Saravanaa Bhavan

This is a regular for us and we are never disappointed. Food is tasty and inexpensive.
Huge menu choice, something for everyone. Quick and polite service. Go early to avoid the queues as it gets very busy.

Probably Best South Indian food outside India, authentic dishes with ingredients that taste just like in in India or Chennai (Madras) and they are all vegetarian.
You will be absolutely delighted with the traditional South Indian Tiffins (Light Snacks/​Dishes) — their Dosas (Crispy Rice and Lentil Pancakes), Idlis (Rice Dumplings), Pongal (a kind of savoury rice) and Medu Vadas (Savoury Doughnuts) are all delicious and served with Sambhar (Spicy Vegetables and Lentil Soup/​Curry) and different kinds of Coconut Chutneys. Unlike other places, they use freshly grated coconuts in their cooking, I can tell it by the taste!
To finish it all up they serve the quintessential South Indian Filter Coffee which is marvellous!
While they do some popular North Indian /​Indo-​Chinese as well like Chana Batura, Gobi (Cauliflower) 65, Chilli Paneer etc I strongly recommend sampling their South Indian food instead. They have a decent bar and serve the classic Cobra and other popular Lagers and Wine.
On the flip side — it is always crowded and bit of a wait, they don’t have a parking which is frustrating particularly if you are with kids or little ones as Rayners Lane is always crowded. For this reason alone it is not a perfect 5
The service is brisk and the prices very reasonable and food is of high standards.
Do try this space out if you live Indian food and want to try something different from what is available traditionally in the classic takeaway.

We visit this restaurant occasionally and have tried the buffet on a number of occasions. The food from the buffet cart doesn’t seem to keep the food quite hot enough and gets cold really quickly on your plate! It’s a very busy restaurant and I’d agree that the staff seem to be unfriendly but I think this is because they have their work cut out taking orders, serving food and clearing tables. Invariably there is a queue waiting to be seated unless you get there early in the evening.
I would say, though, that on one occasion we asked to have 2 thalis to take away and found that the portions were bigger than what we would have been given if we had eaten in (and consequently very good value) !

This is the worst experience in a London restaurant. The main course was served first and then the appetizer and wine later. Everyone knows people want to enjoy their drink and appetizer first. The food
was mediocre at best. Maybe the previous reviewers have not experienced good S Indian food before.

A small restaurant, but with buckets of friendly atmosphere, and excellent south-​Indian cuisine. The service is fast, friendly, and the prices make going there more than a wise choice. The Indo-​Chinese influence in some dishes (particularly their chilli paneer starter) tastes quite different to any other Indo-​Chinese fusion I’ve ever had in the UK; perhaps it is because of the influence of the South-​Indian spices.
It should be noted, though, that as this is primarily a South-​Indian restaurant, the food can be hot, so be sure to ask when ordering!

Pile em high, sell em cheap !
Great S Indian food place that is always packed when I have ventured there, queues out the door and no point in trying to book, so just turn up.
Speedy, friendly, efficient staff .
Note: Not big on décor or atmosphere, so more fill your tummy than romantic meal

Don’t know the restaurant but it is definitely not in London Colney, St Albans! The Rayners Lane address looks right. Hope that helps someone.

If you love South Indian food, this is the place to go. The dosa varitieties are as authentic as they can get. you probably might not get this taste even in India. The idlis, vadas, and pongal are all extremely well prepared, nutritious and very tasty. Their chutneys are simply out of this world. No other dosa place in London makes chutneys even half as good as Saravanas does.
The service is thoughtful and quick. and takeaway orders are arranged efficiently. Only problem is parking. which can become quite a problem during weekends. unless you are willing to walk a few metres after parking at a public carpark near the station.
I tried their lunchtime buffet and wasnt very impressed. Stick to their a la carte South Indian dosas and idlis. Thats your best bet. Price is very very reasonable. Four people could easily have a filling experience for around £20. These are one of the rare Vegetarian places that has a liquor license, so you could have a chilled glass of Kingfisher if you fancy that. Also, served are North Indian food, of which they have a huge variety. reasonably well made. Dress code is casual to smart. Sneakers allowed! lol

Awesome South Indian Food, Must Visit for everyone who enjoys Indian Food.

If you’re ever in Harrow, North West London and looking for some really decent vegetarian South Indian food, you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere better than Saravanaa Bhavan. Infact, they have another branch in Manor Park (EASTHAM) located at:
300 High street north,
Manor Park,
London — E12 6SA.
This restaurant chain started life in South India and now has branches in Canada, USA, U.E.A, Oman, Malaysia, Singapore as well as in various different cities throughout India. In Indian especially, the Saravanaa Bhavan restaurant chain is famous and regarded by many as the best example of good, affordable South Indian food.
Saravanaa Bhavan is renowned in India for it’s speedy service and long queues of people eager to get in to one of their restaurants. The style of food they serve is pure vegetarian south Indian food including classic dishes such as Medu Vada, Idli, Sambar, Dosa, Pongal, Utapam, Bisibelebhat, Curd Rice and many other typical South Indian dishes.
The restaurant staff at the Rayners Lane branch in London are fast and efficient and even when there’s a long queue snaking its way outside the restaurant, they appear to be well organised and manage to get you in without a very long wait.
The menu is extensive and crosses over in to the Indo-​Chinese flavours as well as the typical South Indian dishes. I’ve tried a few of their Indo-​Chinese dishes and I have to admit that they were both different and very tasty. The Indo-​Chinese mix is not something very new to Indian restaurants. It has been a very popular mix in restaurants in India for years and has also been an available menu option in many UK Indian restaurants. However, you’ll notice a distinct difference in taste between Indo-​Chinese food in your typical UK curry house and Saravanaa Bhavan. It must be the South Indian twist, for the Hakka Noodles and Manchurian sauce don’t taste anything like I’ve ever savoured before. I say that in a positive light as the four or five Indo-​Chinese dishes I’ve tried off the menu here have all been extremely pleasing. I’d highly recommend checking some of them out as an alternative to the South Indian menu, but believe me, start with the classic South Indian dishes first as that’s their forte.
This restaurant also appears to have a number of «special» dishes which they only server on certain days. This includes sweet pongal on weekends and aapam on Wednesdays. Unfortunately, whenever I’ve asked for these two dishes, which by the way are delicious, they’ve never actually been able to come up with the goods! They did attempt to make me aapams one Wednesday when I visited and asked for this dish, but you should have seen the commotion it caused in the kitchen! Five chefs congregated around the cooker of the head chef who tried five times to make me my aapams and failed. To their credit, they refused to serve me the aapams on the grounds that if they were not good enough for them to eat then it wouldn’t be good enough for their customer.
I always like to wash down dinner at Saravanaa Bhavan with a cup of South Indian coffee (or kaapi as they call it). You can have it with or without sugar and it comes served in a small steel cup held in a steel bowl. The purpose of the bowl is to allow you to mix the coffee out of the cup in to the bowl and back in to the cup in a rapid and repeated motion to help cool down the steaming hot coffee. Careful trying this, though, as it’s easy to spill! The coffee comes with a lovely frothy top and has a strong and distinct flavour synonymous of South Indian coffee. Be prepared; this isn’t your standard Nescafe experience!
Saravanaa Bhavan has classic hall marks of regional patronage. I’d say that easily 80% of their customers are South Indian and the rest are a mix of other local Indian’s (Gujarati’s, Punjabi’s, Bengali’s etc). This proves one thing, that the food is authentically South Indian and approved of by the local South Indian population who are notoriously picky about the type of Indian food they eat, for it is very rare to see a South Indian in a North Indian style restaurant! Therefore, this is proof enough that you’ll be eating top quality South Indian food at Saravanaa Bhavan.
Very fast service, great food, and amazing value for money. A couple can eat a full dinner here, comprising starters, main and coffee for under £15. This is a must visit restaurant, for you’ll not regret the taste experience.