Sankranti Indian Cuisine @ Cyberjaya, Selangor

Sankranti is another Indian Restaurant in Cyberjaya that has been around for many years. Unlike the other Indian restaurants which focus on food from a specific region, this one has dishes from across the Indian sub continent. Based on what I saw, the chef and many of the staffs were from Andhra Pradesh and I believe the name Sankranti is a word from the Telugu language as well. That being said, there will definitely be a hint of Andhra in all the dishes, regardless of the fact that they hail from various regions in India.  

The Restaurant Along Jalan GC 3, Cyberjaya

Interior Of The Restaurant

We came at odd hours for lunch as it was somewhere near 3.30 pm and these guys are one of those few Indian restaurants that are open all day long in Cyberjaya. Most of them would close briefly during 3 to 5 pm as they don't get much customers then. Despite being one that has been around for some time now, the upkeep was good and I loved the decoration. 

Their menu was one that had a range of dishes and they seemed to be reasonably priced. On weekdays, they also offer buffet meals which are reasonably priced. Since a few of the waiters were having their rest, the chef personally attended to us. It showed that he was struggling with Tamil but we were still glad that he tried his best to explain the dishes. After some time going through the menu with us, he was off to prepare the dishes. 

Prawn Briyani @ RM 18.00

One thing that I must warn you is that it takes a long time to prepare the dishes and so please be prepared to wait. Even this evening, our dishes came in installments and by the time we were done, it was already 6.30 pm. Yup, that's three hours of eating and waiting in between for the next dish to arrive. Coming back to this Prawn Briyani, it was very different. Usually, the Prawn Masala would be at the base and mixed with the rice. Here, they had cooked this rice with Mutton, separated it prior to serving and topped it up with Prawn Masala. You might wonder how we know this. Simple. There were chunks of mutton in the rice which they had missed and it revealed it all. I guess this is standard practice in many Indian restaurants, just that we do not know. The Briyani Rice itself was just okay, not too impressive and again the Prawn Masala was above average only. The curry and Raita that were served together with this dish was quite watery as well. To sum it all up, not great! I would rate this at 6/10. 

Mutton Iguru Fry @ RM 18.50

Mutton Iguru Fry was basically a very spicy Mutton Varuval and contrary to the earlier dish, this was heavenly. Made with lots of dried chilies and curry leaves, this was one dish that disappeared in a matter of minutes. We were having it non stop as it was very delicious. 10/10 for this! Yup, a must try dish here. 

Aloo Paratha @ RM 5.00

Their Aloo Paratha wasn't impressive either. It was thin and that showed that it lacked the potato fillings. Definitely charred at places and that wasn't good. Just okay I would say and if I were to rate this, I would give it 6/10. 

Nellore Fish Curry @ RM 16.50

Their Nellore Fish Curry isn't the typical Tamil Style Fish Curry. This was surely Andhra Style Fish Curry and it was heavenly. Two huge chunks of Tenggiri fish served in a thick, aromatic, spicy gravy that went so well with the bread. This was so good that we forgot about the flaws of the earlier Roti. I wouldn't mind drinking the gravy as well and that was what I did. Seriously, one that is not to be missed here. 10/10 for this is what it deserves.  

Prawn Fry @ RM 12.80

Their Prawn Fry came in a thick masala like gravy but it wasn't very impressive. The prawns too seemed like they had been frozen for a while and lacked juiciness. Unfortunately, another dish that we didn't enjoy. I would rate this at 6/10 only. 

Bill For The Day

Despite being a multi cuisine outlet bringing dishes from various parts of the Indian subcontinent, I would recommend sticking with their Andhra cuisine  since the chef is from there. Their Mutton Iguru Fry and Nellore Fish Curry were simply out of this world. The rest however were not up to the mark. Friendly services but do be prepared to wait a long time as the dishes come out in installments. Definitely worth checking them out for the Andhra dishes but not the rest. 

Address: No. 9, Jalan GC 3, Glomac Cyberjaya, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1100 -2300 Daily

Sri Vishnu Bhavan @ Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India

Having stayed overnight in Chittoor, we woke up quite early to day as we had another long journey. We started the journey from the hotel around 8.30 am and arrived at Chittoor town at 9 am. Since our next destination was Vallimalai, we decided to have breakfast here. 

Sri Vishnu Bhavan in Chittoor

Chittoor is very much a small town and beside this shop, there weren't any other establishments that seemed worth visiting. As such, we decided on having breakfast here. The restaurant was nothing great too, but definitely sufficient for this town. Though they claimed to have an air conditioned dining hall, that was closed down. Not sure temporarily or permanently.

Vadai For Breakfast

Not much options they had for breakfast. It was either Vadai, Ponggal or Idli's. Pretty standard I guess. These guys would surely be spoilt for choices when they come to Malaysia. Anyway, the Vadai's were good at this restaurant. I added another 2 Vadai's after finishing mine. The Sambar in this restaurant was not up to the mark but the Chutneys were good.

Us Having Breakfast

My mother and brother had Idli's for breakfast. The Idli's here however were good. They were soft, fluffy and very fresh. Again, if their Sambar was better, that would have been great. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the Vadai and Idli with their Chutney. Definitely a recommended restaurant is you are looking for good Vadai's. Having had four Idli's and seven Vadai's, we also ordered four cups of coffee. The total for today's breakfast was INR 200 only. Prices of food are definitely much cheaper in Andhra Pradesh when compared to Tamil Nadu.

Hotel Regalia @ Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India

We were stuck up the Tirupati Hill Temple for the whole day and by the time we came down, it was already 3.30 pm. At that this there were not many options that we had for lunch. After asking around, we were recommended to head to this newly opened hotel in town called Hotel Regalia which had a vegetarian restaurant inside. As it was located right in town center, it was not at all difficult to locate this hotel.

Hotel Regalia in Tirupati

At The Vegetarian Restaurant Inside The Hotel

It is clear that this is a newly opened four star hotel. The restaurant here closes at 4 pm too for their afternoon break but the waiter and chefs were kind enough to accommodate us knowing that having come in at 3.30 pm, we might only head out at 5 pm at the earlier as it takes time to cook and prepare the dishes. Though they had an elaborate menu containing South and North Indian dishes, at this hour they only had the Tali set available. I was not fussy as they were kind enough to have us here at this hour. Even that, I was told would be cooked from scratch. We were definitely glad to have come to this place where the reception was warm and we felt welcome. The restaurant too was spotlessly clean.

Tali Set

Us Having Lunch

Us Having Lunch

I was truly impressed with the Tali Set here. It comes with 18 different varieties right from starters to sweets and ice cream. At first, they served us a glass of home squeezed grape juice and followed by rice crackers which were freshly fried. The wait was long for the food to be prepared, at least 40 minutes if I remember right. Once the waiter noticed that the rice crackers were out, he topped them without us requesting him to do so. Then the meals arrived. It started with two Pooris and then followed by White Rice. This was accompanied by five vegetables and six different curries. A definite treat it was. At the end, they served us Laddu. 

More Items

When I thought that we were done, the waiter then brought some Ice Cream, Gulab Jamun and the Indian traditional spiced Betel Leaf. Everything was superb. This was the perfect and most fulfilling meal that we had throughout this entire trip. After this, we also had four Filter Coffee's. Actually I ordered the coffee's when I initially placed the orders. If I had known that we would be having this many items, I would have surely skipped the coffee.

Happy Face After A Good Meal

For this feast, the total bill was INR 1000 but it was absolutely worth every dime. I have tried a number of restaurants at this town from my previous trips and this is definitely the best of them all. A highly recommended restaurant in Tirupati town.

Sri Motel Jain's @ Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh, India

It was a long drive from Chennai, Tamil Nadu to Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. We were using the highway and since it was already 2 pm local time, we decided to stop at this highway restaurant called Sri Motel Jain's Vegetarian Restaurant in Renigunta which is already on the Andhra Pradesh side.

Sri Motel Highway Jain's at Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh

Us at the Restaurant

This restaurant is quite posh in design and they have both air conditioned and non air conditioned areas. I was informed that the moment that you sit in air conditioned areas, the food price is slightly higher. We did not mind as it was very hot outside. Here they only had two food items for lunch and they were Tali Set and Mini Meals. We ordered two Tali Sets and two Mini Meals for my dad and I. Besides that, we also ordered four coffees.

Tali Set

More Curries

The Tali set seemed very much worth it as it came with a number of items along with Poori as starters and this was followed by White Rice. The curries were good and even the Poori was wonderfully prepared. At all restaurants that we went, they were surprised that we did not top up the rice. They must be wondering how come we are such small eaters but the truth is that Indian's generally tend to have huge portion of rice which is topped up at least once or twice. As for the Tali Set, I would rate this at 9/10 .

Mini Meals

The Mini Meals too was worth the price. It came with two Capati's, Sambar Rice, Lemon Rice, Curd Rice, some vegetable Kurma, Potato Perattal and a sweet. Honestly, for me this itself is a huge meal. All tasted good and I would rate this at 9.2/10 .

Us Having Lunch

Here it was slightly pricey but worth the price. The total meal cost us INR 760 which was worth it based on the spread and volume and not to forget the ambiance. Definitely a good place to have lunch if you are travelling by this route.