Tucked away in a little gali of Hauz Khas Village, right in the heart of South Delhi, lies arguably the best South Indian restaurant in all of Delhi. Naivedyam is quite and unassuming from the outside, apart from the beautiful lit dipa-stambha (oil-lamp pillar) and carefully hand painted Nandi, flanked by banana trunks and adorned with freshly picked flowers. Once you enter the large, wooden, stained-glass paneled doors, a waft of everything delicious overpowers your senses. A waiter quickly and courteously sits you down and you are left for all of five minutes to survey the beautiful teak furniture and enormous Tanjore paintings lining the walls before you are served hot rasam and delicious, crunchy papads. Two minutes later, water arrives, in beautiful copper cups and before you know it, your mouth is definitely watering. You look down at your menu and you’re kind of shocked at how affordable this place is; despite it’s posh location and high level of service, the pricing is about the same as Sarvana Bhavan.
Forgetting about the food for one second, I’m really drawn to the word naivedyam. It refers to the offering of food to the Lord before a worship ceremony. Naivedyam can also refer to any offering (physical, mental or spiritual) traditionally in context of a particular deity. After the naivedyam offering has been honored by the Lord, one is given the prashad or sanctified food. To take the idea even further and go beyond just a ritualistic offering to a deity, one can view the body as a temple of the Lord, residing within, who is to be nourished with an offering of food. Keeping that in mind, I think it’s a beautiful concept to name a restaurant after and perhaps, even unconsciously, I can see that thought affect the service. When you think of food as an offering, as something more than just a means to fill some stomachs, something so sacred that it is honored in gratitude to the Giver and Maintainer of the universe, I genuinely think standards improve and that subliminally affects the whole act of enjoying your meal.
But, back to the food. My order always included a fresh coconut water, which was brought to me in a cool little basket. But some Naivedyam specialities I kind of cannot live without are their Erulli Tomato Utthapam, beautifully presented on a banana leaf, a Mysore Masala Dosai or the fantastic Korma and Appam. The idlis are also quite good. The chutneys are versatile (like I’ve eaten the chutneys plain, they’re that good); they have this phenomenal cilantro-coconut chutney and their tomato chutney, hello! Too good. My dad always ordered a Executive Thali which is infinitely filling and so worth one hundred and fifty five rupees. And while they offer a wide selection of Rava Dosai, and those are definitely not my thing, I will refrain from commenting but will encourage the connoisseur with the news that they are extremely popular. Cap off your meal with a piece of mysore pak and a steaming cup of filter coffee. If you’re feeling particularly desi, I’m really into dipping the mysore pak in my drink so the flavors of the ghee and coffee mix. Sorry if that’s not your thing but it has floated my boat quite effectively in the past.
This place is perfect for catching up for lunch, take-out, dinner or even a late dinner. I first ate there by myself, then with my dad, then with my mom, then my entire family and with some friends. I mean, practically speaking, this place is perfect anytime of the day. Shout out to Eeshit for first telling me about its existence and to my parents for sustaining the habit.
Naivedyam
1 Hauz Khas Village
New Delhi
(literally walk into the gate and it’s the first gali on the right, past Imperfecto and the cool antique furniture shop)
Nandi
Bosmopolitan 