Vintage India

Samarkand prawns

I think my life is kinda delicious. No, make that scrumptious, or better yet – fingerlickin’ good!

My job revolves around food, my interests are culinary and ever so appetising, and sometimes, I dream about food! Even in ministry, I’m all about food, especially with our cafe Eden.

And of course, this blog makes sure I never forget what I’ve eaten and the recipes I’ve tried.

Then there are times where I get to taste new things at new places.

Perhaps I should add another 2 words to my blog name: she bakes and cooks and she eats ALOT. haha.

So you know that I eat and I enjoy my food and will always be here to introduce to you only the yummiest things. Today I have some place new to talk about.

Vintage India at Dempsey Hill. They invited me for lunch recently and I have to say that the challenge was more to do with getting there. It’s just too bad I don’t drive. So I had to take a cab up.

Most of you might have been to Dempsey at least one or have heard about the enclave. The restaurants lean more towards fine dining and are perfect for dates. Vintage India is no different. The ambience is impeccable and it’s not difficult to feel like royalty when you’re dining there. You’ll know what I mean when you see the interior shots I took. But first, let’s talk about the food shall we?

I tried two starters that were cooked in the tandoor, the Samarkand prawns and the Adraki Panje.

The prawns were really big. Why, that’s because they used jumbo prawns and stuffed it with minced crab meat and nuts. Very satisfying I’d say. The stuffing went well with the crustacean. Something different for once, but a bit surprising too. I never thought prawns could taste as good this way.

Ah then there’s the lamb chops which I love:

Adraki Panje

The highlight was the spices. The oh-so-tender chops were marinated in indian spices and herbs, which added to the smoky and delectable flavour. This is a clear favourite.

Vegetarians do not fret because Vintage India has their non-meat specials which taste just as good. And I do mean that – even I was equally surprised. Their Malai Broccoli was lovely. I’ve never ever eaten broccoli this way. The chef had marinated the florets in fresh cream, and white pepper and roasted it in the tandoor. You’d expect a dried-out broccoli but no, that didn’t happen, instead, we were presented with a tender, warm yet slightly juicy broccoli which had the right amount of spice. Now if only I had a tandoor at home too!

Murg Makhani

With such delish starters, I knew the main courses were definitely going to be good and I’m glad I was right. There were two gravy dishes – the Murg Makhani and Fish Malabar curry. Murg Makhani’s actually butter chicken. Prepared with a butter based gravy, the Murg Makhani was a sure winner. Buttery is good and goes well with me. Butter always adds a tasty edge to any dish. Loved the gravy and was glad I had garlic naan to mop it up.

The Fish malabar curry is prepared with coconut milk and spiced with a variety of spices. The fish was really fresh and did not have that fishy taste which I so dislike. I’m not sure if I’m just easy to please or if the food was really good. Perhaps I’ll just stick to the latter because I have eaten some very bad fish curry and hated it. I am just happy to report that Vintage India sure knows how to cook a good fish curry.

Fish malabar curry

Our table also had some pappadums:

And you can never really go wrong with garlic naan. Garlic is one of my favourite aromatics and this naan was super.

For dessert, there was Malai Kesar Pista Kulfi (saffron flavoured Indian ice cream made with pistachios and milk) and Ras Malai (cottage cheese dumplings dipped in milk and garnished with dry fruits.

Ras Malai

Malai Kesar Pista Kulfi

The Ras Malai had an interesting texture. It tasted like sweet sponge and was quite light. The kulfi was good too – I could taste the saffron and other spices.

And as promised, here’s how the interior looks like:

Fit for a Raja don’t you think?

Vintage India is a great place to dine at especially if you’re looking for good Indian food with a grand ambience. It also helps to know that their chefs are all from India and each one specialises in certain dishes to ensure quality.

Dempsey hill sure is a classy food paradise and Vintage India just upped the hill’s cool factor with its exotic appeal.

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Vintage India
10 Dempsey Road
#01-21 Dempsey Hill
Phone: 6471 3100
Lunch: 12pm – 230pm
Dinner: 6pm – 1130pm

Thondamans

What happens when you are starving and seriously so hungry that you could eat a cow?

Choose from the below options:
a) I would settle for the first stall/restaurant/eatery I see and eat whatever they sell
b) I run to 7-11 to buy myself a cup of instant noodles
c) I swallow my saliva unwillingly and distract myself because I’m too lazy to get off my chair
d) I walk and explore patiently, believing that good food will come my way if I just practise patience and wait till my heart tells me this is the one.

So which did you choose?

Did you pick the easiest options? OR

did you go with option d?

If you chose option d then we have something in common.

Weird choice you might think but I have a rationale.

Good food is worth the walk; besides walking helps work up an appetite and heck, it’s healthy!

I went for sunset mass at OLPS yesterday and was ravenous by the time it ended and it was about 8pm when JF and I started walking around the area searching for something delicious and substantial.

Just when I thought I had to settle for the usual rice with mixed vegetables, I spotted a large green sign that read “Thondamans Restaurant – Authentic Curry Fish Head”. I couldn’t take my eyes off the sign and started to suggest that we dine there.

Blame it on my love for Indian food but I really can’t say no to curry! We walked closer and saw the menu – they sold thosai! I love eating thosai and have been wanting to eat some. Then the owner who was mopping the entrance told us to come in. We were checking out the menu (too intently i guess!) and he gestured us to come try the food, and promised that it will be cheap. We were sold. haha… well by then I had decided what to eat, so we entered the place.

I wanted some meat, dhal and vegetable so we ordered mutton masala, snake gourd, dhal, and the usual thosai.

mutton masala

Raita

The food was tasty and really up-to-standard. The mutton was so tender and the gravy thick and rich. I loved it. Even JF was impressed. I couldn’t stop chowing down my thosai with the gravy, including the dips that came with the thosai. Everything was so fresh and yummy that I stopped talking for a while. The raita was refreshing. I love anything with yoghurt.

Midway, JF asked me if I was full (that’s his way of saying that he was still hungry) and I told him, sure, we’ll order more!

So we ordered sambal fish briyani and we were taken by surprise (in a good way) when this appeared:

That’s alot of rice! It came in a metal steel bowl and the fish was in the middle of the rice together with an egg. The set came with some pappadums together with more tasty curry.

We put the rice on a plate and started eating every grain, with big mouthfuls. The owner must have been frightened at the amount we were eating! hahaa…

I liked the sambal fish although it tasted different from the usual sambal. There was more of a fresh chilli taste. I loved the briyani; they cooked it really well with the right amount of spices and it was really fragrant.

We were seriously stuffed. I felt sooo full but I was really happy. As I’ve mentioned before, if you succeed in feeding me something yummy, I will be your best friend for life :p

And I think the owner will be seeing more of me in time to come…. I still have to try their curry fish head. Okay, now I’m drooling… AGAIN!

Thondamans Restaurant
No. 324P, Changi Road
Tel: 6345-5022

P.S. They do catering as well!