Dosa Hut in Fordsburg

Dosa Hut in Fordsburg is a unique restaurant in Joburg for those wanting to stray away from traditional Eggs Benedict and pancakes on a weekend morning. Dosa Hut specializes in South Indian cuisine, but also has a variety of dishes from across India.

Dosas at Dosa Hut

Storytime: I first had dosas with one of my best friends, Maggie, who I frequently visit in Dubai. As she is from South India, her family always takes me out for a dosa breakfast when I visit. I always get the traditional potato dosa. It is so good! After visiting Maggie, I was determined to find dosas in Joburg and landed on Dosa Hut.

A dosa is a very thin and very large crepe made from fermented rice and lentil batter.

Traditionally, it is filled with potatoes and that’s my favorite filling.

Dosa Hut has a variety of other fillings and Wilhelm’s favorite is the paneer, which comes shredded. There are three sauces served with the dosa. My favorite is the coconut!

Get the spiced chai, (unsweetened) lemon-mint juice, or Mango Lassi for your drink.

Thalis

If you feel like trying more than a dosa, then order the thalis at Dosa Hut. A thali is a selection of small dishes (usually 8-10). Thali is the name of the steel plate the food comes on. There are several small bowls included as well. I got the vegetarian thali as my brunch the second time we visited, and it was so delicious and filling. It came with rice, papad, yogurt, aachar, and veg dishes. I loved the cabbage and coconut dish. It also came with little kheer (rice pudding) dessert!

With one dosa and one thali to eat, Wilhelm and I barely managed to finish both—and I was on the verge of a hanger episode so I was super hungry.

We’ve gone back to Dosa Hut several times with friends and have typically gotten a Thali to share.

More than Dosas

Pani Puri is another unique Indian food that’s available at Dosa Hut. It’s common street food in India (or so I’ve read on the internet. My Pakistani heritage + passport means getting an Indian visa is hell—I’ve tried).

I first had it in college when a friend introduced the snack to me! I haven’t noticed it at many restaurants since I first tried it back in 2012.  If it’s your first time at Dosa Hut, I recommend a starter of pani puri and then getting a dosa.

Pani Puri consists of two parts. The first is a round puri that has been cracked open and filled with a chickpea potato filling. The second is the pani, a coriander-mint sauce. It’s super watery which is why it’s called ‘pani,’ which means water in Hindi (and Urdu!). You pick up the puri and scoop in some pani and then pop the whole thing in your mouth!

Dosa Hus is also a great option for vegetarians because they have a huge vegetarian section that includes paneer. Everything on the menu sounds amazing, including the fish and meat options.

I’m eyeing the shrimp in coconut sauce if we ever make it for lunch or dinner. I was tempted to get it for breakfast but opted for the thali instead—this was deff the right choice. The paneer masala was one of the best dishes in the veg thali (it came in a separate little steel dish) and it’s available as a main.

Check out the menu:

Dosa Dine-in or delivery?

Dosa Hut has locations in Fordsburg and Fourways. I’ve only been to the Fordsburg location, and it’s got over 1000 reviews on Google Maps—that’s saying a lot! It’s a simple and clean dining space with friendly service. Dosa Hut also does delivery via UberEats. Our area of Linden is too far away but you can check for yourself on the app or place a pickup order. I noticed that the UberEats prices are much higher than those on the menu so if you’re in the area,  you might wanna pick up or dine-in instead.

Update: A week later we went back to do a pickup order as we had some errands in Fordsburg.

For pick-up, we called ahead and the food was ready in 20 minutes. We ordered lemon rice, nadan prawn curry, bindi (okra) dou piyaza, and paneer masala. All the dishes were delicious and we even had leftovers for lunch the next day. The prawn curry lived up to my expectations.

I’ts kinda hard to tell what the dishes are as they are all in a creamy, delicious sauce. Top left is prawn curry, top right is lemon rice, bottom left is paneer masala, and bottom right is the bindi dou piyaza.

Parking tip: If there isn’t parking right out front, you can also park at Oriental Plaza and walk back. We’ve done this several times as we’ve wandered around Oriental either before or after brunch.

If you want Middle Eastern grills instead, check out Amman Restaurant. It’s also great and right next to Dosa Hut.

Dubai Dosas

This is an ode to Woodlands in Dubai. Visit if you’ve become obsessed with Dosas and ask for the special coffee; the roasted beans are brought over from India!