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2003-10-10
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Like Afgan Canteen, I found out about Branto via another resturant review from a local newspaper (太陽報? can't remember) some years ago, and it turns out it's on the same street (樂道) as Afgan!Branto specializes in South Indian cuisine, which is a lot less creamy or greasy than its North Indian counterpart. Rice and beans form the basis of each deal and there are many delicious vegetable dishes around.Dining room -Like Afgan, Branto is located in a rather big suite. Normally it's quite spacey for c
Branto specializes in South Indian cuisine, which is a lot less creamy or greasy than its North Indian counterpart. Rice and beans form the basis of each deal and there are many delicious vegetable dishes around.
Dining room -
Like Afgan, Branto is located in a rather big suite. Normally it's quite spacey for couples or a large group of families and friends for dining. but it can get pretty crowded on weekend evenings. The tables, chairs, and are quite clean.
Staffs -
The English-speaking waiters / waitresses are from South Asia (India, Nepal, etc.). They are friendly, and ready for your orders and services.
Menus -
The menus offer only the dish names (in English) so if you are unfamiliar with South Indian food, just ask the staffs. They'll tell you what they are and recommend dishes for you.
Food quality -
First off, for all you meat-lovers, be warned: Branto offers only 100% pure vegetable dishes, if you can't live a single meal without meat, please look elsewhere. ^^;;
Branto made genuine and high quality all-vegetable South Indian food. Many dishes are largely non-greasy, roasted and steamed. Rice is the staple diet and forms the basis of every meal.
For first timers I recommend 'Thali', a complete meal for one person which includes steamed rice (with S.Ind bread like chapati or puri) accompanied by 8 little bowls of different South Indian dishes like potatos, chickpeas, mix-vegetables, Indian cheese, eggplants, pickles, etc.. The dishes on Thali varies daily but they taste good every time I have it.
The stable 'Idli' (steamed rice cakes) and 'Vada' (deep-fried balls of grounded rice and chickpeas) are well served with It is usually served with sambar (a thin, soup like dipping sauce), rasam (another thin soup-sauce), and coconut chutney. Idli and vada can be eaten as main meal by itself or as appetizer.
'Dosa', the large, paper-thin pancakes made with rice flour and often rolled into an eye-catching tube, are available as plain (Ghee Dosa) or stuffed with curried potatos (Masala Dosa). Either version are tasty! ^_^ 'Mysore Dosa' is plain dosa stuffed with spicy Indian pickle sauce, and it's for hot and spicy fans.
'Pal Bhaji' is nicely-made and tasted curried dal (chickpeas) eaten with with house-made bread. Worth a try.
Besides S.Indian food, Branto also offers a lot of North Indian (Punjabi) vegetable dishes, such as palak paneer (minced spinch and Indian cheese), mushrooms, vegetable biriyani, and other royalish Mogul dishes. If you know what you like to order, this place will not disappoint! If you want some suggestions, just ask the staffs.
Value for Money -
It's pretty worthwhile for well-made and tasted pure-vegetable dishes at affordable price range. Plus the dining room and eating atmosphere is a lot more comfortable than those 'messes' in 重慶大廈.
Conclusion -
Branto is a cool choice for excellent all-vegetable South Indian cuisine, If you like good Indian veg-dishes, nice dining vibe at reasonable price, please bookmark this place! ^_^
P.S. Branto offers an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet (HK$65) every Tuesday afternoon from 12:00pm - 2:30pm. Highly recommended if you want to sample some of the featured South Indian food in one go!
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