Cost of lunch or dinner in Singapore ?

I have been thinking about writing a detailed post on many things. But somehow I thought lets start with something simple to share with everybody. Specially with my Indian friends as they are my top readers in last one month!.

If you are looking for Indian food for lunch or dinner in Singapore, they are ample choices available Island Wide(pretty word used by all business people!). So whether you are a tourist or person living here, finding Indian food is not tough. Most of the places near offices are there, you will find some food court(A place where all food stalls are located) which serves Indian or Indian type(whats that?!) food. Keep looking for names like Komala's, Jaggi's, Sarvana Bhavan, Pangaat or similar sounding Indian name!.

Also look for Indian Muslim Shops who offer Roti Prata!. This is something Unique to Singapore and many people like it.

Now time for the cost. The cost of the food is depending on where you eat. Most of the places the South Indian dishes cost around $5 to $8 depends on what you eat. A simple south indian meal which has Rice, Daal(Some call it Dhaal in Singapore!), Veg Curry, Chapati and some Indian pickle will cost you around $6+ at Komala's or Sarvana Bhavan. If you are looking for North Indian food, I have tried Jaggi's at 2-3 outlets and food is always good and consistent in quality.If you are fond of some sweets you can get Gulab Jamun for $1 or $3 depends on quantity!. You like Aloo Paratha or some other stuff paratha, you get that too!. You can order Paratha Set which consists of 2 stuff paratha's, one curry, yoghurt and some pickle for $6 or $7.

All the costs which I gave above are for the food stalls you see in Food courts or typical Indian food places. Most of the time you will be fine with less than $10 bill for Indian Food. If you are paying more than $20 for Indian Food in Singapore either you are in some mall like Vivo City or at Orchard where the ambiance is what making the food costly!. So decide what you want ..Self-Service Food Stall with good food or leisurely dinner at Orchard Road or Boat Quay!

About western food it is around $8-$10 depending on area. I have been to couple of Mexican places were it would cost around $20+ per person.

Now which is the best place to eat Indian Food for dinner ?

My favorites are :

• Anjappar at Race Course Lane, Little India
  
• Bombay Cafe @ Suntec
  
• Jaggi's @ Tanjong Pagar Complex
• Chutney @ Orchard Road
• Rang Mahal @ Pan Pacific - btw the lunch buffet here costs only $40! - I would recommend as you are getting authentic Indian Food with 5* ambiance here.
  

My favorite place for eating South Indian food is Murugan Idli Shop @ Syed Alwi Road.

Some Tips

• Ask your friend to recommend you a restuarant before heading for a 30-45 minute commute to have a great dinner!
• Expensive food is not necessarily will be having great quality
• Do not compare taste which you still have in memory from India!...unles you are in Rang Mahal @ Pan Pacific!
• Generally there is no Tipping in Singapore as most of the restuarants will add the service charge in the bill. If you still like the food you are most welcome !
• Avoid going to Food Courts late in the night(Food do not taste that fresh) or at peak times(12-1pm) in the afternoon. You will be spending most of the time in finding place for sitting!

Hope this helps!

cheers

Sandeep

Indian Restaurant Singapore : Annalakshmi

Location :
133, New Bridge Road
#B1-02, Chinatown Point, Podium A
Singapore 059413
Exit E of Chinatown MRT

Website : http://www.annalakshmi.com.sg/

Indian vegetarian restaurant located at the basement of Chinatown Point. Featuring an impressive collection of both North and South Indian choices, interestingly all without prices, Annalakshmi group of restaurants is probably the first (and only) restaurant in Singapore that allows their patrons to pay any amount they wish for a meal in their premises.

Excellent vegetarian food!. I went to this place twice recently to have taste of their dishes. There is no fixed price for our dining menu at Annalakshmi. It is “Eat what you Want and Give as you Feel” concept.

This is the first time we went to a restaurant where patrons have to decide what they want to pay for the food.

We went to this restaurant(yes an actual restaurant & not a food court!) on sunday to have lunch. On Sunday they have buffet lunch with lots variety in daal, rice, chapati, roti, naan, curry's etc. You can order some Lassi if you like too!. I liked the food overall though I am not big fan buffet lunch anytime. The Ginger Lassi we had was excellent & is a must try. Also the Kheer we tried was also great!

Next time I went to this place to have South Indian Thali. This is the first time in Singapore I had a authentic South Indian Thali which was complete in all respect, including Hot Rassam, Rice, Pulao, Poori, Pickle, Papad, Saambhar, 2 Curry's and sweet dish ! ..


I am sure many people visiting this place are paying more than what they would generally pay for the same type of meal.

The best part of the service given by the staff(or volunteers I would say) there. It seems you can volunteer to work there too. As the proceedings from this restaurant goes to charity.

They have 2 food courts as well : checkout the website for more details.

Having some issues while uploading photos, will do later ...enjoy !

Indian food @ Changi Airport, Singapore

After long time had a taste of Indian Food at Changi Airport, Singapore !. I have been here many times & ate only at Kaveri at Terminal 2. This time things are changed at Terminal 1 and there is one Indian Restuarant here called "Mirchi". I am generally vary of any new restuarant which has a North Indian name & selling South Indian food :).

I gave it a try to Mirchi.

In my opinion if the restuarant cannot make Saambhar well which is essential part of South Indian Meal, then there is no point in trying other dishes :).

I could conclude that the food at Kaveri is much better than Mirchi. Also prices are all jacked up. For Idli plate they are charging $6.00, whereas same costs less than $3 in Singapore City...but this is everywhere ..on airports the stuff is always expensive !

enjoy !

Indian Restaurant Singapore : Raj Prime

Having been to the place 3 times in last 2 months, I think it is right time to write about it.

Location : 76 Syed Alwi Road near Mustafa

This is a typical Indian Restaurant in Singapore. Which serves North Indian & south Indian dishes too. I got reference about this restaurant in one of the excellent blog about food in Singapore : http://eatbma.blogspot.com/.

Overall the place is good for chat items(Papdi chat, raj kachori , paani puri etc ..) but for other dishes like Pav bhaji, north Indian dishes(I have not tried many though) I am not sure how good it would be ..I personally did not like the pav bhaaji, veg. cutlet at all. Also specially if you need to give any suggestion about the dish, busy evening is not a good time to talk to the manager about it :) One other thing is that sometime the dish is not served hot which is supposed to served hot ..e.g. pav bhaji !. While I find this problem in many Indian Restaurant's here, I like to eat Idli / dosa with Hot sambhar rather than having it served cold :(

If you are going on a weekend evening, then it is not the right place really as it really get crowded. Which is true for any restaurant though !!. About the service, they are quick but surely not good in serving with passion(which I have seen in some of other places ..specially at Khana Khazana in Hong Kong)

Though it is better than other usual places I have tried like Komala's(this is good for fast food like quick lunch, idli, dosa ..), Ananda Bhavan(same as Komala's) , it is certainly not a place where you want to go for a special occasion & expect a great food served to you !. I would still try this place few more times for chat items & write about it for the benefit of people who are searching for good Indian food in Singapore !.

btw till date I have not found a good Indian Restaurant in Singapore, which is reasonably priced & also serve authentic Indian Food ..may be I am expecting too much :)