surprise dinner

bas's surprise dinner

Apparently, Bas, who had been away in Perth for some months had missed eating Indian food.

You won't believe the exorbitant prices they charged for that over there!

So his gal had made arrangements for his friends to gather and greet him in the restaurant when he came by for dinner that day.

the bunch

Imagine, when the key person (Bas) arrived, the table wasn't even full. So much for wanting to surprise him.. Haha!

Amazingly though, he DID get surprised.

He had expected a quiet dinner for 2 and yet, he was greeted with the sight of 2 different groups of his pals seated at the same table.

We don't even need to scream out, "SURPRISE!!". HE was like, "Eh, what are you doing here..? And you? You too?! WOW!"

spicy salsa

Key ingredients would have been green chillies and mint. Goes really well as dips for the papadoms that's served on the side.

The same papadoms we relied on to satiate our famished bellies while we waited for others to arrive.

Palak Paneer

Fried cottage cheese with spinach paste gravy. Something that's a bit of a novelty for me.

cottage cheese - also known as the 'Indian tofu'.

See the similarity?

Excuse the pungent aroma though. When it somes to that, it's very much like 'chao tofu', that stinky Chinese rendition of it.

Murgh Vindaloo

Spicy mutton gravy with potatoes.

I don't know if it's because I was still recovering and that my taste buds have gotten mild somewhat but this dish here was really spicy!!

Maybe it's the heavy usage of chili powder. Or maybe they use chilli paste. Whatever it it, the heat sure got to me.

Pistachio Kulfi

This thing was awesome! Smooth, creamy and bursting with pistachio goodness.

I had initially expected a plain kulfi (Indian ice-cream) with a generous sprinkling of chopped pistachios but this turned out better.

I still wish I got to taste the crunch of some pistachio bits, though.

chai latte

Definitely better that CBTL's offering. But this made me miss the masala tea that I usually get at that little corner-shop at Bussorah Street.

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If you're wondering, yes, we ate more that just that. Thing is, by the time the food came to me, the presentation leaves much to be desired.

There's the basket of nibbles and grilled cottage cheese for starters. Also the famous fish head curry, tandoori chicken and chicken tikka.

Good food, good company. What's there not to like? Ok, fine. Save for the pretty steep price...