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Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant – Chicken Masala Shiokness!

Rating:

By Veron Ang

In my continual quest for good thosai, I found myself at Little India again. Armed with the brand new knowledge of another Indian eatery to check out, I made a trip to Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant.

I got curious about these cute-looking hollow breads after seeing people eating them on two separate occasions. My friend simply calls them “the two bombs”. Eventually we learned the proper name, “poori”.

Poori

Poori
S$2.40
Rating:

The poori was served with two vegetarian sides — chickpeas and curried potato. I’m not a fan of chickpeas (or any kind of peas for that matter) but I loved the curried potato! Do they use some special breed of potatoes for this? It certainly looks very yellow and very fresh!

As the poori is just a thin layer of wheat and completely hollow on the inside, it started deflating shortly after it was served. This doesn’t affect the taste of the food, but food bloggers and photographers may want to take note.

Teh Tarik

Teh Tarik (“Pulled” Tea)
S$0.80
Rating:

What’s Indian food without some good ol’ teh tarik (“pulled” tea)? The one over here tasted only average. The froth layer was a tad thin too. Having had the awesome teh tarik at Sri Vijaya Restaurant previously, probably anything else would always fall short!

Game to try a different kind of thosai, I skimmed through the menu and found something with an unfamiliar-sounding name — rava thosai. A quick check with the staff revealed that this had a green chilli and onion filling. Sounds good to me!

Rava Thosai

Rava Thosai
S$1.70
Rating:

The thosai came folded neatly and had multiple holes on the surface. I found the green sliced chilli and onion to be severely lacking or else this would have made for a much more flavourful dish. As usual, it was served with different types of gravies. As usual, my favourite was the orange-coloured coconut chutney.

Various Indian gravies

The Indian staff would gladly scoop more gravy onto your plate when any of it runs out. For me, it really completes the entire Indian dining experience!

Various Indian gravies

I just needed to get some pictures of these metal buckets of gravies!

Chicken Masala

Chicken Masala
S$3
Rating:

And now, we get to the best part — chicken masala! For $3, you get a juicy chicken drumstick with lots and lots of fiery-red gravy! That gravy was practically bursting with flavour! It was rather spicy (it had all sorts of Indian spices) too and went extremely well with both the poori and thosai. Heck, with a gravy that thick and tasting that good, it would go well with anything!

This one is a must-try!

Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant

Like Sri Vijaya, sri kamala vilas (not to be confused with the more famous and similar-sounding komala vilas restaurant) is a no-frills coffeeshop too. No air-conditioning, fairly large place with ample seating. It is tucked at the foot of a HDB block beside tekka market, along buffalo road.

I know I had visited sri kamala vilas to try out the thosai. As it turned out the thosai wasn’t exactly worth making a special trip for. But at the end of the day, the chicken masala really made it all worthwhile!

Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant
662 Buffalo Road #01-16
Singapore 210662
Tel: +65 6291 1164

Tags: casual, dinner, Indian, Little India, lunch, teh tarik, thosai

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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July 2007 – Post Highlights

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Responses Leave a comment

Miccheng
90 comments

Yes, eaten here before. Its very nice. Did u try eating with your hands?
Reply
Posted July 30, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Veron
3438 comments

Nope. It did cross my mind though. But I just can’t get used to the idea of eating an entire meal using my bare hands alone!
Reply
Posted July 30, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Daphne Maia
22 comments

argh! i wrote a long msg and it disappeared. ok. start over.
the last few makan places u reviewed were all indian restaurants!! are u on an indian-food-only-diet? haha..
2 sundays ago i went to an indian restaurant too, at little india. but i dont remember what place it is now. uhh. so much for “blogger”, huh? haha.
btw how come u dint go for the MCC gathering last saturday? :( was hoping to see u there.
Reply
Posted July 30, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Veron
3438 comments

Haha I’m on an Indian food craze! It’s not only the taste that appeals to me, but the overall feeling I get when eating Indian food. I don’t think I can ever get sick of it.
Oh I meant to go for the gathering! But it was raining the whole afternoon and by the time the rain stopped, I had to head off to some other place! Saw the pictures of Miss Clarity Cafe on Claudia’s blog though. Very nice :)
Reply
Posted July 30, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Glenn
4 comments

Hey Veron,
If you’re going upmarket a little, go over to these 3 Indian restaurants that I’ve visited over the past 3 weekends.
(a) Indian Restaurant @ Hotel New Otani (Liang Court), Level 5 or 6.
(b) Song of India (My parents treated me on this one, but let me tell you, the ambiance and food is fantastic.)
(c) Indian Restaurant @ Holiday Day Inn Parkview. Basement. Ask them for the 1-for-1 coupons. They usually give us. Go for the weekend buffet.
Sidenote: Have you received my emails? Was hoping to get a reply from you.
Reply
Posted July 30, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Jayson
44 comments

Wow, that masala chicken sure looks appetizing and sumptuous!
this reminds me of a indian coffeeshop along middle road …
i didn’t took note of the stall name but, it’s beside Cheers convenience store.
They serve addictive masala chicken beryani!
i keep going back there for more …
Reply
Posted July 31, 2007 at 1:38 am
Sachiko_ant
1 comment

Thank you so much
Reply
Posted July 31, 2007 at 1:49 am
andy
13 comments

Interesting, i will be eating loads of indian food from thurs onwards…3months in india to be exact! Also, a BIG Joyous Happy Birthday 1 day in advance! May your life be as spicy and flavourful as all the indian food u love!
Reply
Posted July 31, 2007 at 2:11 am
Veron
3438 comments

Glenn: Out of these 3 I have visited the one at Holiday Day Inn Parkview. My ex-boss brought me there. He’s a native Indian so he can tell where all the good Indian food are! I have been pretty curious about Song of India so I might give it a try. Thanks!
Jayson: Masala chicken bryani sounds shiok! Bring me there next time!
andy: My gawd. 3 months in India! You’re like living my heaven!
Thanks for the birthday wishes! I don’t think there’s ever been a year (since we met) that you’ve forgotten :)
Reply
Posted July 31, 2007 at 9:00 am
lorewang
15 comments

i like the thosai and ‘teh tarik’ you have mentioned. For the thosai, especially the potatoes and their cravy. Yummy!
Reply
Posted July 31, 2007 at 9:06 am
wenniee
11 comments

really make me so hungry!!
din eat Indian food for years..argh…
miss the food!!…yummy….
Reply
Posted July 31, 2007 at 10:05 am
Sicarii
3 comments

Back in Army, I was always at their ‘cousin’ Komala Vilas at least twice a week due to the fact that most of my mates then were Sikh and Indians and we love the cheap and good food.
That was about 17 years or so ago though, haven’t been there recently.
Reply
Posted August 5, 2007 at 6:17 pm
sim
2 comments

Yes, I’ve tried very good but recently I have tried another indian restaurant called Queen’s Tandoor at Unity Street quite unusal, got chinese Indonesian type of food and off course the indian food too. Must try
Reply
Posted August 7, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Veron
3438 comments

Wow, guess what? I love Indonesian food AND Indian food! This sure looks like one promising place to check out! Thanks!
Reply
Posted August 7, 2007 at 11:06 pm
sim
2 comments

That’s nice to know that you enjoy indian food. So have you gone there yet.
Reply
Posted August 30, 2007 at 8:30 pm
divi
1 comment

I have visited this Sri kamala Vilas restuarant so many times. And, the chicken masala is impeccable.
I would strongly recomend this restuarant for its TASTE, AMBIENCE ,QUALITY AND THE QUANTITY(MUCH MUCH MORE THAN OTHER SHOPS). Y SHOULD WE MISS SO MUCH OF FOOD (QUALITY AND DELICIOUS) THAT TOO IN LESS DOLLARS.:)
Reply
Posted March 15, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Risitas
1 comment

I think in the same way like you. I cannot eat the entire food with my hands. I do need to use for sure my spoon or fork. And let me tell you something. I had try it eating with my hands specially the liquid ones like the daal recipes, but I cannot get use to it because I do not like it.
Reply
Posted July 19, 2010 at 2:41 am