Indian Times

A Heady Blend of Intoxicating Flavours

Being a rabid fan of Indian cuisine, I just had to visit the restaurant after reading the rave reviews of Indian Times Restaurant on Hungry Go Where. Gathering my family members, we drove down to Big Splash one Saturday night.

The well-spaced seating, subdue lighting and dark timbre undertones of the restaurant was a cool respite from the heat and noise of the weekend Big Splash crowd. After looking through the menu and surveying the buffet spread, we decided to go for the buffet as it provided a better value for money and allowed us to sample a good range of the restaurant's dishes.

The food was carefully seasoned and prepared. Each mouthful yielded a burst of complex flavours so characteristic of indian cuisine. There was a good balance between the rich curries, zesty chutneys/salads/raithas and delicately seasoned kebabs.

The highlight of the dinner had to be the succulent, free flowing kebabs. The meal began with an assortment of kebabs (fish, chicken, mushrooms,vegetables)laid out on the grill. The kebabs are already cooked so you only need to grill them for a minute or 2 to warm them up. Each bite was a juicy delight, especially the tandoori chicken and fish tikka.

Free flow of juicy meat!

Baskets of plain, butter and garlic fluffy naans were also included in the buffet. These were replenished as quickly as they were devoured.

The buffet spread consisted of flavourful basmati rice, an assortment of curries and vegetarian. My favourites were the Palek Paneer (cottage cheese with spinach), okra and dal. They were a great complement to the grilled dishes. One juicy bite of the butter chicken followed by a piece of flaky naan swabbed with dal makhani --YUM!

Amazingly, I still managed to find room for dessert. There was a simple fruit salad which helped to cleanse the palette, then I launched full scale into the rest of the desserts. My only grouse is that the desserts were rather limited. Other than the fruit salad, there was only caramel custard, milk balls soaked in syrup and vermicelli with lightly spiced milk, pistachios and semolina. The vermicelli dessert is a must try. Even though I usually do not like milky desserts, I ended up eating 2 bowls. I loved the different textures that each spoonful brought and yes, even the sweet favourful milk. I also ordered some kulfi and was pleasantly surprised by the generous amounts of pistachios in the ice-cream.

The service was attentive yet unobstrusive. For example, a waiter noticed that one of our kebabs had burnt on the grill and quickly replaced it. However, the waiter serving our table did not seem familiar with the menu (new perhaps?)and had to call a colleague each time we wanted additional ala carte items (e.g. kulfi, masala tea). Other than that, his service was impeccable.

Indian Times
Playground@ Big Splash
902 East Coast Parkway, Blk B #01-05
Food: 7.5/10
Price: $$$$
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Yum: Kebabs, palek paneer, kulfi

Bliss @ Punggol Park

Business at Bliss was brisk on the Saturday evening that I went. The lush surroundings of Punggol Park, friendly staff, reasonable prices and a menu of familiar comfort food were a huge draw to both families and friends.


The menu consisted of the usual diner fare such as steaks, pastas and fried items. As usual, I was torn between choosing a familiar favourite and trying something new. In the end, we ordered bangers and mash, sirloin steak, crispy duck and spicy chicken wings. For a couple of dollars more, PT upgraded one main to a set meal that comprise some soup, salad, ice-cream and a drink.

The spicy chicken wings appeared extremely intimidating. Covered with hot sauce and chilli flakes, they looked as though they were going to explode in your mouth and burn your throat and gut going down. But in this case, the bark (or sqwak) was much fiercer than the bite and the result was a zesty little dish with just a dash of heat.

Chilli-coated drumlet

Soup (cream of chicken) and salad were pretty ordinary. I felt that more could be done to make the salad more interesting. It was a standard plate of iceberg lettuce. A few leaves of purple cabbage and rockets would have made the dish a lot more memorable.

The crispy duck was a pleasant surprise. The skin was roasted to a delightful crunch whilst the meat held its moistness. Two extremely large cuts were laid out on a plate, together with grilled baby potatoes and a tangy slaw. A piquant mango sauce was drizzled over the meat and it gave a little zing to the dish. Definitely something worth ordering again.

Crispy and juicy

The bangers and mash looked more impressive than it tasted. A large chicken sausage was laid over a mound of mash potatoes. What was puzzling was the pool of black pepper gravy that almost swallowed the whole dish. The gravy was too heavily seasoned and the peppery taste nearly overpowered the entire dish. The mash was rather dry and hard despite being soaked in the gravy. In the end, we scraped off the gravy, enjoyed the sausage and nibbled on the mash.

The steak, not surprisingly, wasn’t anything to shout about. Although it was a huge piece of meat, it was too heavily seasoned and rather tough. It took quite a bit of chewing to get a mouthful down.

Would I go to Bliss again? Most probably yes. I like the casual al fresco dining and service is prompt and friendly. The servings are also generous. But I’ll likely stick to the fail safe dishes like pastas and poultry and stay clear of the steaks and lambs.

Food: 6.2/10
Ambience: 8/10
Damage to pocket: $$
Yum: Crispy Duck 

Artery Choking Yummy Food at Simon Road

Right at the junction of Simon Road and Upper Serangoon Road there's a gem of a coffee shop called Nam Seng Coffee Shop. Eager patrons congregate almost every day to sample 3 heart stopping, artery clogging dishes: Smoked Chicken Wings, Oyster Omelette and Satay.

The guy that sells the satay also sells the chicken wings. Unike other grilled chicken wings, the wings here give out a heady flavour of smoked spices with each bite. This is because they are grilled above the satay in an open chacoal pit. The result is a rich infusion of flavours that is a delight to the nose and tastebuds

The satays come in larger than normal sizes and are barbecued carefully so that they achieve the right balance of charring on the outside and moistness in the inside.

As for the oyster omelette, it's a legend onto itself. Fried by an elderly gentleman who works with clockwork precision, the end result is a fluffy, eggy, crispy concoction with just the perfect touch of 'gooeyness'. The oysters are fresh and a generous handful is tossed into the flour mixture. A sprinkling of parsley adds the final punch to the dish. Beware though, this Oyster Omelette is not for the faint hearted. This dish is swimming, I repeat, SWIMMING in oil!

Food: 8
Ambience:4
Damage to pocket: $
Yum: Chicken Wings, Oyster Omelette, Satay

Peach Garden Novena Gardens

Meals at Peach Garden certainly don't come cheap, but they are worth the treat. Even worth the crazy parking at Novena Gardens.

Service is attentive and personalised. Dishes are served on individual plates and each guest has a set of condiments placed in front of them. Chopsticks, knives, forks and spoons are also provided to each guest. I really dislike the shared tiny plates of chilli that are usually found in chinese restaurants so I was quite pleased about the entire table layout. I was also impressed to see that ladies are served first around the table, which is a nice departure from the usual go-round-the-table approach.

The 8 course meal that I had set us back by about $638++ for a table of ten. Here're are the highlights of the dishes that we had:

Peking Duck - So so. The skin was not as crispy and I felt that the duck was left too long at room temperature. The Peking Duck at Hua Ting is much better.

Shark Cartilage Soup - Very rich and thick. Oodles of flavour in every spoonful.

Wasabi and Salted Egg Prawns - My favourite dish. Prawns were big, fresh and springy. The salted egg was mashed to a fine texture and generously coated around each prawn. As for the wasabi and mayo prawns, a perfect balance of sweetness and heat was achieved. The round coins of watermelons which held the prawn helped to cleanse the palette and refresh the tastebuds.

 Toufu with Spinach - A nice light interlude. While the tofu and spinach were standard fare, what made this dish stand out was the gravy with tendrils of egg and crabmeat.

Steamed Soon Hock with superior sauve -  Uber fresh. Need I say more?

Mince Duck Meat with Lettuce - Savoury fare that was well complemented by the crunchy lettuce leaves. The diced mushrooms and yam were a nice touch and provided a heartiness to the dish

Fried Vermicelli - A lightly seasoned dish which nicely rounded up the meal.

Dessert - I enjoyed the dessert which was jelly in light syrup. The slightly tangy jelly (seemed to have a hint of coconut) was highly addicted. There was a slight lingering after taste which just made you want to have more.

Food: 8.5
Ambience: 7.5
Damage to Pocket: $$$$
Yum: Wasabi Prawns, Shark Cartilage Soup