with a small outdoor patio in the warmer months. 
The high: Serves many of South India’s classic dishes that aren’t often on Indian menus. 
The low: It’s a carb-heavy meal. 

Udupi is a small city in Southern India famous for its temples, and as a result, its vegetarian cuisine. In India, recipes and ingredients vary by region, so It’s no surprise that the South has its unique culinary landscapes. The Udupi Palace has been operating in Little India for decades in the same basement location, but in the last year it upgraded its home to a newer, cleaner place on ground level across the street. 

At every time of the day, there are tables of all kinds scattered throughout the restaurant enjoying the thalis, dosas, and sweets from the state of Karnataka. With a constant flow of people coming in and out of the doors throughout the day, there must be something delicious happening there.   

With a couple local guides, we tackled the vegetarian menu one dish at a time until we realized that we still had room in our bellies to order more, so we did. 

To kick things off, we got the Idli and Vada Sambhar duo. Although this is considered breakfast in South India, it would be pretty savoury by Canadian standards for the morning. An Idli is a fermented fluffy puck that soaks up all the sauces that it’s dipped into. You usually break a piece off to submerge into the sambhar, then break another one, and so on. A Vada is a deep fried lentil fritter with a crispy exterior and a soft interior that’s also an excellent vehicle for dipping. 

Both the idli and the vada are served with sambhar, which is a soupy stew made with lentils and tamarind broth. It’s enjoyed all over India, but it originates from the south. A chef or a restaurant is rated on how good the sambhar is, so if you’re going to ace any recipe in your Indian repertoire, it would be this one! 

Chana Poori is a plate with deep-fried bread made from flour that’s served with a small bowl of Chana Masala – a chickpea and tomato stew, for dipping. For lovers of this chickpea recipe, you’ll want the larger order if the plan is to enjoy that over the bread.

You’ll notice that many people in Udupi Palace are eating their own meal served on a sectioned metal plate. This is a Thali, and the one here is in a South Indian style. A selection of small portions of various dishes are served on the platter for you to sample without having to have one big dish. It usually changes daily so some people could eat it every day of their life and never have the same thing. Similarly, the South Indian Thali at Udupi Palace is always changing, but on the night we went, there was a terrific eggplant dish in it. We recommend trying this to be able to taste several things at once. 

The Paper Masala Dosa is one of the heartiest dishes from South India. Imagine a thin, crispy crepe wrapped up and stuffed with curried mashed potato – this is essentially what you get. It’s literally packed with flavour, and the thin dosa jacket solely keeps it all together. To enhance the flavours even further, you can dip it in a coconut or a green chutney that’s served alongside it. 

After falling in love with the Vegetable Uttapam, we ordered the Onion and Green Chili Uttapam. Both are fantastic but the vegetarian one is a safer bet for the majority of people because it’s seasoned with spices and vegetables, which gives it a lot of flavour, while the onion and chili variation was overpowered by spice. It would be too spicy for many people to enjoy. An Uttapam ressembles a pancake, and also falls under the dosa family, but instead of having a filling inside it, there are toppings on top. The coconut and green chutneys are also served alongside these dishes for dipping, and you’ll want them! 

Although it wasn’t in the cards on this visit, Udupi Palace makes a wonderful mango lassi, and many of their desserts are traditional to the region. This makes it a unique place for diners looking for an authentic South Indian experience.  

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)