I got a bit of a shock when I came in to HGW & realized that no more than mere 3 reviews had been written on Karu's.

Ladies & gentlemen, here's a gem we've all been missing.

Karu's Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant is some serious tasty. But let's not get carried away by my after-meal curry high.

It was a Friday night & so since I was craving some good Indian fare, I picked Karu's, after picking up from random places that they're pretty decent. Brought my partner, he'd never been there either. But when we stepped into the unpretentious diner's along upper Bukit Timah around half past 6, the aromas within the chilly air-conditioned restaurant hit us instantly. Hard. Ravenous, we were.

No harsh-rush dinner crowd at that time on a Friday night. (!) Check. We sat down & instead of plates, we were quickly given a large banana leaf each, authentic touch, like how they do it at BL Apollo as well. The Veg White Rice Appalm set costs $2.80 per pax. This means that for that price, one will enjoy a free flow of white rice, poppadom (or appalam) as well as side veggies, hot from the crock. Very yummy. Also, the guys go around to drench your rice with either Chicken/Fish curry every now & then. The fish curry is delicious & has a distinct, addictive Assam kick.

For our dishes, we ordered a Chicken Masala ($4.00), a Fish Curry ($3.20), 2 Fish Cutlets ($2.40) & an Onion Omelette ($2.00). The chicken masala had a winning .. paste & taste. Redolent of onions, the masala sauce went very well with the chicken which was neither tough nor lacking. The fish curry, I felt, was excellent. Curry leaves along with the indian spice family were swimming in the gravy & it was this irresistable vermillion colour. Really great with the rice & the poppadom. Had we not been so stuffed at the end, I'm very sure the prata on the menu would have gone perfectly with the fish curry as well. (Note to self: Return soon.)

When it comes down to it really, Karu's is an authentic indian restaurant that is wonderful for large groups, families or just a small-sized affair. The service is attentive & the food outright tasty. We had a Mango Lassi ($3.30) to wash down the sin at the end of it all & our lovely dinner was complete.

It's opposite MinDef & there is a bus stop right outside the restaurant with buses like 171, 170, 961 etc. Might be a little far off for the average heartlander but hey, die, die, Karu's must try (: