gajalee, esplanade

it’s the first day of the work-week (and work-year, if you want to be depressing about it). how did the holidays time pass so quickly?!

but to start things off on a very positive note, here’s a fantastic indian (specifically malvani, if that means anything to you) place we chanced upon the other day. situated terribly in a back alley between the esplanade and satay by the bay, this indian restaurant looks strangely posh for its otherwise uninteresting (read: shabby) exterior.

and the food is quite utterly fantastic, with a focus on seafood and tandoori offerings. the prices are high too, which is expected given its location, but I would say the experience well-worth worth it.

kinara contemporary indian cuisine, holland village

really good northern indian eating at this very nice restaurant in holland village. this place suits its locale – they’ve got nice al fresco dining out on the boardwalk (in case you want to brave the sudden surge of haze we’ve just gotten), and even the interior is beautifully and ethnically decorated (still, I’d rather eat out than in).

it’s refined eating – expected, given the locale and its clientele – all tandoori and creamy curries with properly-blistered naan, and it’s not inexpensive. for a chill meal on the weekend, it’ll do you plenty good.

garden kadhai north indian fine dining, serangoon gardens

delicious indian food at this small restaurant along maju avenue – I live just ten-ish minutes away and never knew this restaurant existed until this visit, and what a pity. for the food was very good and authentic (as much as I can reasonably gauge), and the cosy bistro-like atmosphere of the place lends itself to easy eating, with a casual-but-not-of-the-flip-flop intimacy that I appreciate very much.

it’s a tad on the pricy side, but it’s pretty worth it – I reiterate, the food was delicious.

I’ve been having quite a bit of indian food these days (I gravitate toward the northern styles), and have come to the conclusion that I am most of us are still pretty biased about the prices we’re charged at indian places such as this. despite the amount of work that clearly goes into the cooking, we still grumble about overpaying for what should be a cheap cuisine, when we’re willing to spend the equivalent in our fancy chinese restaurants.

strange eh, these human quirks.

I did conclude this place a little on the high side when we left, but hindsight is both enlightening and moderating, and so I will say – it’s certainly not cheap, but you leave with a belly stuffed with tasty curries and leavened breads that do a great job scooping those incredibly flavors into your mouth. I don’t have the skill (or the patience) to cook proper indian, and I submit myself to these chefs that do a great job at it – especially when I get to eat in air-conditioned comfort.

make a visit, pronto!

Garden Kadhai North Indian Fine Dining
24 Maju Ave
Singapore 556696
tel +65 6283 9688
$$$ (or should it be $$.5?): 30-40 a person

zaffron kitchen, katong

standout indian food in the grastronomic wunderland that is katong – I don’t usually come to this area because it’s a little far out of my reach, but the many good reviews of this place were too great a draw to resist. and they live up to it – indian food made modern, really in the style of masala zone in london, which I haven’t yet seen in singapore – I would say this is food that admittedly might play more to the mainstream consumer’s idea of indian rather than traditional fare, but it doesn’t detract from the pleasure of eating here, and judging from the clientele in this place – it might not be wholly unauthentic either.

you do pay for the experience though – prices are much higher than what you’d see at other indian joints, though merely on par with other new cafés/bistros. service is a little absent-minded sometimes – though this only happened with one of their waitresses – but the food is well good, and well worth coming back for.