Sri Ananda Bahwan

This eatery is clearly signposted on lebuh penang, about 3 doors up from the lebuh gereja cross street .

I visited for lunch  early and the place was fairly quiet, though the crowd was building up when I left. More like your oiffice worker crowd.  It is certainly much brighter, cleaner and modern than your average cheap Indian restaurant in Penang.  

Serving only vegetarian food, they also do vegetarian versions of chicken, fish and prawn dishes.  The menu items come from the north and south Indian cuisine and range in price from 1.50 - 12.00 ringgit for the larger set menu plates. They have set menus for breakfast , lunch and dinner. I ordered the south Indian Thali set lunch (5 ringgit) and a lemon drink (2.50), which is quite enough for lunch, but did venture further with kashmeer naan (3.50) and tandoori cauliflower (6.00).

The thali comes with rice, fragrant rice, 3 vegetable side dishes, 2 papadams and 3 curry sauces, all delicious and filling. As if this was not enough the naan and cauliflower followed.  The cauliflower dish was served like a warm vegetable salad tossed with raw carrot and cucumber.  Roasted cauliflower, tomato, onion and capsicum tossed in a tangy tandoori sauce made for a delicious meal.  The kashmeer naan bread was stuffed with dried fruit and came with 3 dipping sauces.  I sure had to battle my way through this meal.

Overall an excellent value restaurant, considering the clean and fresh presentation.  The staff were helpful without being overbearing.

My bill came to 17 ringgit, but you could certainly fill yourself up for half this amount.

Situated on a corner of a street, the 2 storey shophouse in Little India, Penang that houses Sri Ananda Bahwan is always brimming with its regulars at lunchtime.  At dinnertime, a more leisurely pace can be expected. If you think it may be too chaotic downstairs, try to get a table upstairs.

Try their variety of breads - roti canai, naan, tosai.  I personally recommend the tosai rawa, a thin, lightly fried 'sourdough-like' bread with rich flavour and texture.  If you're there for lunch I strongly recommend you try the deepfried bittergourd - coated in a spiced batter, this side dish is good enough to snack on at any time of the day.  However, if it's been sitting out too long on their counter, it may be a little soggy, so it would be good to check it out before ordering.  If you're a fan of 'chai tea' you may want to taste the 'real deal' and order yourself a masala tea (only served hot)

Service is as good (or as bad) as you'd get at any establishment of this sort.  Don't expect friendly greetings and patient servers - but they're not rude - just trying to to get their jobs done.  
If you'd like a taste of true malaysian-indian culture, head on out there. Sri Ananda Bahwan's is a great place to taste a whole lot of Indian dishes and to indulge your senses...and at very reasonable prices too!! Expect to pay less than RM5-10 per person for a complete meal.

Also, if you're in Tanjung Bungah, they also have a outlet out there, albeit without the sights and sounds and smells you can only experience in Little India.