IVORY - The Indian Kitchen

I grew up eating curries and "Indian food" cooked by my grandad and at several "Authentic Indian" restaurants. Love the spiciness and the combination of the spices so commonly used in Indian dishes. When I was invited for a food tasting session, i signed on as i was keen to try out fine Indian Coastal dishes.

Upon being seated, I enjoyed a view of the Singapore River and Riverside View. Its really quite a sight at night and the comfortable chairs made me feel at ease. Tables were not too close so its good to have private conversations. At 8pm it was not too crowded but as time went by the crowds started coming and i noticed many caucasians and Indians.

Before our orders, we were served with some crackers with dips that tasted like mint and another tomato. found the crackers reminded me of papadums, flour crackers with spices in it. yummy.

Glancing through the menu, I selected a few dishes that looked good but did not realise that they even had different pages for mains. We got quite a few items to try and my favourite section was the staples section with a wide array of paranthas, rotis and kulchas to choose from.

Our appetizers were Crabmeat soup - tasted alot like curry , but wasnt too thick, had quite a good amount of crabmeat in it and one curry leaf was floating in the bowl. i liked it but didnt finish it as too much can be a bit too rich.

Crispy Spicy Chicken(i think)-nice presentation but i found it more sweet and spicy. reminds me of the ayam masak merah that my grandad cooks. but sweeter. chicken was boneless and juicy. but i wish the skin was used though.

Malabari Trio - Grilled prawns, chilli chicken and lamb. The chicken was again juicy, but this time it was different from the crispy spicy chicken. i think it was cooked with chilli and coconut. and the lamb was tender. no lamby smell but it was kinda lacking spice and kick. i loved the prawns. cooked with curry leaves, i loved the juicy succulent prawns. my fav out of the 3.

Lamb kebab and lamb chop- two different dishes. somehow both dishes didnt really wow me. But the kebab was bursting with spices. but i think the meat was way too minced.. chop tasted alot like satay.

Potato- This potato dish was not bad. the almonds gave it a nice crunchy taste.

Our mains came after this.

Lobster- im not a big lobster fan maybe cos well it just seems so troublesome to eat but found the lobster to be quite good.

Crab cakes-doesnt look like ur normal crab cakes. but upon tasting it. it was bursting with spices but i found the crab cakes a bit normal. Chicken-cooked dam style, while chicken was tender and well marinated, i didnt take well to this dish. i thought that maybe tamarind was used which im not a big fan of. Fish-this was good. i kept taking the gravy as it was very curry like but not too thick yet still quite rich. Mutton pepper fry-the only non gravy dish. the mutton was tender and juicy and i liked that it was not the gravy laden dish that we have been trying. the spices used were kept at a minimum i think. simple but quite good. white rice was served and while at home i never eat rice found this rice to be light and each grain stands out and is so very delicious.

Staples tandoori parantha garlic naan onion cheese chili kulcha roomali roti the staples were so soft and light i wish we had ordered more. especially liked the garlic naan and the tandoori parantha.

had a rice pudding for dessert. not my cup of tea but it wasnt super sweet which i think the gulab jamun was.

I appreciated that the head waited remembered my request to serve my drink without a lemon slice and consequently did not add a lemon slice to my drink.

It was a good tasting session, got to try a wide array of dishes and left feeling full. If i were to return i would probably bring my mom along and on special occasions. the food although good is a bit on the rich side.