Ghee Podi Idli
The signature, idli, podi and ghee, nothing wasted.
Signature
The plate
What we tried, scored out of 10
Ghee Podi Rice
Easily the best thing on the menu for me. Unique taste, slaps hard, and the other veg rices are strong too. Most people stick to tiffins here, skip that and try this.
Open Butter Masala Dosa
Crisp, buttery, and generously spiced, a top seller.
Filter Coffee
Strong South Indian filter kaapi to finish.
Kesar Bhat
Saffron sweet dish, the classic closer.
The visit
The Rameshwaram Cafe is Bengaluru's biggest South Indian success story, and Madhapur was its first outlet outside Karnataka, inaugurated in January 2024 to enormous queues.
It was built by husband-and-wife founders Raghavendra Rao, a mechanical engineer turned two-decade food-service veteran, and Divya Raghavendra Rao, a chartered accountant and IIM-Ahmedabad alumna. Before the brand existed, the family sold idlis and dosas off a pushcart at Kumara Park for two years. The name is an homage to Rameshwaram, birthplace of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
The kitchen's rule is simple and strict: only ghee, never oil. That, plus fast counter-service tiffins at scale, is what turned a South Indian breakfast joint into a phenomenon, and the Madhapur branch brought that exact playbook to Hyderabad.
Most tables stick to tiffins, and fair enough, the idlis and dosas are why people queue. But the Ghee Podi Rice is the move I'd push on anyone: it has its own unique taste, it slaps, and the other veg rices here are genuinely good too. One small thing I love here, same as Niloufer, they put free water on the table. In Hyderabad that still feels rare.Shiva
More photos
Good to know
Is Rameshwaram Cafe from Bengaluru?
Yes, it started in Bengaluru in 2021. The Madhapur outlet was its first branch outside Karnataka, opened in January 2024.
What is Rameshwaram Cafe famous for?
Fast, all-ghee South Indian tiffins, especially ghee podi idli, open butter masala dosa and filter coffee. The ghee podi rice is less talked about and worth ordering too.
Who founded The Rameshwaram Cafe?
Husband-and-wife duo Raghavendra Rao and Divya Raghavendra Rao. It's named after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's birthplace.