Sitara: On the hunt for the perfect Naan!

With damien, liverpool, iwatch_ueat and introducing our travelling Aussie foodie: Blindate

Butter Chicken $12.50

This restaurant was recommended by one of the many "Anonymous" readers of the blog in the Tandoori Restaurant blog. He mentioned that the food here was similar to Tandoori, but the prices were slightly lower. Now that sounds good to me!

When we got to the restaurant, we discovered that both restaurants were actually under the same ownership! A quick glance at the prices confirmed that the prices in general are around 20% less. The butter chicken costs $12.50 here compared to $15 at Tandoori. Could it be that I could get the same standard food at Tandoori at a 20-30% discount?


Keema Kulcha $4.50

The Keema Kulcha (Naan with minced mutton) was the first to arrive and the sight of the Naan gave us a very good first impression. The Naan bread was soft and chewy, the way it should be. The flavour of the mutton keema was good, though it was quite mild and did not have a strong spicy mutton flavour. You'd be disappointed if you were expecting it to be like a murtabak. 4/5 However, it was great when dipped in the mild, creamy butter chicken gravy. The butter chicken was very good. Mild, creamy and very tasty, it was different from the one at Tandoori, but just as good with the Naan bread. Hard pressed to say which one I prefer. 4.5/5

The plain Naan was a big disappointment, instead of being soft and chewy like the Keema Kulcha, they were stretched too thin and so were hard and un-pliable. Not good, not good. 3/5


Keema Mattar $11

The Keema Mattar here is quite good though again it was a bit on the mild side. Not for those who like their fiery, but for me it was quite good. 4/5


Paneer Tikka $8

At last we come to the Paneer Tikka which is currently my favourite Tandoori dish. I got hooked on this after my visit to Tandoori Restaurant and have been trying to find a cheaper version which is equally shiok. Unfortunately this wasn't it. I was expecting the Paneer to have the same creamy quality as the other side, but it was flat and the tikka seasoning did not have that ooomph. 3/5

Conclusion

Overall, a mixed review. Some stuff were really good, some bombed out. If I were craving for really good Naan, I think I will stick to Tandoori. But if budget is a factor, then this place does serve pretty decent North Indian food at reasonable prices.

Sitara Restaurant
291 Serangoon Road
#01-01 Serangoon Building
(Opp Mustafa's)
62913211

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Al Ameen Eating House: 24 hour Naan Satisfaction

With Chicken Rice Man and Food Guru

Butter Chicken $6 and Palak Paneer $6

I have been trying to find a cheaper alternative to Tandoori Restaurant since I ate there last month. A fresh chewy naan with smooth and creamy butter chicken is one of my top 5 eats! But the $15 butter chicken over at Tandoori is not something that I can eat every week, delicious as it is. I needed to find a satisfying meal for less than $10.


Chicken Tikka $6

This place is one of the eating haunts of Ninja Hello Kitty, so it must be of a certain standard, although he did warn me that the standards have dropped a little since he blogged it. And it is one of the few places I can find Naan after 10pm in the evening. So I made the 30 min journey to the West to try it.

The butter chicken was delicious AND quite good value. At $6 per bowl, it was almost one third the price at Tandoori but good enough that I would eat it again. It is less creamy but nontheless still rich enough and was strong on the tomato paste. 4.25/5 The Palak Paneer (Pureed Spinach with Cottage Cheese) was however quite dissappointing. The cottage cheese was tasteless and hard and the gravy was only colour with little ooomph. 3/5

The chicken tikka was impressive on display but not very good in the mouth. It was a bit dry when it should have been oozing with juices if it was freshly grilled from the raw state rather than being double grilled. 3/5


Cheese Naan $2.50

The Naans on the other hand really saved the day. The cheese and plain Naans were excellent. Chewy, fresh and fragrant it was as good a Naan as any. And the best thing was it is only $2.50 for the Cheese and $1 for the plain, which means I can have 2 or 3 without having to break a $10 note! 4.5/5



Conclusion

Great place to eat but you must order the right stuff. I would go back and order the Naans and the Butter Chicken and maybe try some other stuff. For around one third the price of eating at Tandoori Restaurant, I can get 80% of the satisfaction. For me that means I eat here every month and eat at the restaurant twice a year!

Al-Ameen Eating House
No. 2,3,4 Cheong Chin Nam road
Opposite Beauty World Centre
64621996
Open 24 hours

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Tandoori Restaurant: There is Naan like you!

With liverpool and iwatch_ueat


In my quest to find the ultimate Briyani in Singapore, I was recommended this restaurant which sells a $11.50 Lamb Dum Briyani which I alluded to in my Hamid's Briyani post. So I have been plotting to try this since before the CNY break. Before I get to the Briyani, let me just highlight some of the other really good stuff here.

I really enjoyed the Paneer Tikka (Cottage Cheese). They use a very special cottage cheese imported from India and there is a marked difference in the texture. You might be wondering why it had to be imported from India? It turns out that this cheese is made from fresh milk straight from the cow and and it is a noticeable difference. The cheese is firm on the outside but soft, crumbly and creamy on the inside. One of the best version of Paneer Tikka I have tasted. $12.90 4.25/5



Butter Chicken is to North Indian cuisine what Har Kow/Siew Mai is to Tim Sum.... for me at least. I never fail to order Butter Chicken with Naan bread when eating at a Tandoori Restaurant. So far I have found that Butter Chicken in Singapore tends to be very spicy. I have never eaten this in India so I don't know what the Gold Standard is. In Australia, Butter Chicken is mild and creamy so I always thought it catered to the Ang Moh taste. The version here is more akin to what I used to eat in Australia and I was told by Restaurant owner, Ceejay, that it is more like what they serve in India than what you usually find in Singapore.

I loved the butter chicken here. It was rich and creamy and dipping a piece of fresh Naan into the sauce is definitely one of my top 10 favourites eats of all time! $15 4.5/5



This picture is for those who are wondering what the inside of the Tandoor (Clay Oven) looks like. After the dough is flattened, it is stuck to the side of the Tandoor and within 2-3 minutes it is ready to eat. The concept of the Tandoor is really a very similar to the oven that Fatty Cheong uses to cook his CharSiew. Charcoal is placed at the bottom of the Tandoor which is essentially a big Clay Urn. However, it is not so simple to get a good Tandoor. A good Tandoor is made from a special Clay that is only found on the banks of a particular river in the Northern part of India (where the cuisine originated from).

The Naans here are very good. Especially good is the Cheese Naan which is stuffed with a mixture of cottage and mozarella cheese. My only complaint is that at $5+ per Cheese Naan, it was hard for me to eat till I was completely satisfied. 4.5/5



We finally come to the Briyani. It was very good but as I had alluded to earlier, it would take a lot for a $11.50 Briyani to beat Hamid's Briyani in terms of "per dollar shiokness". Most of the cost for the Briyani is on the lamb rather than the rice. Unlike Hamid's, this is a Dum Briyani which means that the lamb is cooked together with the rice. The lamb was very tender as they use the meat around the rib area. $11.50+ 4/5

Conclusion

I loved the Naan, Paneer Tikka and Butter Chicken and would definitely be back to eat that. The Briyani I am not so enthusiatic about since I can get more satisfaction out of a $2.50 Briyani at Hamid's. To be fair this is an air-con restaurant, so the prices are higher. However, at $15+ for a small bowl of butter chicken, one's craving to satisfy the palette is limited by the restraining hand of one's wallet.

8/10 (T3.5+V1.5+S2+E1)

Note:
$11.50+ means you need to add an additional service charge of 10% so price of the Briyani is actually $12.65

Tandoori Restaurant
320, Serangoon Road #01-26/27/28
62942232, 62936072
Ceejay Singh 96721090
8am -11am Indian Buffet Breakfast $5 per head
11am-11.30pm daily for ala-carte meals

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