Look to this elegant restaurant housed in Naumi Hotel for casual date nights over North Indian fare. Start with the delightful Bombay Pani Puri ($9) – a semolina snack that is best filled with sweet tamarind chutney for a sweet, savoury, and spicy explosion. On mains, the Kadai Prawn Masala ($32) and the generously portioned Punjabi Butter Chicken ($26) with tender chunks of chicken come highly recommended by the community. Pair that with their tasty Garlic or Butter Naans ($7) to complete the meal.
Photo by Burppler Jean Kao
Ambience at table restaurant was comfortable and posh! Staff recommended this dish - Bombay Pani Puri and it was rather interesting (both the flavours and ways of eating)! 6 of us shared 2 curries (chicken tikka was good!!!! Lamb curry wasn’t too strong as well which suited friends’ palates) & 2 bowls of balsamic rice and it was just enough for us :-)
Located on the ground floor of the boutique Naumi Hotel, Table by Rang Mahal is the comparatively affordable sister of Rang Mahal in Pan Pacific Hotel. Serving fine North Indian food in a relaxed yet elegant setting, this is just the spot for hosting business meals or even a romantic date. You must start with the fun Bombay Pani Puri ($9), a delicious semolina snack from the streets of Mumbai that you fill with sweet tamarind chutney and pop in your mouth. There are few places in Singapore that serve this street snack, so please don't miss it here! Then, have their fragrant Masaledar Chicken Biryani ($24) for a foolproof main. If you're coming by for lunch, their Executive Set Lunch ($20) is of very good value.
Avg Price: $40 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Michelle Kayla Tay
Located at the luxurious boutique Naumi Hotel, Table by Rang Mahal's setting is equally ritzy with the big modern lounge space, and the attentive amiable staff made the experience a tad more glamourous. The Butter Chicken was the highlight of the Tastemaker Eatup night - everyone was wowed by the rich, finger-licking good sauce. My personal favourite was the prawn curry - spicy, sweet with prawn essence... a bit on the salty end, so best eaten with naan or the lamb basmati rice. Also got to try Pani Puri (refer to other Burpplers' pictures) for the first time, never knew there was such a unique Indian snack which you get to fill a crusty semolina puff with spiced water and chutney. We played a game guessing the ingredients and spices that went into the Murgh Angar (similar to tandoori chicken) and masala tea, and some of the answers were really surprising and subtle-tasting - amazing how much thought can go into food preparation to seek that perfect flavour.
Unacquainted and uninitiated, I thought these holed puffs were some chic mod-Indian creation, until #BurppleTastemaker Jayne shared that this classic savoury snack (albeit a grimier version) can be found everywhere on the streets of Mumbai. She even taught us how to eat it correctly and deftly (I fumbled quite a bit).
Step 1: Fill the puri (semolina puffs) to the brim with pani (the scarily-green-but-highly-tasty chilled spice water).
Step 2: Add the mint & sweet tamarind chutneys to your liking.
Step 3: Pop it in and enjoy the burst of sweet, savoury, and spicy in your mouth. That cool, tingling sensation is a brilliant salve on a hot & humid day, and a delightful pick-me-up any other day.
Meal hosted by #TablebyRangMahal (@RangMahalRestaurants). Thank you for the warm hospitality!
The O List
Price Range: $40-$60
O for: Optimistic
What is popular here?
Lamb Biryani [$24.00++]
Exquisite basmati rice, infused strongly with saffron & paired well with tender lamb cubes.
Table's Pop [$11.00++]
Billed as a sugar-free popsicle made with fresh coconut & chia seeds, this signature dessert was alright, but not as impressive as other reviews made it out to be.
Bombay Pani Puri [$9.00++]
Think a complex, Indian Kueh Pai Tee. The assembly process involving sweet chutney, mint paste & spiced water makes for an interesting experience.
Chilli Cheese Kulzza [$10.00++]
A nice starter in the form of Flatbread stuffed with cheddar. Add Chilli salsa for a slow burn to turn up the heat...eventually.
Butter Chicken [$24.00++]
Delicious, plate-scraping goodness.
Price is a little steep though.
Naan [$5.00++]
Serviceable, but you can definitely find better naan elsewhere.
What should I try instead?
Butter Chicken [$6.00]
Upper Bukit Timah's Al-Azhar whips up a comparable Butter Chicken for a quarter of the price. Pity that the standard of their naan to mop it all up, is slipping.
This was a hosted Burpple meal, courtesy of Table by Rang Mahal.
Semolina puffs served with chilled spice water and two types of chutney; Sweet Tamarind and Minty Tamarind. Firstly, pour in the chilled spice water into the puffs, and then eat it with a dollop of either chutneys. The sweet chutney was my preferred choice for the sweetness that came after the spiced flavour, though the minty one gavel refreshing burst on flavours.
Filled with mildly sour tamarind chutney and chilled spiced water, these bite-sized semolina puffs succeeded in whetting my appetite for the following slew of hearty Indian dishes. On a sidenote, am so amused that they are served in an escargot dish.
