The Banana Leaf Apolo
The Banana Leaf Apolo is a popular Indian restaurant in Little India in Singapore, near Little India MRT station.
While eating at The Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant we noticed that apart from Indians many guests were Chinese and Westerners as well. The reason is certainly the food which is less spicy at The Banana Leaf Apolo compared to other South-Indian restaurants in Singapore which makes The Banana Leaf Apolo an ideal place for acquainting yourself with aromatic Indian cuisine without burning your tongue.
The food at The Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant is served on banana leaves, majority of guests eat with hands. If you don't know how to eat with hands friendly waiters are happy to provide cutlery.
The menu at The Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant consists of many South and North-Indian dishes but the restaurant is most famous for their signature fish-head curry which is best eaten with white rice and various vegetable side dishes such as dhal. Mix your rice with the curry and savour it together with the fish. If you are brave enough you can finish off the meal by eating fish eyes - a soft part around the eyeballs to be more precise. We tried them and figured that they do not have any particular taste.
Prices at The Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant are very reasonable. Expect to pay around 20 SGD per person for a hearty meal with (non-alcoholic) drink.
Location: 54/56 Race Course Road (MRT: Little India). Web: www.thebananaleafapolo.com
Hjh Maimunah
Hjh Maimunah is a very popular Malay restaurant in Singapore serving traditional Malay dishes home-cooking style. The food at Hjh Maimunah is fresh and delicious. Guests order food from the counter in front of which there is always a queue. There is a selection of around 40 Malay dishes.
Spicy food lovers like to order beef rendang while seafood fans enjoy a great selection of grilled fish. From the side dishes we like to order aubergines or something a bit unusual, such as Lemak Pucuk Ubi (tapioca leaves in coconut milk). You can round up the meal with traditional Malay sweets. The prices at Hjh Maimunah restaurant are low.
Locations: 11 & 15 Jalan Pisang. (MRT: Bugis), 20 Joo Chiat Road (MRT: Paya Lebar) in 51 Bencoolen Street (MRT: Bras Basah ali Dhoby Ghaut). Web: www.hjmaimunah.com
Nirvana
Nirvana proclaims itself as the 'House of fine North & East Indian cuisine'. We were served one of the the best naan we have ever eaten there. Unfortunately it was only a one time event, but their usual quality is still on par with the finest Indian restaurants anywhere in the world. Fish Noor Jahani was superb. Bophali Seekh Kabab was nicely spiced, although a bit too dry. The green sauce (name unknown) was very, very good.
Location: #02-01 Fortuna Hotel, 2 Owen Rd, tel.: +65 62970400
Rice Table
Indonesian restaurant Rice Table at convenient location at Orchard Road – main shopping area of Singapore – is an ideal restaurant for those wishing to try many Indonesian dishes in a single restaurant during a single meal. Rice Table restaurant serves buffet lunch and dinner consisting of fourteen (lunch) or twenty (dinner) Indonesian dishes. The dishes are brought to tables by friendly staff and if there is anything that you particularly like, you can always ask for more without being charged extra as the buffet is all you can eat buffet. The price of the buffet is 17.88 SGD (about 10 EUR) per person for lunch and 28.49 SGD (about 16 EUR) per person for dinner.
Some of the Indonesian favourites you can try at Rice Table restaurant include Soto Ayam (Indonesian chicken soup), Sate Ayam (chicken sate), Ikan Goreng (fried fish in spicy-sweet sauce), Ayam Goreng (fried chicken), Tahu Kuning (tofu in curry sauce), Sambal Udang (prawns in spicy coconut sauce), Daging Rendang (spicy beef stew), Sotong Asam (cuttlefish in sour spicy sauce). We suggest trying milder dishes first before biting into spicier fare. Some Indonesian dishes can be rather hot.
Rice Table restaurant is quite popular among locals as the food is good and reasonably priced. If you happen to be in the area during lunch time, you can try popping in without a reservation. However, of you wish to have a dinner at Rice Table Indonesian restaurant, book in advance by all means to avoid being turned away.
Location: 360 Orchard Road, #02-09/10 International Building. Open: daily 12:00noon - 2:30pm (lunch) and 6:00pm - 9:30pm (dinner). Tel. +65 6835 3783. MRT: Orchard. Web: www.ricetable.com.sg
Sri Kamala Vilas
Indian restaurant Sri Kamala Vilas in Singapore's Little India is a solid proof that in Singapore it is not necessary to dive deep into your pocket in order to get good food. The food at Sri Kamala Vilas is excellent and cheap.
Our favourites at Sri Kamala Vilas are masala chicken, briyani rice and plain thosai. Masala chicken is very spicy yet aromatic, a perfect blend of South Indian spices. Briyani rice is very good too. If you wish to prepare briyani rice or masala chicken at home, you can get masala chicen recipe and briyani rice recipe in our recipes section.
It is best to get to Sri Kamala Vilas before 2 pm as they often run out of bryani rice and masala chicken later.
Our third favourite, thosai, could be described as a large Indian salty bean pancake which comes with dhal curry and spicy/non-spicy sauces. Also worth trying is papadum, Indian crackers of sorts.
Spicy dishes are best neuralised with something sweet, such as teh tarik - a hot drink, typical for Singapore and Malaysia, prepared with black tea and condensed milk.
Food at Sri Kamala Vilas is served on banana leaves. Majority of guests eats with hands. There is a big sink to wash hands before eating next to the cashier. If you do not want or do not know how to eat with hands you can ask for cutlery.
Location: behind Tekka Centre wet market in Little India, near the intersection of Serangoon Road and Bukit Timah Rd.
Sanur
Sanur, an Indonesian restaurant, serves good keropok (deep fried fish crackers) upon arrival. Be adventurous and ask for sambal (chilli paste mixed with a little bit of fermented shrimp paste) to go with your keropok. You can find out more about sambal (including sambal recipe) in our recipes section.
Sanur seves decent beef rendang, one of Malay classics that you have to try. The kai lan belacan, a type of Chinese green leafy vegetable stir fried with fermented shrimp paste and chilli paste is good too. The grilled fish, ikan panggang was disappointing though as the fish was not fresh. Tahu telur, deep fried soya bean curd served with vegetables, was very big and not bad. Note that there is a 10% service charge and 5% gov. tax added to your bill.
Location: #04-16 Ngee Ann City, Orchard Rd.
Zam Zam Restaurant
Indian Muslim restaurant Zam Zam opposite Sultan Mosque in Singapore is well known for excellent murtabak. Murtabak, a flaky pastry filled with meat, could be compared with burek or borek which is widely available in the Balkans and Turkey. Murtabak at Zam Zam is filled with mutton or chicken and it comes with curry gravy and a small plate of salad.
Zam Zam is always teeming with guests. You can sit at the steamy ground floor and watch chefs in action or in the comfort of air-conditioned first floor. Staff at Zam Zam is as friendly as the prices. Food portions are huge and tasty.
Zam Zam restaurant is about a hundred years old, which means that they must be doing something right in order to survive that long in a highly competitive food scene in Singapore. Some will tell you that Zam Zam serves the best murtabaks in town. We do agree that they are very tasty, but we prefer murtabaks from New Victory next door, which are less greasy, thus gentler on the stomach.
Location: 679,699 North Bridge Road. MRT: Bugis
New Victory Restaurant
New Victory Restaurant is located directly next to Zam Zam. In fact the entrances into the two restaurants are so nearby and look so similar that, if you do not take extra care, you might mix them up. Like Zam Zam, New Victory Restaurant claims to be around for about 100 years. Ground floor at New Victory Restaurant is not air-conditioned but first floor is nice and cool - just like at Zam Zam. The menus at the two restaurants are very similar, their main star being murtabak.
So what is the difference after all?
If you like burek (which means that you will most probably like murtabak too), do try it at both restaurants and decide for yourself which one is better. Just do not attempt to eat at both restaurants on the same day as murtabak tends to be quite heavy. In our opinion, murtabaks at both Zam Zam and New Victory Restaurant are very tasty but we prefer the less greasy version at New Victory Restaurant.
Location: 701 North Bridge Road. MRT: Bugis.