Think Chipotle or Panera, but make it dosas and idlis. That’s the kind of household name that Hayward neighbors and friends Sriram Arun and Prasad Komala are hoping to achieve for southern Indian cuisine with their growing restaurant chain ID Cafe.
The backstory: Arun and Komala were two friends working in tech and missing the food from their home country. Both grew up in India – Arun is from Chennai and Komala is from Hyderabad – and struggled to find a local chain that offered consistent, authentic Indian food. In particular, they were craving not just the curries and stews often available at Indian restaurants, but the lighter daily fare that’s often sold by street vendors throughout India, Arun explained. Dosas, or Indian-style crepes, and idlis, or steamed lentil and rice cakes, are popular street foods and common breakfast dishes in southern India, prepared with regional twists depending on the city.
The Vijayawada paneer dosa, which had a pleasantly toasty but not overwhelming level of spiciness, is filled with shredded paneer, green chile, red sauce and tomato , which paired well with a sweet, floral rose milk .