Established in 2006, Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar was first opened in Sentosa's Palawan Beach, serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine to tourists and local beachgoers. Its reputation gradually grew, garnering high approval rating among Indian visitors to Singapore, who were impressed with the quality and authenticity of their food.
And after multiple relocations within the Sentosa due to the island's redevelopment plans over the years, came 2020 with one of the worst challenges the F&B industry had to face, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. And Samundar, having suffered more acutely due to its heavily tourists-reliant location, recognised the need to reestablish itself on the mainland.
And now, they've found a new location at Purvis Street and the refreshed Samundar now offers fusion-style Indian cuisine to cater to a modern, well-travelled market while still dedicated to the true essence of North Indian Cuisine, offering lunch, teatime treats, dinner and happy hour drinks.
And before moving on to their food, can I first take a few seconds words to say, I LOVE THEIR CHAIRS TO BITS?
Grand Thali Set (Non-Vegetarian) - $45
For just $45, you'll get a plethora of food served to your table, so much so that I reckon it's so much easier for me to show you a snapshot of the set menu instead.
This set is definitely good for sharing, unless you have an exceptionally hearty appetite.
And even though I personally love Chicken Tikka, I decided to try the Tandoori Scallops instead, as suggested by their staff, because Butter Chicken & Chicken Tikka might end up as a chicken overkill.
First up, the starters consist of Pani Puri, Tandoori Paneer Tika, Kueh Pie Tie (with tandoori chicken) and Masala Papadum.
It was my very first taste of Pani Puri and I LOVE IT! A little hard to eat though, as you gotta stuff the entire shell into your mouth quickly after pouring/drenching your shell with the pani water. But love the ultimate crunch of the shell (along with whatever deep fried goodness stuffed inside), complemented by the lovely sourness of the pani water. YUMS.
The menu state that the set is served with Jeera rice, but mine came with Briyani rice instead. Not that I'm complaining though, this is definitely a more-than-pleasant upgrade. HAHA!
First up, the soup was so good! Dal Shorba, which is a healthy and light soup made from yellow moong dal and flavoured with ginger and pepper powder. Super flavourful with a slightly spicy kick. Both the HB and I enjoyed it. Well, other than the Raita (yogurt with herbs and vegetables... meh, not a fan, sorry!), I've enjoyed every single morsel of food served on this platter (well, not including the raw onion, lime and green chili of course!) because everything is just so flavourful! I even polished off the entire serving of the Bhindi Marsala even though I'm an okra-hater.
The two pieces of tandoori scallops, although seemingly rather underwhelming, was also well flavoured and remains succulent and juicy on the inside.
My other teeny weeny complaint (if I must, other than the Raita) is that I'll very much prefer the Dal Darka (yellow lentils served in the lunch set) over the Dal Makhani (black lentils), as the flavour of the latter was a lot stronger and more pungent in comparison.
There's a total of 4 different desserts to choose from, and I randomly picked the Gulab Jamun, which is flour dumpling drenched in a sweet syrup, served alongside some fruits and ice cream.
Ehh, too sweet. Wayyyyyyy too sweet.
But having worked in the construction industry for almost 10 years, and constantly being gifted various Indian sweets by my Indian colleagues when they return to work after their long leaves, I jolly well know that any Indian dessert is gonna be darn sweet and I was fully prepared for it. HAHA!
Oh, and I got to say that I love the marsala tea too! HB is not a fan (of having marsala in his tea), but this is right up my alley. It was a delicate balance of the sweetness of cinnamon, subtle spiciness of the marsala and a barely there bitterness of the strong tea that makes you just wanna keep sipping at it. But I was quite shock when the staff suddenly came to my table with a couple sachets of sugar, saying that there's no sugar added in the tea.
Was it solely due to the cinnamon? Without any added sugar, the tea tasted just like a standard sweetened tea! I can't imagine anybody adding anymore sugar to it!
Lunch Thali Set - $17.90
available only on weekdays (excluding PHs), 11:30am - 2:30pm
Well, if you're dropping by for lunch, alone, on a weekday, this Lunch Thali set will be a perfect downsized alternative for you. And as mentioned above, I'll very much prefer the Dal Darka served in this set, compared to the Dal Makhani served in the Grand Thali set. I basically covered every inch of my naan bites with it and wiped the bowl clean. HAHA!
And after we're done with our meals, we were served with a shot of lemonade and a bottle of "soft" (as told by their Indian server) as our breath freshener.
Once again, the HB is not a fan, but these tasted nearly just like mints to me, which was rather pleasant.
Disclaimer: This was a food tasting invite from Samundar, but the food review is my honest opinions. I was not paid to write this blog post review, nor in any way obliged to.
Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar is now located at 7 Purvis Street.
For more information & table reservations, visit their website HERE
0 comments:
Post a Comment