Shikar, Maxwell Reserve

I've been wanting to come to Shikar (Maxwell Reserve Singapore, 2 Cook Street, Whatsapp : +65 8866 0823) to try their thali lunch which is only available on weekdays which are non public holidays. Finally happened.

They say that their food is inspired by the grand old feasts of Indian Royals where members of high society socialised, ate and drank. Well, the food certainly came with a price tag to match those.

Place looks colonial swanky like the hotel it is housed in with a level of ostentation that zips past say, Raffles Hotel as a comparison. But it's all good. It was pretty, a pleasant sanctuary from the blazing heat and the staff was nice.

We started with some chaat. Not part of the thali sets. This one was purple sweet potato patties stuffed with goat's cheese and tempura kale on yoghurt and pomegranate. Not the kind of chaat that you get in the street obviously. Those sweet potato patties were spiced.

Their thali was served in a U shaped tray which was made to fit a plate as separated pieces. From the left, it's cucumber raita that's infused with cumin, aloo gobi, pureed palak, the main dish, dal makhani, steamed basmati rice and a salad. 

There're a couple of main dish options for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis. That's mostly the difference and everyone gets pretty much the same variety of stuff with one exception.

Which is if you choose to top your palak with Italian morels and that comes with additional charge.

One of our thali came with what the menu described as pot roasted lamb. Most of us would have called it curry mutton. This was exceptional fork tender curry mutton in a delicious rich gravy

This was the tiger prawn option. Gravy is creamy and coconut-y with the flavour of saffron and prawns. Outstanding.

We're at the vegetarian curd cheese kufte thali. I read it as their rendition of their paneer makhani in the form of fried cottage cheese balls. That tomato butternut saffron gravy it came in was kickass awesome.

The thalis came with bread as well. Naans and roti.

Dessert was rava kesari. Love the moderated sweetness for this one.

Saffron masala chai which was an additional order not part of the thali lunch. Say what? I know right? Saffron-izing good old masala chai as well. But hell yeah it was good. For a lack of a more comprehensive description, the chai was well balanced. There weren't overbearing elements in its composition as far as I could tell. Masala mix was in harmonious proportions, tea wasn't overly milky and definitely not excessively sweet.