From Bengaluru to Bur Dubai, MTR restaurant has come a long way in 100 years

War-time shortage led to the Indian restaurant's famed rava idli dish

The facade of the original MTR restaurant on Lalbagh Road, Bengaluru. Photo: Tanushree Bhasin

MTR's Masala dosa is an all-day favourite worldwide. Photo: Charukesi Ramadurai

The restaurant has been run by three generations of the Maiya family. Photo: Tanushree Bhasin

MTR now has branches in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, London and Seattle with plans to expand to Canada. Photo: Tanushree Bhasin

The restaurant was co-founded by current managing partner Hemamalini Maiya's grandfather. Photo: Tanushree Bhasin

Khara bath is a popular breakfast item at MTR. Photo: Charukesi Ramadurai

The elaborate MTR lunch thali. Photo: Tanushree Bhasin

A crisp, hot masala dosa at MTR. That's all it takes to assuage feelings of homesickness.

I began living in Malaysia more than four years ago, but there are still days when I miss home so much that there is nothing else to do but head to the Little India neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur for a meal at Mavalli Tiffin Rooms. And I leave the restaurant each time feeling comforted.

MTR is a Bengaluru venue that marked its 100th anniversary this year. It is as popular today as it was when the Maiya brothers first opened it in 1924 as a hole-in-the-wall eatery serving up soft idlis and fragrant filter kapi (coffee) in a sleepy residential neighbourhood.

Over the years, MTR has become an obligatory pit stop for anyone visiting Bengaluru and always finds a place in lists of India’s most popular restaurants. MTR has not just survived, but thrived and expanded in its 100-year history.

From one “tiffin” (colloquial speak for snacks and small bites) restaurant in Bengaluru, to outposts across the city and around the state of Karnataka, plus in Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London and Seattle, it has been a long journey for MTR.

Managing partner Hemamalini Maiya says: “We just focus on our strengths – food quality and hygiene – so that we can deliver consistency. Whichever MTR they eat in, people can expect the same quality.”

Emphasising the nostalgia value of the brand, she adds: “The main restaurant at Lalbagh Road remains exactly how it was, say, 60-70 years ago. For some of our old customers, MTR is like a second home and going there for a dosa or khara bhath is a ritual.”

In a constantly changing world, this focus on consistency and quality is perhaps one of the reasons for its popularity among people living both in and out of India. Dubai resident Chaitali Patel says: “After dropping my daughter to her dance class, I would take a short walk to MTR and treat myself to a moist rava idli or just savour a cup of coffee in the familiar surroundings that feel like a home away from home.”

In the Bur Dubai branch of MTR, which opened 10 years ago, favourites such as rava idli and chandrahara (a signature sweet made of milk-sweetened fried dough and served only during the weekends) continue to stay top of the charts.

The backstories of both these dishes show how the MTR brand has constantly innovated and landed on its feet even in the toughest of times, from the Second World War to national political upheavals.

In the early 1940s, for instance, faced with a severe rice shortage after the war, MTR co-founder Yagnanarayana “Yagnappa” Maiya experimented with fine semolina in place of rice to make the restaurant’s classic steamed rava idlis. Eight decades on, it remains one of MTR’s most popular dishes across the world.

An entrepreneur from the third generation of the MTR family, Hemamalini has several interesting anecdotes about her grand uncles and her father, Harischandra Maiya, who took over from them. Talking about how Bengaluru locals still come to MTR on Sundays just for its chandrahara, she recounts that her grand uncle, who had just returned from a trip to the UK and Europe, originally called it French pastry.

The name – and the dish – simply didn’t catch on among Bengalure folk, until Yagnappa had a brainwave and named it after a blockbuster movie running at a cinema down the road.

A born entrepreneur with fire in his belly, Yagnappa’s study of restaurants in Europe enlightened him. Upon his return, he introduced new standards for hygiene and health, including the proper sterilisation of cookware and the distribution of booklets on proper eating habits. He even opened up the kitchen to the scrutiny of customers.

Hemamalini explains that quality aside, even the kinds of dishes on the menu have remained largely constant. “My father put his stamp on the brand by introducing lunch and dinner, while my generation has focused on expanding to more locations. But other than that, we have not changed anything,” she says.

Hemamalini says MTR’s signature spice mixes contribute largely to the quality of its dishes, which is why every branch in the world procures some key masalas – such as the sambhar powder and rava idli mix – from the mother ship in Bengaluru. “Otherwise consistency is a huge challenge,” she says, adding that every new branch opening takes several months of research, with the team spending a lot of time and attention in finding other key ingredients such as ghee and lentils locally.

Along the way, MTR also delved into instant foods and snacks, becoming one of the largest players in this sector, before selling that arm of the business to a Norwegian company in 2007.

Plans for the future include more locations worldwide, including in Canada and the US. The fragrance of filter kapi has, after all, lured tens of thousands of people for a hundred years and counting.