Gone are the days when all diners really knew about South Indian cuisine was the everyday, run-of-the-mill idli-dosa-sambar combo. While classics remain that way for a reason, there’s a lot more that the region has up its sleeve. South Indian eateries are in their bougiest era we’ve witnessed, turning meals into 2+ hour-long queues that lead up to them. Step out, and you’ll find a line of restaurants waiting to serve you with their finest South Indian comfort food—and you won’t hear us complain. However, what we have been missing is the element of the regional, the micro-cuisines, the city-specific dishes of Southern India. There enters Nadoo.
Nadoo opens in Delhi’s GK3 as a carefully imagined dining space that brings southern Indian cuisine back to its full depth and detail, promising bites from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh on your plate. The name is derived from the Tamil word for land, region, or even the act of seeking, and that sense of belonging runs through everything at this dining destination. Instead of trying to reinterpret the South, Nadoo aims to embody it.
At the centre of it all is Chef Shri Bala, ranked among India’s Top 30 chefs and the first Indian to be featured on Uncharted by Gordon Ramsay. Known for her work in preserving South Indian culinary traditions through her eponymous masala line and background as a food researcher, her food is grounded in years of expertise, documentation, and lived experience. Alongside her, of course, helming the restaurant is Sahil Sambhi, the force behind Latango and Japonico, who envisioned Nadoo as something personal: an homage to his Tamilian mother and the Southern influences that shaped his earliest memory of food and hospitality.
A chef’s offering to her motherland and a restaurateur’s tribute to his late mother, Nadoo embodies the memories of South India, on the backs of nostalgic flavours.
Star Dish
While I find myself saying this far too often, the dessert at Nadoo truly stole the show for me during my meal at the brand-new South Indian eatery. However, that’s solely because of the sheer variety that Nadoo offers when it comes to a sweet ending to a spice-filled meal. The standout (not only among the desserts, but the whole meal)? The pol rotti tres leches.
A popular Sri Lankan delicacy, pol roti is a coconut-based flatbread loved quite widely across the country. The tres leches—a traditionally Latin American milk-soaked cake—replaces the sponge cake with a thick layer of pol roti, giving the dessert a nutty, chewier edge. Mildly sweet, the roti was soaked in condensed milk and topped with some fresh cream. To put it simply, I could’ve had a couple tens of this tres leches.
While an average tres leches goes a little too generous on the sugar—my main issue with the dessert—this one practised restraint with perfection. A perfect end to the meal, no doubt. The South Asian touches shine through the roti and coconut, while the cream and liquid milk make for a soft, slightly dense, and deliciously sweet dessert.
What Else Is On The Menu?
The menu at Nadoo rotates through various sets of dishes, including nibbles, small plates, thalis, biryanis, and shack menus, as well as familiar restaurant references from Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
As soon as I sat down to dine, I was served a panakam: a traditional South Indian beverage made from jaggery dissolved in water, seasoned with dry ginger, black pepper, cardamom, and lemon juice. Meant to aid digestion, it was a tangy, spicy, and easy-to-digest welcome drink that set the stage for a full tummy at the end of the meal.
On the table was also an arrangement of something Bala endearingly referred to as “touchings”—her own word for the chutneys that came with the drinks. Going off something along the lines of our average chhakhna, these went way beyond the usual coconut-and-tamarind varieties we’re used to encountering, into unique versions like a mango pickle, a coriander one done the South Indian way, a Mandaveli ketchup, and a tomato, garlic, and onion one. Served with a side of some melt-in-your-mouth pappad, it proved quite difficult not to fill up on these. My personal favourite was the tomato preparation—you best believe I left bowl clean without needing anything to go with it!
A standout was Chef Bala’s mini podi idli, topped with—and I bet you didn’t see this coming—beluga caviar. A mix of two ends of two completely different worlds, the crunchy-meets-grainy-meets-soft mini idli was something of a combustion of flavours and textures in the mouth. Next was the parota served with black channa hummus, substituting the Mediterranean pita version with a touch of South India. The parota, however, was not soft; it was crisped to perfection like a South Indian nacho—delicious! Accompanying the creaminess of the hummus was a classic tomato salsa, sitting perfectly in the middle of the dish. Last on the starters front was the egg puff, a simple, no-nonsense finger food that hit the spot.
As for the mains, while there’s a conscious emphasis on non-vegetarian offerings as well as seafood, the menu does not overlook vegetarians. The Thalassery biryani (in the veg version), served in a kalchatti (stone pot), and complete with soya chaap, hits the spot, proving the long-standing reverence Bengaluru’s biryani has been accorded. On the side, there’s pachadi (raita) and a crunchy salad. A crowd-favourite is the chicken ghee roast, served with a side of ghee rice sprinkled with nuts and caramelised onion—my favourite among the mains. The spicy curry balanced the subtle sweetness of the rice, making for a flavour-packed, wholesome dish which is a must-order when dining at Nadoo.
Other highlights, especially for seafood lovers, include Kuttanadan fish curry, fried fish with mango salad, pomfret rasa, and prawn ghee roast.
There’s Always Room For Dessert!
Apart from the pol rotti tres leches, there are a couple of sweet notes on the menu worth a try. Foremost, these include Nadoo’s rice coconut pudding, made with black rice grown solely in Eastern India. Textured like a sticky pudding, and tasting just like kheer, this, too, remained easy on the sugar, and generous on flavour—a unique order for those who like their desserts to do something other than the usual. If you’re willing to go for something even quirkier, the chilli chocolate, made with idly churros and chilli ganache, is a mix of everything we never imagined could go together, put together. Try at your own risk (if you can handle the spice)!
Meanwhile, for those who steer clear of experimentation, the crispy pongal pouch, puranpoli, and seasonal ice creams are safe bets that are sure to fulfil your sweet cravings.
Can I Have The Drinks Menu, Please?
While I didn’t get to try the much-talked-about Kaapi Bar at Nadoo, I did get a whiff of their cocktail program, complete with South Indian touches given to much-loved classic cocktails.
The bar programme at Nadoo mirrors the geography of the Southern Peninsula, taking cues from the way the land itself is shaped. Stretching between the Eastern and Western Ghats and rising into the Nilgiris, with the Konkan-Malabar coast on one side and the Coromandel coast on the other, the menu is designed to reflect this natural landscape. The cocktails follow a cyclical approach, drawing from the five elements—earth, fire, rain, wind, and sea—that define the region. Hence, the menu is rooted in place and location, where each drink is guided by elements rather than just ingredients.
The Southern tide—perhaps built on the element of the sea—was my favourite pick: a nutty, fruity, sea-hued cocktail (as the name suggests), with a surprisingly warm aftertaste. The cocktail is soft and sweet on the palate, and easy to finish in a few, quick sips. Poured into a glass right before your eyes from a glass bottle, the mixologists plan on giving the drink its own label and bottle, served to diners just like a soda in a bottle. While I would’ve enjoyed a more diverse set of options to choose from, this one in particular was done well.
Vibe Check
On entering, the stark, mud-textured tableware and earthy touches paint the space a lovely shade of amber, which stands out. While a space championing South Indian dining at its finest, Nadoo feigns a certain elemental depth, complete with tall candles on each table—perfect for a dimly lit, luxurious yet close-to-home dinner setting.
The setting is built around material and mood, using a palette drawn from Southern India’s landscape—raw stone textures, oxidised finishes, brushed brass, aged copper, and muted rust tones that reference soil, clay, dusk, and spice. The space is further layered through a collaboration with Siddhhi, incorporating elements of Indian craftsmanship. Artefacts placed across the restaurant reflect multiple aspects of its artistic and cultural heritage, making the environment feel lived-in and rooted in Nadoo’s nascent regions. Culture isn’t only expressed through the food, but also through objects, symbols, and details that feel part of everyday life. There are also art installations by Aarna Jai Madan, which add a more spiritual dimension to the space, while elements like a Nandi sculpture and a fountain made with a ghada anchor it in tradition.
It’s serene, sound, and subtle—perfect for all those seeking a slice of life away from the usual noise of the city, without traversing too far.
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