My trip to Singapore always will end being a day trip for work and all i do is travel from Changi airport to my office in Jurong and back. Never had a time to venture out much. And because of this, my lunches with my team guys always end up in Komala's, which is a nearby shop that serves Indian style fast food.
This time round i stayed back for two days, so we ventured for a longer walk through Big Box Mall to Jurong East Mall ( JEM) and to an interconnected Westgate. I was certainly impressed with all these malls so close by and connected. Reminded me of Manila.
We ended up in a place called Zaffron Kitchen , that came highly recommended by my team. In their words, " Its one Good , Decent Indian place" .
From the entrance, it does not look a normal conventional Indian restaurant, rather a more French eatery. Their deco, inspired by British Indian was tasteful in brown hues and well lit with large glass windows at the entrance. There is a bar area in the restaurant that gives it a very sophisticated look. Zaffron Kitchen Westgate is one of the International Property Award Asia Pacific 2014 winners - to top it off.
First thing as we sat down on the table, the conventional menu book wasn't brought to us, but rather a nice Ipad in a wooden casing. How cool.
Everything is self service ie you get to order on the ipad and then confirm quantity on the app.
The menu comprises of north Indian and South Indian cuisine. They had Kebabs, Tandoori items, curries, Briyanis and for the slight twist, Burgers and Wraps. I LOVE THIS PLACE.Everything fuses the wonderful tastes of Indian flavours, like the Breaded Fish and Chips that are served with Masala fries, or the Sheekh Mutton Wrap. We opted for the traditional items this time. I have another excuse to visit this place next time to sample the western stuff. We even saw Teh Tarik on the menu.
We ordered only couple of items on the menu. All are not big eaters around me :-). But every single one of them blew me out. Tantalizing on the tastebuds, all of us relished each bite. They were rich, authentic and pleasant on the eyes.
Butter naan ( SGD4) and Paneer Butter Masala (SGD13) was a match made in heaven. The bread was light and crisp, the butter was not overpowering and the Paneer was truly the softest and tastiest, unlike those frozen ones you get in many Indian shops in KL.
The Vegetarian Briyani came as a surprise for me. Soft grains of Bhasmati rice cooked with herbs and spices inside a sealed pot and comes with Dhal, Papadam and Raita condiments. You can't see the rice here , its hiding underneath the layer of bread that has been brushed on with light butter. YUM YUM!!!!
We forgot to take pictures of this dish when it came, hands reached out too fast . The vegetable Sheekh Kebab was so perfectly grilled. It was a tad spicy if you bite into the green chillies but on the whole a wonderful starter.
Aloo Gobi Masala ( SGD12) is another power pack dish. The spices , ghee and butter blended so well that after a mouthfull, you would just want to plop down back on the chair and sleep.
Lastly the Gulab Jamun ( SGD5.50) , ended the entire meal to perfection. The syrup not too sweet , laced with rose water just made it stand out from the other Gulab Jamun's i have tried.
As per their tagline, Indelibly Indian Inside - thumbs up from me. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.
Bon Appetit!
Westgate Zaffron
Opening Hours
Mon - Thur : 11.30am - 9.30pm (close 3:00pm - 5:00pm)
Fri - Sun, eve of PH and PH : 11:00am - 10:00pm
*Last order 30 minutes before close
That golden bowl of Gulab Jamun is making me crave something sweet. Yum. Yum. ;-)
ReplyDelete"Indelibly Indian Inside" - that's quite a tongue twister isn't it! :-)
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