India GOVegetarian Udupi: pure veg restaurants and the temple meal
The vegetarian cooking that travels India under Udupi's name came out of the Krishna Matha kitchen, made without onion or garlic. Eat the free temple meal off a banana leaf at least once, take breakfast in a tiffin room near Car Street, and leave room for gadbad ice cream. All but one of the places below are pure veg; here is how to choose between them.
The free meal at the Krishna Matha
The Bhojana Shala of the Sri Krishna Matha serves a free meal to anyone who comes, a tradition of annadana (the gift of food) traced back to Madhvacharya's time, and feeds thousands of people a day. No registration is needed. You sit cross-legged in a long row on the floor, a fresh banana leaf goes down in front of you, and servers walk the line with rice, sambar, rasam, a vegetable palya, buttermilk and often sweet payasam. Everything is strictly vegetarian and cooked without onion or garlic.
Lunch, roughly 12:00–14:30, is the main sitting; dinner is served roughly 20:00–21:30. Timings shift on festival days. What to wear: see the temple dress code; temple prasad: see prasadam.
Where to eat, by kind of meal
All the places below are fully vegetarian unless marked.
Breakfast tiffin rooms
Mitra Samaj Bhojanalaya, a tiny tiffin counter beside the Krishna Matha run by the Holla family since 1947, serves goli baje, bullet idli in sambar and masala dosa, all without onion or garlic. Come early. Woodlands near the temple is an old name for ghee-glossed masala dosa and filter coffee. Pai Tiffins, a hall with Krishna murals, fries its masala dosa in coconut oil and also does goli baje and Mangalore buns.
A sit-down thali
Udupi Rasoi inside Hotel Manipal Inn on the Karavali bypass (NH 66) has its own pure-veg kitchen: order the South Indian thali, a paper masala dosa and bonda payasam. The Gokula Krishna restaurant of the Kediyoor Hotel in Brahmagiri, near the temple, is air-conditioned and known for the Davanagere benne (butter) dosa.
Ice cream and sweets
Diana Restaurant, near Kalpana Theatre and the KSRTC bus stand, invented gadbad ice cream in the 1960s: a tall glass of layered ice creams, jelly, dry fruit and fresh fruit. In Manipal, Payohima near the MIT main gate is the students' ice-cream parlour. For edible souvenirs, Diana Stores on K. M. Marg sells chakli, kodubale, banana chips fried in coconut oil and halva by the box.
Cafés and eggless bakes in Manipal
Drips Bakery & Cafe is fully eggless, with outlets in Manipal and Udupi. Cafe 7 Bees near the MIT campus is a small, cheap student café for pasta, burgers and shakes.
By the sea (mixed kitchen)
On Malpe beach, Ocean View at the Paradise Isle Beach Resort is not pure veg and is known for seafood, but has ghee rice, biryanis, paneer and continental dishes. It is a licensed resort restaurant; book at weekends.
What to order
The masala dosa is the dish the town sent out into the world. Udupi meals are the banana-leaf thali with no onion or garlic, served in a fixed order. Then neer dosa, lace-thin and unfermented; goli baje, sour fried dough balls eaten hot with coconut chutney; kotte kadubu, idli batter steamed in a box of jackfruit leaves; Mangalore buns, sweet banana puris for breakfast; and gadbad ice cream.
Local to this coast is Mattu gulla, a pale green brinjal from Mattu and the hamlets next to it, with a Geographical Indication since 2011; its first harvest is offered at the Krishna temple during the Paryaya handover.
Good to know
- Jain food — Mitra Samaj lists Jain food, and The Ocean Pearl hotel has a pure-vegetarian and Jain dining option.
- Dairy is everywhere — Ghee, buttermilk, payasam and butter are everywhere: vegetarian here usually includes dairy. If you eat vegan, say so when ordering.
FAQ
Is Udupi good for vegetarians?
Yes. The cuisine that carries the town's name is vegetarian and came out of the Krishna Matha kitchen, and its best-known eating places, from the temple meal to the tiffin rooms by Car Street, are pure veg.
Can you eat for free at the Udupi Krishna temple?
Yes. The temple serves a free vegetarian meal on a banana leaf to anyone who comes, with no registration: lunch roughly 12:00–14:30 and dinner roughly 20:00–21:30, shifted on festival days.
What should I eat in Udupi?
Masala dosa, Udupi meals on a banana leaf, neer dosa, goli baje, kotte kadubu, Mangalore buns and, for dessert, gadbad ice cream.
Where was gadbad ice cream invented?
At Diana Restaurant in Udupi, in the 1960s. The name comes from the Kannada word for a mess.
Where can I find food without onion and garlic in Udupi?
At the Krishna Matha's free meal and at Mitra Samaj Bhojanalaya beside the temple; Udupi meals are traditionally made this way too. Elsewhere, ask.
Facts checked: 15 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.
The full catalogue, hidden spots and districts on the map, plus “nearby” mode.
Open in India GO