I got to know about this Indian eatery through Executive Chef Greg Bess of Spago and CUT at MBS. He had been taken here by one of the long-time chefs on his team - Chef Yash who’s originally from Mumbai.
Situated right smack in Singapore’s Little India, “Handi” looks rather nondescript but the one thing I noticed right away was that ALL of their customers were Indians. I couldn’t tell for sure if they were foreigners or locals but there was not a single tourist in sight - and to me, that’s a good thing. The feeling I got was that this was a place for “everyday food” so there wasn’t anything fancy or jazzed up to attract the tourist dollar. Heck, from the menu to the walls, not one photo of what they serve exists. I guess they cater to people who already know what their food is about. But that is not to say we weren’t made to feel welcome in any way. In fact, the tall gentleman manning the counter where the dishes were on display, was very nice and patient with us. He answered my many questions before suggesting we get the Set Meal.
Priced at $15 each, they were huge as you can tell from the above image. Each set came with a choice of meat and a vegetable. Since variety was what we were after, I picked the Curry Fish for myself and Butter Chicken for T.H., and the Dhal (which is the default) and the Sambar. These were ladled onto trays which were then loaded with basmati rice, roti, chutney, fresh tomatoes and cucumber, as well as a sweet ending of Gulab Jamun.
The food was very good. For me, it was apparent with my first slurp of the Sambar which was thick, fragrant and complex in flavour. The Butter Chicken, a dish that has easily fallen into blandness and/or overt creaminess in my experience, was spot on. But it was the Curry Fish that truly wow-ed us. It‘s unlike any fish curry I’ve had, and despite my probing questions, I couldn’t get more information about it. One thing’s for sure, it’s the biggest reason we would revisit Handi. That, and to try the other items on their text-only menu.