New Delhi: For the past two weeks, customers have been braving the Delhi winter and pollution at GK’s M block market. All for one bite of the famous crispy, buttery dosa by Benne—Mumbai’s iconic Bengaluru-style darshini joint.
A group of eight friends stood in line late Saturday evening, 10 January desperate to try on the famous dosas that have had celebrities such as Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli, Deepika Padukone and more licking their fingers. It was the hype, the college students said, that got to them.
“I’m not a fan of idli, but I want to try their Ghee Podi Idli,” one of them said. While another claimed that she wouldn’t ever wait in line for any other South Indian food place.
Bollywood’s favourite authentic Bengaluru-style South Indian restaurant finally opened its doors in Delhi NCR on 31 December 2025 and has had people queuing from morning to the last call in the evening.
Homely, budget-friendly, and authentic, Benne, founded by Bengalureans Akhil Iyer and his wife Shriya Narayan, has quickly become a must-try spot in Delhi.
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Standing in line for dosa
The first thing you are told when you approach the line is, “One hour and thirty minutes minimum”. The line starts from the doorstep of Benne, down to its porch and wraps around the remaining four restaurants at the end of the block.
In that one hour and thirty minutes, hardly anyone left to go eat somewhere quicker, although the college students did pop by Domino’s for a snack. Benne’s staff distributed warm water and even free dosas along the line, all while joking and updating the queuers.
Aditya Vaidya, Operations Manager for Delhi, who transferred from the Mumbai branch, said that the whole experience has been “unexpected.” While they initially planned to open earlier, due to GRAP 3 and GRAP 4 and some construction issues, the launch was delayed. He said that they chose to have a soft launch for the new location with minimal marketing because they wanted the food to speak for itself. He credited the popularity of the Delhi branch to luck and to the food living up to its expectations.
“It has been like this since the day we opened. We roughly serve some 800 orders for a group of two to three, that rounds up to some 1,000 or 1,200 people per day,” Vaidya said.
A few of the older patrons even joked among themselves that they couldn’t remember the last time they stood in line waiting for a South Indian restaurant in Delhi, except maybe in the early 2000s for Sagar in Defence Colony.
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Darshini fare
The Bengaluru specialty restaurant has a small but diverse menu. “We wanted to do a few things, but we wanted to do it right. We wanted to bring a slice of authentic Bengaluru,” Iyer said about the menu.
The menu, although varied, does not offer any sambar with its dosas. A question, Iyer said, he is asked constantly. “There were two reasons for this decision. One, it overpowers the dosa. If you have sambar with the dosa, you can only taste the sambar; the dosa gets left behind. Two, growing up in Bengaluru, we usually didn’t have sambar with our dosas, it just wasn’t a thing,” Iyer said.
The Benne Podi dosa is a soft, crunchy, but buttery experience with podi masala spread inside on the dosa with a dollop of benne (butter) on top and the masala or the palya on the side with coconut chutney and a red chutney. One customer even commented that the buttery feel of the food almost reminds her of homemade Punjabi food she grew up eating in Delhi. “It’s almost like eating a paratha,” she exclaimed.
The Ghee Podi Thatte Idli is a large flat idli covered in podi masala. It almost resembles a north Indian chaat item. Iyer recommends pouring the complimentary coconut chutney on the idli. “The chutney acts like a sambar, but unlike the sambar, it does not overpower the taste of the other,” he said.
Benne’s filter coffee could be seen on almost every table, either warm or cold, with the chef demonstrating the process at the live counter. Their Badam Halwa is a soft, gooey dessert perfect as an after-dinner snack.
The restaurant takes pride in being eco-friendly, with recyclable plates made from bamboo and limited plastic products. They also do not offer delivery.
“The dosa is something that is meant to be eaten warm and straight from the stove; it does not travel well. We don’t want something to reach you 30 minutes later, all soggy, even if it brings in more revenue. It’s not about the money, but the experience,” Vaidya said.
The menu is pocket-friendly, with the most expensive dish on the menu being the Benne Podi Masala Dosa for Rs 200. “Making a dosa is not very expensive, so why charge more?” said Vaidya.
Iyer sums up his brand philosophy with a quote from Japanese chef Jiro Ono: “I do the same thing over and over, improving bit by bit. There is also a yearning to achieve more. I will continue to climb, trying to reach the top — but no one knows where the top is.”
The quote is visible loud and proud in the Delhi restaurant, and also in several branches in Mumbai.
Iyer, who could be seen helping out the server staff and the busboys around the restaurant, said that he looks at his hands-on approach from the point of view of a consumer.
Iyer initially trained in Bengaluru as a chef for a few months, learning the art of dosa making before opening the first Benne in Mumbai. He even admitted to being in the kitchen earlier that day and said he enjoys the art of cooking. “I don’t mind it, in fact, I like it. Any time my staff needs a break, I’m happy to stand in for them.”
“We always over-hire people, so a lot of the staff in Delhi is from the Bandra branch, who are now training the rest of the team,” Vaidya said.
The restaurant, which offers minimal seating and largely standing tables, was designed in a way that promotes community eating—much like a typical darshini. Orders are placed via the two kiosks. Rather than token numbers, customers are given specific, quirky names such as Koramangala Komala or Fatima Bakery.
“We didn’t like the idea of giving our customers numbers, so we decided to pay tribute to Bengaluru and our friends through the orders. For example, Cooke Town Cassie — Cooke Town is an area in Bengaluru, and Cassie is the name of one of my wife’s friends,” said Iyer.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)