It’s a Small Delicious World at Smally’s Resto Cafe in Bangalore

‘All good things come in small packages’ 

It all started off when Nikhil Hegde realized that every dream starts small. After completing the customary engineering degree, Nikhil worked in event management for three years and then decided it was time to make his dream a reality. And it was quite literally small. At 138 sq feet of space, Smally’s resto cafe is India’s smallest cafe and they hold a place in the Limca Book of World Records. 

Since it’s inception a year and a half ago, Smally’s has only grown bigger and bigger. They opened up another joint on Church Street and we went by to check it out. The first and original Smally’s is located on Ulsoor Road and was a tad bit far for us to reach. 

The Feels: 

Squeeze in through their rustic, small little door and find yourself in a colourful and trendy cafe with hippie posters and DIY lamps everywhere. To top it off is an old Murphy Radio that will remind you of an era gone by. The comic-like paintings on the walls make for a good read while you’re waiting for your food. 

The Menu:

At the helm of Smally’s is Chef John Paul who brings with him 12 years of experience including working at a popular microbrewery in Bangalore.  John and Nikhil have curated a menu that is fun, delicious and affordable. According to Nikhil what sets apart their menu is that everything is freshly made and even the meat served in burgers is bought every day morning. We ordered the Smally’s Brownie Shake and Lemonade to start us off. We followed it up with a Steakhouse Burger and A New York Cheese Steak. What did surprise us about the menu was along with the American and Continental style dishes there was a dash of Mangalorean with the Ghee Roast and Mangalorean Chicken Curry. 

Nikhil fondly explains, ‘I am from Mangalore and to me, Mangalorean food is comfort food. I couldn’t help but add the option for our customers.’ 

The Food: 

The Smally’s Brownie Shake was extremely delicious and we loved the fact that we could bite into tiny crumbles of brownie. The Steakhouse Burger was a monster with a large patty of beef topped with Smally’s secret sauce. If it didn’t taste the way it did we would have had trouble finishing it. But pure greed pushed us to complete the herculean burger. New York Cheese Steak got everything right down to the potato wedges. The steak was medium-well done and we like how extremely juicy it was. 

We hear that their Trucker burger is a fast-seller and one of their most popular dishes. It is a double patty whopper and we have saved it for our next visit to Smally’s. We recommend you try their Trucker and let us know how it was! 

Smally’s might be small but they have a fantastically big heart and their waiters and hosts are extremely pleasant company to hang out with. Do drop by, it will make for a burger-ful evening. 

What we had: 

Smally’s Brownie Shake 

Lemonade 

Steakhouse Burger 

New York Cheese Steak