Restaurant review: I can't do justice to the diversity of flavours at this southern Indian spot
Andhra Bhavan opened in 2024 promising to be Ireland’s ‘first authentic southern Indian’ restaurant but I don’t think this claim is quite true.
While doing some research for this review I learned on the epicchq.com website that the first book published in English by an Indian was published in 1794 by Dean Mahomet, who was born in Patna in north-east India but lived in Cork.
He later eloped to London with a Cork woman named Jane Jeffreys and had seven children.
Ireland and India have long had connections; the Indian Constitution took significant inspiration from our own, and nationalists such as de Valera and Nehru were in regular contact; you can also guess who most of us cheer for when India plays England in cricket or hockey.
Ireland has had Indian and Pakistani restaurants for a few decades now, thanks mainly to the migration of Indians here from the UK.
However, the majority of the dishes available in our local takeaways are from northern India. Dishes from southern India rarely get a look in.
Andhra Bhavan opened in 2024 promising to be Ireland’s ‘first authentic southern Indian’ restaurant but I don’t think this claim is quite true.
Madina on Little Mary Street in Dublin was where I had my first dosa pancakes at least 15 years ago (now closed), to take just one example.
Andhra Bhavan is named for the legendary canteen in New Delhi which is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and provides inexpensive tasty food to hundreds of Delhiites every day.
It is run by the southern State of Andhra Pradesh and famous for its fiery, intensely flavoured cuisine.
Andhra Bhavan Dublin’s dining room is colourful and inviting, and split into two adjoining rooms with vibrant murals on the walls and a bustling atmosphere, thankfully not quite as chaotic as the Delhi version.
On a damp Tuesday in January it was packed, and I quickly noticed that our fellow diners were almost entirely Indian — a very good sign.
The menu is large with several pages to navigate and while staff were eager to help us choose, it will take several visits to get a handle on all that is on offer.
I visited with fellow food writer Dee Laffan (DL) and we went for a mix of classic southern dishes we knew and others we did not. We began with panipuri (€11.99) which we both know from Sunil Ghai’s excellent version in Pickle.
Six crispy hollow balls arrived with a crunchy dry stuffing of fried lentils and chickpeas which we topped off with tamarind and mint chutney water and popped in our mouths.
They were perfect, an explosion of sweet-sour-spicy deliciousness that filled all our senses.
Cut mirchi (€11.99) were new to us, green chilli fritters in chickpea flour, a little dry on their own but they worked much better with a coconut dip on the side to loosen up the flavours.
We ordered chicken 65 by accident (I thought I had picked a different dish), but this was a pleasingly punchy, lemony, chilli-laden version of the classic fried chicken dish invented in the Hotel Buhari in Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
From a selection of thali platters I ordered the breakfast thali (€24.99) which had the largest selection of breads and dosas as well as dips including peanut, coconut, and a tomato lentil sauce.
Almost simultaneously, our Andhra lamb curry (€22.99) arrived, a generous portion of richly spiced lamb curry with naan bread. We both thought we were tolerant of chilli but this was almost too spicy — almost but not quite.
The intense chilli heat was exhilarating, especially when we countered it with the soft bland idli rice cakes and dosa from the thali.
The drinks list is short, with five beers and 16 wines and prices ranging from €28 to €45.
A bottle of Kingfisher Premium (€5.50), (India’s most popular beer) had noticeably more flavour and character than most commercial lagers, and it was a pleasant aperitif alongside some plantain chips (I asked for a snack to go with the beer while I awaited my guest).
For wine, we chose Blanca Nieva verdejo (€38), a tangy fresh white wine from northern Spain which had some pleasing herbal lemon notes and a touch of richness and texture that allowed it to cope with the spicier dishes.
DL finished with a nicely balanced mango lassi (€5.99) that managed to be refreshing, fruity, and pungent with a finely judged mix of yoghurt and sweet mango fruit.
My two balls of gulab jamun (€5.99) were doughy and soft, properly sticky and sweet from their sugar syrup bath, but not cloying.
In no way have I done justice to the diversity of flavours at Andhra Bhavan.
You will have to visit yourself, as often as possible, as I intend to do.
- Andhra Bhavan
- 85 Marlborough Place, Dublin 1
- andhrabhavan.ie
- Dinner for two with wine and beer cost €137.93
