Hot Breads Bakery and Cafe

Where’s the chicken? Recently tried this place for lunch, and ordered the Chicken Dum Biryani — with the expectation of course that it had chicken in it. Much to my disappointment, the only piece of chicken in what turned out to be just a giant bowl of basmati rice was at the very bottom of the bowl, and it was pretty much already stripped of meat (okay, there were tiny bits and pieces of what might have been chicken scattered in the rice, which I assume came from this nearly bare drumstick, but not substantial enough to really be a chicken dish). On the other hand, there was half an egg on top, which if not for its untimely demise, may have turned into half a chicken someday! The giant bowl of rice did come with two sauces though, one cool, and the other spicy hot! The spicy sauce was pretty dang good, I’ll give it that.
The stuff my coworkers ordered looked a lot better though, so maybe I just goofed and ordered poorly. Not in any rush to try this place again though.
FYI, no AMEX here.

Decided to try it based on a recommendation from a friend but unfortunately we will not be coming back. The positive parts of this visit were that the people seemed friendly and the bathrooms were clean. As far as the food, I really can’t say anything positive. It lacked flavor and was not what I was expecting…
We ordered tandoori chicken, chicken biriyani, masala dosa, butter chicken, puri/​Baji and some puffs. Out of all the things we ordered I only enjoyed the puffs. I think the biggest disappointment is that there wasn’t anything special about the food and it didn’t have the flavor that it should. I would not recommend this restaurant to any one I know.

Update: Jan 1^st 2016. I can’t believe it. We came here again but this time made sure to come 20 mins after the «10:00am opening time». And sure enough, the place was locked. A guy came out and said we couldn’t come in because they are cleaning. We left.
The last few times we have come here at 10am and 1015am they were closed. One time the lady told us to come back later because they were still cleaning. Today we were just standing there, outside the door and no one came to open it. Even though it was 10:15am. I tried calling them but their phone is disconnected. They should learn about customer service. Anyway we went to eat elsewhere. I’m only writing this review because this has happens numerous times now. It’s incredibly frustrating. They should also update their website to say they only open after 10:30am.

It was my first visit, so I am giving here my first impression. there is outdoor and indoor sitting arrangements. the place is not big actually. people were chatting in loud voices, children running here and there. food is OK type. but if u want to spend a quality me or us time, it’s definitely not that place. yes u can grab a quick bite and leave. food is bit pricey than it’s quality and quantity.

Good food which is most important… but came in at 2pm on a saturday and almost every table covered in dirty dishes. The coke machine and the iced tea machines were dispensing clear liquids and not coke or tea. The behind the scenes at the counter is tacky with thumb tacked paper curling at the edges, crooked and a tacky bulletin board. these details would be so easy to improve to give a better feel. Hope they do it!

They state that they open at 10am. I went in at around 10:50am and there was nothing ready. They didn’t have any baked goods, none of the items on their menu was available. They didn’t even have coffee. I am very disappointed at their service. When available, food is average!

We highly recommend their sweet pastries. We did not taste any of their entrées, so we will have to write those on another visit. But if you were looking for what looks like authentic French pastries then this is a nice convenient place to go to for one of a kind treats and delights. Sitting outside is a lot fresher and nicer than sitting inside. The inside of the restaurant is just a bit stuffy and could use a little more ventilation. This is a wonderful adventurous place to try out and I cannot wait to come back and try some of their other foods.

Don’t eat there Pav Bhaji!!! Taste like they took old food blended it together, then let it sit there for few days and warned it up to serve you. It’s not Pav Bhaji!

The cheese dosa was nice but not with mozzarella! !! Sambar was nice but chutney lacked flavors. …

Went here on the recommendation, and was not expecting what I was getting myself into.
There is plenty of parking in front though and there is outdoor and indoor seating. In my opinion it’s very authentic, down to the aroma in the restaurant. It smells very much like India. The order taker person isn’t very helpful in getting through the menu.
The Butter Chicken was not good to me, it had the bone on the chicken still.
The Chicken Puff was edible but I wouldn’t really come back here or recommend it to anyone who isn’t prepared for the authentic foods. Sadly the nann wasn’t good to me either, it was fluffy, it was slightly burnt on most ends.

The food is decent… However, we ordered one order of cury to go at 7:58pm. There were about 6 customers total sitting down. It took them 42 minutes for our one order of cury which in my opinion is unacceptable, specially when there was not a lot of people when we got there. It got very busy as we were walking out so I’d imagine 8:40−9ish pm is their busy night hour.

Decent food but have never seen any other place take more time to prepare your order. Have been here a few times when there were not more than 2 – 3 total customers but the simplest of orders always takes 20+ minutes.

We have tried Hot Breads couple of times —
1. First visit we ordered puffs, Crème roll and aloo chat, puff and Crème roll was great but aloo chat was not as expected it was a bowl of chola n a small aloo patty at its bottom was good but not a chat definitely
2. Second. Visit we ordered dosas masala n Mysore masala both were good bit less fillings and the sauce used in Mysore masala was good but not extraordinary.
3. We also had a take away of Crème rolls n plum cake both were good, Crème rolls bit high on cost like 3 $ for one which one can find for 1 $ in California so looks bit costly
Overall good place for Indian food n bakery items

This review is just for the super tasty and satisfying goat keema dosa that I had… sooooo good! Their goat keema puffs were also amazing.
Everything else… service, cleanliness, parking — nothing spectacular.

I’ve only had North Indian food here so review is for that only. Eaten here 4 times, 3 times the experience was negative and 1 time positive. One time they messed up and doubled my order. I ended up with two korma’s in small go-​to package that weren’t even very good. Another time, I called in a pick up and maybe they lost it or too busy? so had to wait for them to make it after I arrived. I’ve had the chicken puff which tasted like it’s been sitting there from the night before. The cream in the cream roll also didn’t seem fresh. The chicken korma and egg curry were just bland and forgettable. There’s one lady there who’s friendly and jokes around but the rest don’t seem to want to be there.
My main complaint (besides the blandness) is the food to price ratio is just straight up wrong. Not only is it more expensive than the competition but the amount you get is abysmal. Maybe their dosa’s and south indian food is good but unless I’m in this area and someone wants to eat here, I probably wouldn’t be back to find out.

First impressions are very poor here. The place had a stench, and unfortunately it was not the smell of delicious Indian food. It smelled like stale urine/​unclean restrooms.
There are tables and what should have been ample seating, but almost all empty tables were dirty and have not been bussed. The bussing tray was half full and hanging out by the drink station… not a pleasant sight to see. Unfortunately we were guided by our stomachs and not our eyes, so we didn’t see/​smell the unclean environment at first. If I had, I probably would not have ordered here.
Speaking of ordering, they had to recheck our order after losing it. It’s pointless to write about my opinion on the quality of the food, but just incase you are a visually and olfactory-​impaired individual (with infinite patience for slow workers) who is looking for an Indian restaurant to try…

Trip 1: Let’s talk punctuality! When you put up a sign saying «OPENS AT 10».OPEN AT 10! I went in at 10:10 and got told that they will take 15 – 20 minutes to setup their kitchen and serve me. Also that only a limited dishes would be served. Very annoying to me.
Trip 2: Evening snack time. Me and my roommate order chaat dishes. It took them 25 minutes just to make a simple dahi sev puri dish. MY GOD!!! I could have gone to the superstore nearby, bought the ingredients myself and prepared the dish in this time. I was left hungry for so long!!! And to add more, their bhel is so crappy that they give the masala and the kurmura without mixing it. and the masala is so less that you are left with dry kurmura to eat!!!
GOOD:
— Basic level of cleanliness
— Lots of variety (conditions apply)
BAD:
— Avoid rush hours. Very noisy!
— Slow service
— Only a few dishes are worth spending on. It’s like some chefs just look up the recipe online and feed you
— Menu varies by time of day. Not guaranteed to get everything in the morning or night.

So let’s talk appearance, it needs a spring clean, display windows could do with replacing so the food doesn’t look like its being kept in a cloud of smoke.
The menu is plenty extensive. So much so, making decisions/​choices is not easy. Have to agree with other Unilocalers, it is pricey for what you get.
I heard the Dosa are good but seeing I am still on a quest to find indo-​chinese food in Austin I went with chilli paneer, that’s the best one I have had so far. It is spicy for sure.
Also tried the sev puri, that was sub par. Fillings were skimpy, chutney flat tasting! I crave Mumbai street quality.
Will definitely be back.

I am the guy who always try to go out the way and support small businesses. I think the number one problem I had in this place was the ridiculous amount of wait for food. I guess they really don’t understand that people sometimes have strict workplaces that only allow one hour lunches. I ordered at 11:58 and got my food around 12:38 that’s a ridiculous amount of wait. The owners didn’t care too much, another dude wanted to cancel his order. It serves me right for not checking reviews to this place it seems like this is an ongoing problem.
Also the portions Jesus, it’s sooooo small compared to the prices won’t be back again

I’m really conflicted internally as I write about this place. On one hand, it brings back a flood of memories of my visits to hot breads bakery and café in India, where I distinctly remember the aroma of freshly baked bread and the lovely pastries behind glass. On the other, as I look at the menu, the prices jolt me back to reality. One Mirchi bajji for $ 7 is a complete rip off. And the $ 9 entrees: don’t even start me on them.
What I do want to talk about however, is the quality of the South Indian food — specifically dosa, idli and vada.
The ambience is pretty standard of any fast food joint. You order up at the counter, they give you a number and call it out when the food is ready. It is a typical family restaurant with no frills, which means you can bring all your kids here. The kids will get a kick outta the pastries, believe you me.
Let’s talk a little bit about the over priced snacks. $ 7 for one Anaheim pepper fritter (mirchi bajji) that’s been sitting behind glass, when it’s actually meant to be straight out of the fire. Bravo. Same goes for the veg puffs, masala vada, and some other stuff.
Medhu vada (plain vada) was surprisingly soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. The sambar is definitely the most authentic I’ve tasted around Austin. If not anything else, hot breads knows how to make sambar. I’m glad. So glad. The tang, the spice and consistency are near perfect, and it’s a feeling like no other to dip your dosa into this stuff and put it in your mouth, inadvertently licking your fingers in the process.
The dosa is about 1.5 feet long. You didn’t read that wrong. It’s pretty normal back in the motherland, so we South Indians are pros at finishing up this colossal paper thin crisp dish in mere minutes. The chutneys are really good too. The batter seems to be well fermented, unlike a lot of other places in Austin, and in the states for that matter. Come in and order the dosa. You will not regret it at all. There are different varieties of dosa starting from $ 4.99 for the plain. There is also a mini dosa (about 10″) for kids or adults who can’t eat as much as the average South Indian.
The Chaat stuff (bhel Puri and so on) is terrible. Sorry. I don’t have another word for it. Don’t take a risk.
I understand they have To go service. Come on a weekday night for quick service.
My sambar fix in Austin indeed.