Popular casual counter-service eatery on Hillcroft provides fast, inexpensive, and delicious South Indian vegetarian fare.

5655 Hillcroft St, Houston, TX 77036
(713) 783-1126
11am–9:30pm Wed–Mon (closed Tue)

Visited on October 3, 2018

¡Hola! Necesito lavarme los manos…um…¿las manos? Si, hablo un poquito español, gracias. ¡Que tenga un buen día! Houston is the kind of place where you can practice your Spanish in an Indian restaurant. After trekking to the Mahatma Gandhi District for lunch and ordering thali, uttapum, pakoras, and a mango lassi at Shri Balaji Bhavanan, one of us asked to use the restroom. The woman behind the counter called out in Spanish to ask her amigo who was painting in the back if it was all right for someone to come in. Hand washing and a brief grammar lesson ensued.

Located on Hillcroft, Shri Balaji Bhavan is a counter service restaurant offering an extensive selection of southern Indian vegetarian items at low prices. Nothing on the menu exceeds $8.99, and most items hover around $5.00 and under. The single-page menu is terse and a bit daunting if you don’t know your puri bhaji from your chole bhatura, but the restaurant also provides a menu with photographs and extensive descriptions in English if you ask, or if the staff senses you might need it.

Madras thali ($6.99, plus $1.50 for dosa upgrade): The Madras thali makes a complete meal of small portions of three vegetable curries, rasam (tomato, tamarind, and lentil soup), sambar (lentil soup), papadum (lentil wafer), yogurt, basmati rice, dessert, and choice of bread (chappati, puri, or a sada dosa for an additional $1.50; we opted for the dosa). On the day of our visit, the trio of vegetables consisted of shahi bindhi (okra in cream sauce), matar paneer (peas and fresh cheese in a tomato cream gravy), and dakshini band gobi (South Indian-style, dry-fried cabbage). Of this selection, we found ourselves gravitating the most to the creamy vegetable dishes, the tart and slightly bitter rasam, and the buttery basmati rice. Spicing varied from dish to dish but tended toward subtlety rather than heat. The accompanying papadum did not dash our hopes for a nice crispness, and the dosa (mildly-spiced potatoes enveloped in a wonderfully thin, crispy pancake) played little brother to the forearm-long, á la carte version we spotted around the restaurant, but as a side dish it is the perfect size. Dessert came as a dish of lightly-sweetened rice with cashews and a hint of cardamom. If you want to sample a lot of items, order the Madras thali; it is a delicious, high-quality, and fresh-tasting micro-buffet, offering great variety at a very reasonable price.

Uttapum ($5.99): An uttapum is a thick pancake of lentil and rice flour, cooked with tomato, onion, chiles, and cilantro. Shri Balaji Bhavan serves it hot off the griddle on a banana leaf, with a small bowl of sambar and a cup of cooling house-made coconut chutney. The uttapum balances a crisp exterior with a smooth, creamy interior texturally reminiscent of thick Cream of Wheat. The cooked-in vegetables taste of medium-strength pico de gallo. This is a nice dish for two to share along with some other items; half of this is a wonderful treat, but a whole one might be too much starchy mass for one person to enjoy comfortably.

Green onion pakora ($4.69): These are spicy chickpea flour fritters with green onion, accompanied by more of Shri Balaji Bhavan’s addictive coconut chutney. We thought that these tasted great but were a little too soft and lacking in crispness.

Mango lassi ($3.25): This is a frothy, cooling, iced yogurt-based beverage with lots of good mango flavor, and we found it to be a fine example of its type.

Summary: Shri Balaji Bhavan maintains an amazingly high level of quality for its South Indian vegetarian cuisine, especially considering the budget prices. We see ourselves regularly visiting this restaurant and will always consider it for lunch or a snack on future visits to this neighborhood. It is truly delicious and inexpensive food for the people.