Mathura Madras Woodlands Restaurant or Mathura Restaurant as is commonly known, was one of those go-to options if we needed a south or north Indian vegetarian fix. The restaurant was initially located down Havelock Road but three years ago they moved to their new located down Melbourne Avenue, Bambalapitya and they will be opening up branches in Battaramulla and Katunayake in due course.

Ambience

The setup is quite basic and relatively clean while the food is pretty good and won’t necessarily leave a hole in your wallet – a win-win for all concerned. 

Food

Food – 4 stars 

Starters and Mains – We started off with the Mathura SPL Rasam (Rs 190). The bowl of Rasam was quite large and spicy, in a good way of course but I just could not finish mine.

They have these cloud-like soft Ulundu Vada (Rs 75) with two delicious sambols or chutneys, which are a must try while their large, and I mean large Vegetable Samosa (Rs 80) are delightful. We love our paneer so the Paneer 65 (Rs 650) was the ideal starter for us as well.

If you like your paper-dosa a must have is their Masala Dosa (Rs 300) which comes stuffed with spicy potato. 

Our favourite, however, was the combination of Paneer Butter Masala (Rs 675) and
Butter Naan (Rs 200) which was just scrumptious while they whip up quite a decent Vegetable Basmati Biriyani (Rs 550) which is served with a side of cooling raita. 

Dessert – The semolina based dessert, Rava Kesari (Rs 220) was our dessert of choice to end our meal at Mathura Madras Woodlands Restaurant. 

What we recommend: Vegetable Samosa, Paneer Butter Masala, Butter Naan 

Service: 4 stars 

Parking facilities: 3 stars 

Toilets: 2 stars 

Would we go again? If we want a vegetarian fix, this might be an option we turn to

Tips/notes by author: The setup is casual and family friendly and all items are subject to 10% service charge   

Pix by: Kanishke Ganewatte