Contemporary Indian Cuisine

Being a fan of Indian cuisine, apart from my usual hangout at Little India, I have discovered delicious food at Holland Village.

Kinara started in 1993 and has since flourished that it now offers home delivery and express orders. A newly opened outlet is also available at Playground at East Coast which is good news for me simply because I live in the east side of Singapore! Indian food always attract me because of the rich chemistry of spices and food blending hand in hand that the aroma just whets your appetite. Well, Indian cuisine is more than just tandoori chicken and naans! Over here at Kinara, I discovered a wealth of Indian's fare.

My buddy, Lynn and I were warmly greeted by an Indian lady dorned in her Punjabi suit and we were soon transported into a serene dining room that you feel the indian culture settling in. those indian woven lamps hang gracefully from the ceiling casting its light dimly in the resturant which gave a very cozy ambience.

We were the first guests and were served water promptly. We ordered their indian special drink, Jaljeera ($6) and sadly, we did not enjoy it at all. It has a very strong cumin flavour with acidic lime juice I have never tasted this combination before. It has this tinkling acidic sensation that my stomach could not hold it, especially before a meal. Ironically, it is supposed to startle the taste buds before the meal and is commonly served as a beverage in India.

The menu offers an extensive selections from tandoori kebabs, currries, meat dishes, vegetables, rices to assorted range of naans.

We ordered the popular North Indian Murgh Makhori Makhni ($20) - boneless chicken simmered in a butter and tomato gravy. Deliciously made with a fragrant butter, taking each bite of the tandoori chicken fills your palate with the richness of the curries.

We also tried a fish dish - Machli Tandoori ($18) which is boneless fish marinated with mint, mustard and yogurt and made in a tandoori style. This is another of my favourite dish having the minty cardamon dip accompanied with it.

The Navrattan Akbari ($11.90) which is nine different types of vegetables cooked in a creamy gravy was also appetising. The gravy was not too thick and is well made with tumeric.

The curried dishes  complement so well with our kinara basket ($11.50) which has assorted rotis - missi roti, tandoori roti, lachha and pudina parantha. The pudina paratha is a wholewheat flaky bread with fresh mint that has got a generous dose of mint sprinkled on top. If you like mint, I am sure you will fall in love with this.

Ending off the meal with a Pistachio Kulfi ($6) was quite a bad choice. I have tried one at before at Little India and it was a real ice cream with pistachios and almond nuts. However, the one here is made in a different style. It is not exactly an ice cream so it does not melt but instead, it is a thick paste made with very strong condensed milk, generous serving of pistachios, cashew and almonds. But i should give credit for its good nutty flavour and freshness.

I especially like their serving style which is to serve all the main courses and bread together instead of coming one by one. This allows you to have uninterrupted time of eating and chatting as well as enjoying all the dishes together as a whole! I certainly feel so homely with my buddy that we eat our way slowly through the dinner, savoring every dishes.

The overall ambience is lovely although the food is a little more expensive due to its location but you can be assured that the service is delivered in a professional manner with friendliness.