Sagar Ratna

Sagar Ratna, Defence Colony, has maintained excellent quality over the years. Cleanliness is top-class, with the tiled sides cleaned every day, showing strong attention to hygiene. The service remains consistent, and the restaurant adapts well to changing tastes. New additions like thatte idli (a popular, fashionable choice) along with ragi dosa and ragi idli show their effort to keep up with current food trends while retaining their traditional appeal.

Back in 1986, Sagar Ratna dropped its first branch in Delhi’s Defence Colony. Fast-forward almost 40 years, and they’ve multiplied across India like hot dosas on a tawa. Even today, there’s still a queue outside—proof that the hype is real. They’re all about Udupi/Karnataka-style vegetarian food, but on my latest visit, I noticed the menu’s had a glow-up. Think Thatte Idli (the thick, plate-sized idli that’s trending all over India), specials like porotta, idiappam, set dosa, and even some funky fusion dosas. Our lunch lineup? Mini idlis dunked in sambar, a masala dosa, and poori sabji. The masala dosa was basically 10/10 chef’s kiss. The potato sabji, sambar, and chutneys—especially that peanut chutney—were peak Kannadiga flavor. The poori set comes with potato sabji, vegetable kuruma, and sambar—five fluffy pooris that are perfect to share. Oh, and we threw in an appalam for that crispy crunch. Props to them for seriously upping their sambar and chutney game. And the service? Lightning fast and super attentive. If you’re anywhere near Defence Colony and craving fresh, hot, legit South Indian food—Sagar Ratna is still the spot.

Although waiting time is about 10-15 min then we people around 8 entered. The food was tasty but idli chat was so good. Must try for family lunch.

We went to Sagar Ratna at Defence Colony Market after a long interval of time but were happy to see that they have continued to maintain their fine standards. We relished breakfast of Masala Dosa, Upma and Filter Coffee when we had to go to Defence Colony on an errand. Again, on a Sunday, we went for Lunch. There was a queue, and we had to wait but it was worth it. We enjoyed Dahi Vada and their South Indian Thali with Poori, Sambar, Rasam, Appalam, Sweet etc and Filter Coffee. They also sell delicious Namkeen. The dishes were fresh, well cooked, authentic and delicious. The staff are courteous, helpful and great. Would love to visit again.

A simple, and perfect place to grab a light and healthy meal. We went here for lunch on a weekday and were treated with wonderful service. They were kind and accommodative. The seating is also good and comfortable. The food is very well priced , and everything is made fresh. We really enjoyed the Rava onion masala dosas , paneer dosa and the filter coffee was very strong and perfect . The madras idli fries were crisp and flavourful. Overall a great lunch!

Amazing experience. I went along with my senior citizen parents. The tables and chairs are little small but ambience is good and staff is very courteous. Food is authentic and very tasty.

This is a very old and well-known name for South Indian eating joints in Delhi. However, the staff has become quite rude. They forced us out saying that they had to close. Even though it was just 5.45 in the evening and we were still finishing, they said because they don't have other customers, they want to close early. It was really awkward and the manner in which they behaved was so rude and unprofessional. Seems that the owner does not bother to train their staff basic courtesy and they take customers for granted. I am so done with this place 😠😡 Edit, this is in response to the reply made by the restaurant staff to my comment and asking for my contact number. But I will not share the number because while we were being told to leave, the other waiters were laughing. It was very demeaning and I don't come to a restaurant to be treated like this. This basic respect is what we give to the servers and we expect proper service in return and we pay for it. I hope others take note of this review and realize how bad things are at Sagar Ratna and how poor their staff is in their customer behavior. So thank you for acknowledging my comment but I will never be back and nor I will request anybody else to visit your restaurant again.

This outlet maintains the edge in Quality of food, they do not rush it in and have the requisite professionalism in the staff to make it a pleasant experience.