VEE VILAS: SOUTH INDIAN CUISINE

If you remember, The Makan Post did a few episodes on North Indian Cuisine, and there was also an episode on a restaurant that offered North and South Indian cuisines. Today, we are about to adventure to a restaurant which is fairly new in Kuching, offering South Indian Cuisine. Located not so far away from Kuching town, it’s Vee Vilas Restaurant.

This was quite an interesting restaurant, as it is located at a single storey house with a large compound near the main road and is actually where the old Indonesian Embassy was located at many years ago. As we opened the wooden doors at their humble entrance, their waitors warmly welcomed us into their restaurant.

Vee, the owner of the restaurant was friendly and enjoyed telling us about her restaurant. She explained that the word Vilas actually means ‘house of food’ in Indian, to which led her to name this restaurant as Vee Vilas. There are many ingredients and food products imported from India at this restaurant such as the candies, also known as Barfi, cow’s milk in which gets sold out rather quickly everyday, and spices. Thus, customers can get to enjoy the authenticity of their dishes without having to hop on a plane.

They have a wide variety of Barfi here, each for RM3. We went with the 2 most popular ones, which is the Jalebi and Gulab Jamun.

The Jalebi was my favourite one as it was crispy and so fragrant with the aroma of the ghee used. It’s warm and melts in your mouth upon eating. It had a bit of spice to it which made it taste interesting. The Gulab Jamun had a more soft texture to it and crumbles upon eating it. It also had a nice sweet spice to it.

Lassi is always a must have in every Indian restaurant, so we ordered a usual favourite which is the mango lassi, and a very interesting lassi offered in their menu which is the bittergourd lassi. We also got just the plain lassi, just to try its original taste. Lassi here is also homemade, so their lassi here is really healthy. Their lassi had a nice yoghurt texture, with a fair amount of tartness to it. It wasn’t that sweet either but tasted really fresh. The mango lassi was smooth and rich from the mangoes and this is actually one of the thickest lassi I have ever tried. This is a must try if you’re into lassi. Next is the most interesting one, the bittergourd lassi. As I took a first glance before sipping it, I expected it to have a slight bitterness to it and maybe a bit sweet once mixed in with the lassi. When I drank it, to my surprise, it did not have any trace of bitterness at all. It just felt like a pure healthy vege drink which was creamy and tart from the yoghurt. You couldn’t taste the bittergourd at all in this drink. They did a really good job in making healthy drinks taste this good. Definitely a must try. You can also order their lassi drinks here without sugar.

They offered many types of masalas here in their menu, both dry and with gravy with chicken, mutton, prawn and even crab. We decided to try their prawn masala which was a dry one with a slight gravy coating the prawns. The prawns were fresh and the gravy that was coating it was full of flavour from the spices used and the dried chillies gave a nice saltiness and spiciness to it.

They also have thosai, paratha and banana leaf rice which was their specialty.

There’s the banana leaf original and banana leaf briyani. Their briyani one was served with briyani rice and their original one was served with plain basmathi rice. Their briyani rice changes everyday and today we got the fruit one. We ordered one banana leaf basmathi and one banana leaf briyani. The sides in each are the same. We were served with sides such as cabbage, cucumber, long beans kangkung, and also with saucers of dahl, mutton curry, chicken curry and a sour and spicy soup. Not forgetting the papadam, a small slice of dessert, and a saucer of sweet dessert gravy made from cow’s milk.

All of these are refillable, including the rice. Each of them tasted delicious and my favourite was the mutton curry. It was spicy and savoury, rich with the flavours from the mutton. We were also wondering why their dishes were not overly spicy as we knew that South Indian cuisines are known for their high spiciness level compared to North Indian cuisines and Vee said that here at their restaurant, they actually toned the spiciness level down to cater to Kuchingites so that everyone can enjoy their food. She also explained when eating banana leaf rice, it all lies down to one’s skill in using his or her hands to mix everything well with the rice so that the flavours of the spices used comes out nicely and gets incoorperated well together before putting it into the mouth.

They also sell packed Murukku, a type of Indian snack, as well as some other snacks at the counter.

If you’re interested in tasting authentic Indian cuisine, Vee Vilas is a definite must try. Their prices are really reasonable as well, and food here is indeed wonderful.

Vee Vilas opens daily from 8am to 10pm.

Vee Vilas

No 111,

Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg,

93000 Kuching, Malaysia

Phone: 014-697 7293

You can also visit them at their facebook page: www.facebook.com/VeeVilasKuching

This is Jolynn signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more.

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