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“Not all those who wander are lost” – a quote by J.R.R Tolkien that I absolutely love. All you need is the will to explore and it will eventually lead you to the thing that you had been looking for. Finding good vegetarian food in Hyderabad is a quest in itself. While I have found some good vegetarian restaurants in Hyderabad, the hunger for finding even more, takes me to places that I’m going to talk about in today’s blog post.
Isha Life’s Mahamudra restaurant in Jubilee Hills was where I had a scrumptious lunch last weekend. A pure vegetarian restaurant that serves soulful food. This is my review of Isha Life’s Mahamudra located in Jubilee Hills.
Ambience – Calm and Solitude
Jubilee Hills is home to some of the finest restaurants, cafes, lounges and every other establishment you can think of. Amidst all the ‘happening‘ places, finding a place that is calm and away from all the city noises isn’t easy. But taking a diversion and driving a few minutes to reach Mahamudra, you’ll find yourself in the Hyderabad that you probably hadn’t seen. At least that was the case for me.
Mahamudra is Isha Life’s restaurant that serves wholesome and satvik vegetarian food. Coming from the house of Sadhguru, everything at Mahamudra has calmness attached to it. They have a craft store that is home to some really good decor to bring your home to life. It was closed for lunch, hence we also decided to dine in. Behind the store is a small sit out that connects to the dine-in restaurant. There’s classical music being played in the background. For some reason, it took me back to Pondicherry.
Once inside, you’re greeted with nicely done interiors donning paintings and minimalistic decor. The rustic interiors with simple wooden tables and cutleries just add to the essence of the place. The dine-in area isn’t one of the largest and the most spacious ones that you’d have seen. You can choose to sit in the area with large windows overlooking the property or on the inside that’s closer to the kitchen.
Soulful buffet at Mahamudra – Review
The restaurant serves classic vegetarian south Indian food. Their menu leans a lot towards Tamilian flavours but they do have a few dishes to please the Hyderabadi palate. Since the theme is satvik, the food is laced with natural ingredients – simple, healthy and delicious. While we had gone to try their A’la carte menu, we were told that they only serve a buffet on weekends. Since we were already in love with the place, we thought to try the buffet.
A wholsome spread
The buffet (if I can say) is a proper south Indian affair. Everything from the welcome drinks to starters, main course and dessert is made with the purest of ingredients keeping health in mind. We started off with a cool turmeric drink with sabja seed. It was my first time and I’d say it was refreshing. Not everyone would enjoy it though.
Delicious starters
The starters were rather unique with Idli Kebab, Maddur Vada, Rava Modakan and Kara chutney. The Idli kebab was a good take on the homely idli, giving it the kebabi touch. Drizzled with karam podi and served on a skewer with veggies, we all loved it. The Maddur vada was crispy and wholesome. The kara chutney just elevated the whole preparation. Rava Modkam was a surprise as it was sweet and I’ve not come across anything sweet in starters to date. We enjoyed the starters so much that we ordered a few plates of it.
Coming to the salads, we had Chana Dal Sundal, Green Salad and Summber Salad. All of these were quite homely and simple salads. I particularly like summber salad that had sliced carrots with basic tadka. Since everyone on the table preferred eating healthy, we had a couple of servings of these too.
Soulful main course
The buffet area is on the inside and is congested. There might be chances that you’d be standing with your plate waiting for the person in front to move. This is something they could improve, but again, it’s a small place.
The spread had Ragi Roti, Payuru Kurma, Tomato Pappu, Sorakai Sambhar, Mint Rasa, Palak Kootu, Pavakaya Poriyal along with rice, Mushroom Pulao, Curd Rice, Papad and Pickles.
I started with Ragi Roti and Kurma along with Sambhar, Kootu and Poriyal. Everything was so balanced and simple. The flavours were identical to a homemade recipe. All of us at the table relished the flavours. Sambhar was very different from the ones you have in Hyderabad, very close to the Palakkad, Chennai ones. I loved it.
The Mushroom pulao was pretty good and flavoursome. Large chunks of mushroom with good quality rice. After trying this, I tried plain rice with rasam, sambhar, podi and ghee and all of it turned out to be super delicious. The curd rice was good, but I prefer more tadka to it.
There were two desserts that day, Thinai Payasam and Ada Pradhaman. Ada Pradhanam is a Malayali dish made from ada rice, coconut and jaggery that gives it a distinct colour. It wasn’t too sweet and we could eat it guilt-free. Thinai payasam made from foxtail millet looked and taste a lot like the daliya (broken wheat) that I have for breakfast. Again a healthy dish.
Final Thoughts – Go their for simple food & rustic ambience
Finding peace and calmness in the middle of Jubilee Hills isn’t easy, but Isha Life’s Mahamudra does just that. A rustic place with a simple ambience. A craft store, a yoga studio and a restaurant – Mahamudra – is enough to love this place even more. The constant vocals of the classical music bring the world around you to a standstill, so much so that we spent close to 2 hours extra post our lunch!
The buffet which is priced at Rs 750+ is a decent spread to satvik and pure vegetarian dishes. While it’s not the largest vegetarian spread I’ve seen, the simplicity in the food is something you cannot get anywhere else. The food overall is pretty balance and something people from all age groups can enjoy. The menu is carefully curated keeping health in mind and hence you’ll leave the place with a happy tummy, mind and soul. If you haven’t been here and are looking to try some vegetarian fare, do try this and let me know how you liked it.
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This seems like such a wonderful place to visit.
Indeed, it has got a completely different vibe! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Absolutely loved the food & your company! Definitely going here again!
Thanks a lot Revathyji, it was indeed a great experience, and isme char chand lagane ke liye thanks 🙌🏼