Swap late-night kebabs for south Indian street food, and ditch morning toast for crisp masala dosa at Carnegie eatery Namma Bangalore Vibbes, on one of Melbourne’s most delicious streets.

January 11, 2026

Indian$

There’s the telltale orange dusting that clings to your fingers while you’re eating Cheezels. And then there’s podi, a fragrant ochre-coloured powder that covers your fingertips when you eat spice-strewn idli, steamed rice flour patties, at Namma Bangalore Vibbes. Podi is a common south Indian seasoning or sprinkle, used to jazz up everything from rice to eggs to drinks. It’s always good, but this one – nutty, cumin-scented, lifted by curry leaves – has me looking past the Cheezels.

The fresh and wholesome quality of the podi is a sign of the consideration applied to every element of this exciting new restaurant in bustling Carnegie.

Visit in the morning for the crisp, pancake-like delights of dosa, or a nourishing goat soup. You could lunch on chicken curry, slide in for street snacks, or beeline for late-night biryani. In the evenings, you might head upstairs to the lounge bar for Kingfisher beer or a King Kohli cocktail made with whisky, filter coffee and the molasses-like jaggery to have with frisky snacks like battered chillis or nachos with an Indian twist.

Whenever it is, whatever you’re having, you’ll be warmly welcomed and exceedingly well fed.

Namma Bangalore Vibbes in Carnegie serves food until 1am.Wayne Taylor

Jyotsna Reddy and her husband, Karthik Shapur, opened the restaurant in October. Reddy studied construction: you can see her eye in the comfortable scooped chairs, calming olive colour scheme, and murals that are as much a love letter to Melbourne as Bangalore (officially Bengalaru). Both cities share a love of coffee, obsession with food, vibrant multiculturalism, grand 19th-century train stations, and designation as garden cities.

The key south Indian coffee is a filter brew, made here with prized beans from Karnataka’s Chikmagalur growing region, roasted, powdered and mixed with chicory. Generally served sweet, the coffee comes very hot in a two-part cup: you can cool it down by pouring the liquid from one vessel to the other.

That podi-sprinkled idli is on the menu as Ruchi Ghee Pudi Thatte Idli. Reddy makes the batter to her own recipe: grinding rice, tapioca and fenugreek seeds, letting the mixture ferment, and steaming it to a soft, fluffy cake that is brushed with warm, golden ghee. Alongside, there’s bright coconut chutney and a soupy vegetable sambar – balancing tamarind sourness and jaggery sweetness – to dip the idli in. The deft layering of flavour in this bit player shows more heartwarming attention to detail.

Ruchi Ghee Pudi Thatte Idli (fluffy idli pancake with chutneys).Wayne Taylor