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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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

BOMBAY SPICES: NORTH INDIAN CUISINE

Previously on The Makan Post, we made a visit to Lyn's Thandoori to try out some delicious North Indian cuisine. This week, we're about to have a take on the same type of cuisine at a different place.

Bombay Spices has opened 2 of its branches in the city of Kuching, one at Rubber Road and the other at King Centre both of which are air-conditioned and have a pretty good ambience with a reasonable price, nothing too fancy. Today we're headed to the branch at King Centre to taste more North Indian cuisine and delicious naans.

The mango lassi, which was always a definite must to try in Indian restaurants, was fresh and smooth, though I found it was a bit lacking of sweetness. It had more of a tangy taste to it.

The naan and roti was delicious, served hot and fresh from the thandoor. It was stretchy but still soft and fluffy on the inside. It had a fragrant aroma when eaten and had nothing too overpowering, making it great as a compliment for masalas and curries.

One interesting and common masala dish is the spinach cheese masala. Basically it's made with shredded spinach leaves, cooked together with indian cheese known as Paneer, a type of cheese in which will not melt and will remain in its form when cooked. Usually, this colour of this dish would be dark green due to the spinach, but this dish here had a curry red colour to it.

U could taste the fluffy chewy cheese cooked perfectly, and the spinach was soft, and not too much to the point where everything becomes mushy. I like that it had more of a curry flavour to it so the flavour of the spinach did not overpower the whole dish. In most cases, this dish in which is usually dark green, would tend to have more of an overpowering spinach taste to it. In such cases if the spinach was not done right, it would have been a total disaster. This was just right.

The kaju gobi, known as the cauliflower and cashew nut masala was wonderful as well. The flavour of the gravy was delicious and had a nutty taste to it. The cauliflower still retained its crisp and freshness.

Next was the fish curry. The gravy had more of a sour taste to it along with the spices and a good amount of heat used. Fish fillets were used in this dish. I am suspecting it was dory fish used, but I think it was alright as this fish curry came with a low price. Overall, not a bad fish curry.

A side of freshly chopped cucumbers, carrots, onions and radish was also served as a compliment for our meal. The flavours were very light, it was only dressed with basic seasoning and a squeeze of lemon. A great refreshment for the meal.



Bombay Spices is a great place to try North Indian Cuisine when you're not looking for something too fancy. Decent food with decent, reasonable price and a pretty good ambience.




Bombay Spices

Lot 7894, Sublot 73,
Block B, Queen's Court,
Jalan Wan Alwi,
93350 Kuching,
Sarawak.


(Rubber Road Branch)
Lot 6 No. 10G, 
Lorong 4,
Jalan Nanas,
93400 Kuching,
Sarawak.

For exact opening hours and reservations, contact 016 8563142









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

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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

LYN'S THANDOORI: INDIAN CUISINE

North Indian cuisine is a special delicacy for many in Kuching. Especially those that are more to fine dining concept. Just the thought of fresh hot naan with curries, gravy and dishes to go with it makes you crave for it. Here in Kuching, we have a few restaurants, offering fine north Indian cuisine, but of course, more towards the pricey side. One of them in which we will be talking about today, is none other than Lyn's Thandoori, located in the town area.

I have been eating north Indian cuisine here for quite some time, ever since i was still schooling. You could say I am their regular customer. This place is owned by a family, and the father of the family knows his regular customers well, and their order preferences too. He would also go around each table starting a conversation between his customers. Definitely something in which welcomes customers and considered as giving real good service too.

They started off by serving us a basket of papadam, accompanied with mango  chutney and freshly made mint gravy before the rest of the orders arrived.

These are all refillable upon request and yes, you can have as much papadam as you like.

Lassi, though always served as a dessert, was what we ordered here as a drink.

This has always been my favourite drink whenever dining here. Lassi is a yogurt based drink, blended with spices or fruits. Lassi also comes in a savoury form back in the traditional days and can also be found in their menu here too. Here we have 2 lassis, one which is a mango lassi and the other, banana lassi. Their mango lassi was rich and creamy, full of mango flavour and bits in it. It was not too sweet either, and serves as a nice compliment to your meal, or as a dessert after. The banana lassi too, gave the same experience in the taste buds. Both are just wonderful.

We ordered garlic butter naan. When it was brought to the table, you could already smell its buttery aroma. It had a nice crispy outer layer to it due to its cooking method in a tandoor, which is just what u want. The naan had a chewy and light texture to it which allows one to enjoy it with the other more stronger flavours from curries and dishes. The taste and flavour of the garlic was evident, but did not overpower the whole naan with a strong garlic taste.

Not forgetting our basmathi rice, to go with the piping hot curry. The basmathi rice was done perfectly and when tossed, the grains fell separately, none sticking to each other. It was fragrant as well and accompanied the other dishes perfectly.

Kaju Gobi is one of my usual dishes ordered here. It's basically cauliflower and cashew nuts in a rich masala gravy. Though the Kaju Gobi did not bring a sting to the tongue, the spice in it brings out a nice flavour. The cauliflower was cooked al dente, and the cashew nuts still had their crunch to it.

Butter chicken masala is also one interesting dish, more towards a curry, incorporating the usual spices found inside curry and the rich and creamy texture of butter.  The chicken was tender and moist, absorbing all the flavours from the masala. The gravy was delicious and was more towards the spicy side. The butter helped to balance out the spiciness of this dish.

The highlight was the fish curry. Here they have many different selections of fish masalas and curry. The one we decided to try was this one (shown above). This dish was packed full of flavour from the spices and chillies, and left the fish tender, coated with a rich layer of gravy. The fish was flaky and had all the flavours from the gravy of the curry in it. It was a perfect combination with the spices used in the gravy.

This was my favourite dish among the rest so it's definitely a must try.




One thing's for sure, Lyn's Thandoori offers great quality food and service. The next time you feel like having North Indian cuisine, fine dining style, give this place a try.

Lyn's thandoori opens daily, with the following times:

Monday to Saturday: 10am to 10pm
Sunday: 6pm to 10pm

Contact no: 082-234934


Adress:

Lyn's Thandoori
7, Lot 267, 
Jalan Song Thian Cheok, 
93100, Kuching, 
Sarawak, Malaysia.


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

The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

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