An Indian Dinner: Khansama Tandoori Restaurant and Komala Vilas

A bunch of us decided that we should have a big Indian dinner and we picked out one in Little India. Khansama Tandoori Restaurant is highly rated on Tripadvisor and it was not surprising to see lots of tourists here.

They had lots of interesting carvings as part of the decor, which adds a lot to the Little India atmosphere, touristy as it may be.

We started with some drinks – I liked the jaljeera here. It’s a salty, minty lemonade spiked with cumin that’s a bit of an acquired taste. Most drink it expecting a sweet drink and the swamp-like colour doesn’t really add to the appeal. I like its refreshing flavour and change from the usual over-sugared carbonated drinks.

It’s topped off with crunchy fried dough bits, so you need to eat that quickly before it gets soggy.

 

For starters we had a chicken kebab platter with different kinds of marinade. My favourite was a dark green one with spinach in it. The spinach smoothed the spices nicely, paving the way for the main course.

We also had some side dishes, like the palak paneer, a must-have for me when having anything tandoori. I love the smooth spicy spinach paste that goes so well with the curd cheese.

We also had a mushroom curry which was OK (I don’t even remember what it is!), at least we got some fibre in the meal.

The naan was pretty good, but the roti less so. I liked the light texture and fragrance.

And then came the star of the show – the Sikandar Ran, a whole roasted leg of lamb. It’s hard to see exactly how big it is because they gave us a massive knife to cut the massive leg.

It was quite an interesting experience to tuck into such a big portion of meat, but I found it a bit tough and poorly seasoned for my taste. The marinade on the outside was mainly just chilli hot and nothing else. A pity given our high hopes.

Still, some people enjoyed it, like DC. Here he’s happily gnawing on one of the bones, so you can see how big it is.

Khansama Tandoori Restaurant
166 Serangoon Road
Tel: +65 6299 0300

 

We next headed off for dessert and popped into Komala Villas. Since there wasn’t any space in the restaurant, we took it away and enjoyed it over some TV at Eeyore’s place.

They were generally sweet and floury and nutty, and we forgot the names once leaving the place. The only truly memorable one was the sour jalebi: see the orange swirled pastry in the picture. I liked how it was like a sweet fried pretzel soaked in sour syrup. Very moreish after a heavy dinner.

Komala Vilas: Sweets and Savouries
82 Serangoon Road
Tel: +65 6294 3294

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Quick Drinks: Make Shake

Shinta took us to Make Shake one sweltering hot day after we finished our mee pok tar at Verdun Road (the chilli is still as good as ever and even better, their noodles are now done al dente). We absolutely needed something to cool us down. Thankfully there was Make Shake, a little milkshake stall at the basement of City Square Mall.

We took a while deciding what to have because there was a mind-boggling array of choices. Either choose from a list of the popular flavours or customise your own. From the bases, you can choose malted vanilla ice cream ($2.90), chocolate ice cream ($3.40) or frozen yogurt (presumably plain yogurt at $3.80). Then you choose what to blend in from four categories at $0.80 a pop – sweet treats like Maltesers and Skittles, fruit like strawberry and lychee, sauces and powders like green tea and caramel, and biscuits like Hello Panda and Tim Tam.

I went for the Green Monster, a blend of vanilla ice cream with mint and Oreo ($3.90). It was pretty good as it was nice and thick and the biscuit blended fine enough that I didn’t have funny lumps in it yet could taste the biscuit bits. The touch of mint was just right so it was refreshing and not at all like toothpaste. Shinta and Eeyore buddied up for the 2 for $6 coconut shake offer, but it wasn’t very good as the coconut flavour was a bit suspect. I guess coconut from a can just isn’t as good as freshly squeezed especially when you can get fresh coconut fairly easily in Singapore. KK had vanilla and lychee and seemed to like hers. She reported that the lychee was canned as expected. Mrs Eeyore had chocolate and coffee and was very pleased that it tasted exactly like a frappuccino. Right. DC had the strawberry with vanilla – it wasn’t very smooth and the strawberry bits were a bit too tart. Overall, they make a credible milkshake, though a bit too solid. DC and I prefer Once Upon a Milkshake, which is thicker and smoother. But if you’re in the area, the Green Monster is a great way to cool down.

Make Shake
#B2-K2/K11, City Square Mall
180 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208539
Tel: +65 6834 3458

Chronicles of MPT: The One Next to Mustafa’s

DC, a man after my own stomach, had been looking up MPT places as he was concerned about the recent lack of Chronicles of MPT posts. He found this place at Verdun Road that supposedly used buah keluak as one of the magic ingredients in its chilli sauce. Of course we had to find the next opportunity to go!

The stall is nestled in a coffee shop just by Mustafa’s, that emporium of everything you need in this world (except MPT). We ordered a bowl each, DC being a purist for my blog’s sake ordered meepok, while I on advice from some reports went for the meekia.

Each bowl came with a generous topping of fish dumplings, pork mince, sliced pork, fishball and a piece of crisp dried sole. I liked the gluey fish dumplings and didn’t mind the fishball. DC didn’t like the fishball though, he felt that it tasted too mass-produced. He was also pretty unlucky because his pork was undercooked and noodles soggy. For the former, he simply pushed the offending pink pieces away, but for the latter he had no choice but to slurp up the  soft pap. Why? The chilli was heavenly. I think it’s by far the best MPT chilli I’ve had. It was smoky with deep earthy buah keluak flavour and had plenty of kick. Complemented by the crisp lard pieces and a splash of black vinegar, this combination is to die for. Do yourself a favour and order the meekia. Mine was perfect. The best in a long while.

Ah Hor Teochew Kway Teow Mee
12 Verdun Road