The Vines Seafood & Steak Restaurant, Novena

I should have trusted my instincts and avoided this place entirely (275 Thomson Road, #01-07 Novena Ville, tel: 6255 2838). Why did I even rebel against intuition especially after hearing from others that this wasn't worth the time?

To be fair, the oysters from the oyster kilpatrick tasted pretty fresh fresh. That was pretty much all that was worth mentioning of the shellfish that was drenched in some cream that tasted like mayo and had a puny portion of some floss which I presume was to be passed off as bacon. There wasn't any real bacon at all. The mixed grill was also regrettable with a miserably thin slice of beef. Definitely not medium rare for that one. There was a piece of dry and overcooked salmon and an over-fried prawn. The portions weren't generous by any measure and I think I've had better for less at a coffeeshop western food down at Hougang. Their lobster was just pathetic. Overcooked and tiny, it had about enough mushy meat to fit a prawn. Looking at how slip shod the food was done, I imagine that this kitchen has no pride.

The service at the restaurant was very polite and prompt but it's not going to make me come back again. Ever.

Ananda Bhavan Restaurant, Buffalo Road

Here's a South Indian rice meal and a onion rava dosai from Ananda Bhavan (Blk 663 Buffalo Road, #01-10 Tekka Central, tel: 6297 9522). In retrospect, the rice meal from Komala Vilas was way better. The rice here was dry, lumpy and harder. Komala Vilas had rice that was tender, hot and fluffy. The meal came with a spicy tomato soup on the side which tasted suspiciously like minestrone. In all, it wasn't too bad but I'm not enthusiastic about coming back since there are obviously better options in the vicinity. No complains for the onion rava dosai except for some chopped up bits of coriander in them. This dosai was filled with bits of onions and was tasty with the chutneys on the side.

Cold ramen from Noodle House Ken

It's been a while since I was here. Not actually a big fan of their ramen even though people seem to feel that Noodle House Ken (Orchard Plaza, 150 Orchard Road #01-17/18, tel : 6235 5540) is good. I was looking for dinner in town ended up here again. The evening was warm and I thought cold ramen would be the just thing I needed. They were something that I remember enjoying from this shop.

What I like about their cold ramen were the chewier texture of the noodles and the fragrant sesame sauce. I added an egg of course and the yolk didn't turn out as runny as the last time. Bummer.

Bombay Woodlands Restaurant, Tanglin Shopping Centre

This quiet little restaurant (19 Tanglin Road, #B1-12 Tanglin Shopping Centre, tel: 6836 6961) at the basement of Tanglin Shopping Centre turned out to be pretty promising. In spite the fairly small selection on the menu and prices being a little high because they're located in town, I'm not adversed to coming back.


I enjoyed the paneer chat which was essentially paneer pakora (cottage cheese fried in chick pea batter) tossed with chopped onions, tomatoes along with a blanket of sev. The chaat was then mixed with the yoghurt mint gravy and some chutney. The pakora retained some chewiness. Better than the ones at Mustard.

There was a rava idli which I thought was pretty good as well. Especially awesome with the piping hot sambar and coconut chutney. We were intrigued by a rice dish named bisi bella bath. Turned out to be a pretty tasty porridge that was flavoured like sambar. Hot and just the thing for a rainy afternoon. I also like the papads here. Thin, crispy and greasy.

Unfortunately, the masala tea wasn't up to scratch. But I would come back just for the food.

Komala's Restaurant, Serangoon Road

Woah, this place (330-332 Serangoon Road, tel: 6299 4464) felt like a fast food restaurant with air conditioning that can barely be felt. Indian vegetarian fast food restaurant to be precise. One makes an order from the counter, pays the cashier and gets a chit which is subsequently used to collect the order at another service counter. I've walked past their outlets on various occasions before but this was the first time I'm actually eating here. We ordered a masala dosai meal and a North Indian rice meal.

The dosai didn't taste that freshly made. It wasn't crispy at the edges and not warm. Idli on the side was a little saltier than I had expected. The vadai was dense but soft and I thought it pretty good. The accompanying chutneys weren't too bad.

Their North India rice meal wasn't as good as the one at Komala Vilas. It came with some chewy naan and a gulab jamun which was milky tasting and quite good. I normally avoid them because of their excessive sweetness. There was curried cauliflower, some raita and a paneer butter masala which wasn't as great. Another weird thing. There were croutons in the rice. Where did those come from??

All in all, despite the fast food appearance it wasn't bad. But I know there must be better options in the vicinity.

Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant, Buffalo Road

This was a good recommendation by a friend. Though I'm sometimes around the vicinity of Little India these recent times, I haven't heard of or seen Sri Kamala Vilas (Blk 662 Buffalo Road, #01-16, tel : +65 6291 1164) until today. I suppose with the corners around the blocks, some locations are easily overlooked. This was Indian eatery at the foot of the housing block just beside Tekka Market.


Their briyani was pretty damn good. The portion of their fragrant rice was huge and the meats were tender for both the chicken and the mutton variety. I thought the mutton was exceptional. Tender pieces of flavourful lamb drenched in a compelling nutty curry. This pairing was definitely lethal. I noticed that the chicken briyani had the meat plopped on top of the mountain of rice while the mutton was served in a separate dish. The only disappointment was the masala tea which was overwhelming with the taste star anise. The brew tasted rather diluted as well. Definitely coming back again someday to try something else.