Saravanna Bhavan

Saravanna Bhavan is one of the famous names in South Indian food, and I've been there quite often. This time I visited their Barsha outlet. This one too has the look and feel of the other outlets, and gives you a feeling that you've come to an authentic South Indian place. 
It was afternoon and it was fairly easy to find a parking spot. 

We ordered a Thali and a special Biryani.
The thali consists of sambhar, a dry vegetable, 3 vegetables with gravy, rasam, buttermilk and a sweet. There is also poori & rice with it, and papad & pickle.
They serve it the traditional way, i.e. on a banana leaf. The banana leaf though is placed inside a plate since many aren't used to eating it that way. 
The thali is really delicious and also very healthy. 

After this, the biryani felt a bit out of place. The biryani was more of a spicy pulav. It had some dry fruits, paneer, and mushrooms in it. It tasted very good, but a little different from what I'd expect form a biryani. 

I was so tempted with the Rasam in the thali that my friend ordered, I chose to order a dish with Rasam for myself. 
I ordered a plate of rasam idli. Many places don't have this item on the menu, as people prefer rasam with medu vada; but it is certainly available on request. 
The idlis were really soft and the rasam was really delicious. It is served with two coconut chutneys.

I also had a lemon juice which was a bit on the sweeter side, but very refreshing. 

I personally found the service a tad bit slow compared to what I'd see in a south Indian restaurant. The dishes took a while to be served, and the waiters could have been a bit more attentive. 

The prices are extremely reasonable. We had all of this for about 50 bucks.