Eating cheap in Middletown usually involves mediocre pizza or greasy Chinese carryout. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are actually some great restaurants where you can fill up on delicious and food for less than ten bucks. Udupi Bhavan, just a quick drive down Route 9, is one these.
Chances are that the menu at Udupi will look pretty unfamiliar, even if you’re somewhat experienced with Indian food. No disrespect to Haveli, but you won’t find Americanized creations like chicken tikka masala. The food here is traditional vegetarian cuisine from Southern India. As a devout meat-eater, I was skeptical at first. There’s no need to worry, though; the dishes here don’t need meat to be filling and flavorful.
The appetizers here are good but not essential. I recommend the idlys, small patties of rice and lentils sometimes combined with nuts. They have a great texture and go well with sambar, a spicy soup made from lentils and vegetables that can be poured over the dish. For the main course, I recommend the curries. Served with basmati rice and raita, a yogurt-based sauce, they are incredibly flavorful and tasty. For first-timers, palak paneer – curried spinach with cubes of cheese – is a safe bet. It uses a number of delicious Indian flavors without being too spicy or unfamiliar to a Western palette. I’ve sampled this dish at a few other restaurants, and none can match Udupi’s. There are several variations on this. Aloo palak, which replaces the cheese with potato, is good enough but a poor substitute for palak paneer. Mutter paneer is made with peas instead of spinach and is a great choice. Baigan bartha, a curry made from roasted eggplant, has a smoky and distinctive plavor.
Aside from the curries, there are a number of dishes that are worth trying. The dosas are large, crispy crepes that can be filled with a variety of incredients. Masala dosa is stuffed with mashed onions and potatoes and spices and served with flavorful chutney to contrast. There are several variations on this dish, including mysore masala dosa and butter masala dosa. All are good, but very similar. You can also order a variety of uthappams, big pancakes that are similar in flavor to the dosas but are much thicker and have the ingredients cooked in. Both dosas and uthappams are served with sambar. Chana batura, a specialty dish consisting of curried chickpeas and an impressively large inflated ball of bread, is also tasty.
If you’re someone who gets hung up on the ambiance, this might not be the place for you. Though there are a few nice paintings on the walls, the linoleum floors and tiled foam ceilings aren’t going to impress any guests. The service is similarly sparse; meals are served fast-food style from the counter, and you have to throw out your disposable cups and dishes at the end of the meal. The dining room has a cafeteria-like vibe that may be off-putting to fussier diners. Fortunately, you’re a college student who doesn’t have the time or money to pay attention to those details. Udupi Bhavan has some of the finest and most unique Indian food in the area, and it’s also one of the cheapest restaurants around. If you’re willing to sacrifice a little bit of the dining experience for the chance to eat some unusual and superb cuisine, Udupi is the place for you.
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