Guntur Kitchen
Credit: Matt Keller Lehman

 When one visits Guntur Kitchen, a restaurant named after a city billed as “The Chilli Capital of India,” one should expect cuisine that caters to the palates of the good folks of Andhra Pradesh, not the good folks of South Seminole County. So, please refrain from asking dishes to be prepared “mild” or “medium” or some such tame deviation, and simply enjoy them the way they’re meant to be — hot. And by “hot,” I don’t mean Scoville Scale scorching but, rather, a slow burn leading to a controlled blaze that flares without compromising the dish’s flavor intent. 

Take, for example, the stuffed mirchi bhajji ($6). The large green chilies are slit, battered in seasoned besan (gram) flour with carom seeds, then deep-fried and stuffed with peanuts, onions and cilantro. These crunchy-soft heat-seeking missiles found their way into my regular rotation when I first tried them late last year, and it’s easy to see why they’re a hugely popular street snack in South India.

The statement dish from this Longwood strip-mall eatery across the street from Papa Bees had me returning to sample more specialties of peninsular India churned out by owner Rajani Kanumuri, who runs the restaurant with her husband, Eshwar.

Ghee karam, a paste made from a powdered blend of red chilies, lentils, garlic, mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin and coriander seeds tempered in hot oil, then enriched with generous amounts of clarified butter, captures the culinary essence of Andhra Pradesh, in which Guntur is a major city. At the namesake restaurant, this slick “gunpowder” is stuffed inside crispy dosas with potatoes ($9.49) and coats a trio of pillowy idli ($7). Both dishes are served with a tangy tomato chutney and a roasted peanut chutney with a tamarind kick. And, yes, both also bring the heat.

Punugulu ($8), deep-fried fritters made from dosa batter, weren’t as prickling to the palate, at first. They even took on the look and feel of a doughnut hole. But I won’t sugarcoat it — dipping one of these golden orbs into either of the provided sauces turned it into a flavor bomb.

A few gulps of refreshingly sweet red sugarcane juice ($5) with lime and ginger helped tame the wildfire that grew a little wilder after a few bites of chicken dum biryani ($19). It’s a heady dish of marinated chunks of bone-in chicken and rice slow-cooked together in a sealed vessel. While each peppery bite had me contemplating another order of that red sugarcane juice, the pilaf’s accompanying raita with bits of onion ultimately proved palliating.

There are also specials that spotlight different dishes every day, one of which was potato curry ($9) with peas, carrots and chickpeas served with puri, or fried bread. Tearing off a glistening shred and scooping up some of that spiced and almost creamy potato mix was southern comfort at its finest. A capper of gulab jamun ($4) likely would’ve been too, had it been served warm.

Guntur Kitchen
Credit: Matt Keller Lehman

I should mention that Guntur is a tight squeeze of a restaurant, so place your order and hope that one of the less than handful of tables frees up. It’s no surprise that a majority of Guntur’s orders are for takeout. That said, I’ve witnessed many a famished soul chowing down on Guntur’s fiery fare inside the comfort of their vehicle in the parking lot, or on their truck’s flatbed or the hood of their car. It certainly appears that in Longwood, hearts burn for Guntur. 

Guntur Kitchen, 525 S. Ronald Reagan Blvd., Longwood, 407-260-1502.

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This article appears in April 1-7, 2026.

Orlando restaurant critic. Orlando Weekly restaurant critic since 2006.