I love Indian food, but am not very good at the actual terminology to describe it, beyond saying that I would recommend Ivory to anyone looking for a good meal. The restaurant specialises in coastal Indian cuisine, which is a refreshing change from the usual Northern or Southern Indian restaurants. I liked the chicken chettinad and the malabar trio, although even the free pre-dinner munchies were quite yummy.

Service was good, I like how they serve dishes from each course at one go and make an effort to serve a portion of each dish neatly on your plate. They seemed a little thrown off when I walked in without a reservation (asking me at least four times to confirm the awful truth) but other than that it was fine.

There is also a UOB discount that is not reflected in the hungygowhere website.

If you've only tried North Indian or South Indian cousine so far, then Ivory Kitchen is the place you should try next time. It actually serves food from various coastal regions, which explains why I didn't recognise some items on the menu. The dishes are very rich in spices and I am surprised how different each curry can taste.

Let's start with Ambience.
The place is cosy, with dim lighting and tables nicely spaced out so you can still enjoy private conversations with friends. The decor is modern with light touches of Indian culture which gives a nice contemplrary feel. (Apparently, there is a small function room there, as my sister mentioned. Her company booked it for a lunch meeting with some clients.) I noticed there were lots of Caucasion and Indian dinners there.

Let's get on with food.
We were a table of 8, so we ordered quite a few dishes to share. For starters, we ordered-
Malabari Trio: a combo of grilled chicken, prawns and Lamb
Spicy Chicken
Pesawari Aloo: oven grilled potatoes
Southern Traditional Massam: a pineapple based soup

On the whole, the starters were good. The Malabari Trio was very good and each meat had different and fragrant spices. I liked the prawns especially. The seasoning was just right. The Spicy Chicken was crispy, juicy and tangy. The grilled potatoes was interesting to me too- soft and smooth. The soup did not go down well with me though. The broth had a salty base and mixed with the sweet pineapples, the clash in tastes was too much for me. I found the flavour rather strange.

For mains, I tried-
Tandori Lobster
Fish Curry
Masala Crab Cake
Cheese layered with Eggplant

The Lobster was well done. The waiter was very kind to cut up the lobster for us so it was easier to eat. The fish curry is my favourite among the mains. The fish was had a nice texture and the curry was fragrant. The Masaly crab cake was quite good too. It was sweet and had a nice texture. The eggplant was too soft and with the melted cheese, the dish looked like gooey gravy. I wish there was more bite to the eggplant and the cheese could be played down a bit so it doesn't overpower the eggplant's taste. We ordered lamb too but as I don't take lamb, I can't comment on its taste.

We also ordered a variety of bread to go with the mains. The Garlic Naan was average but the Roomali roti was yummy! I don't know how they got is so thin, so light and fine. But is was really nice to chew on it. The parantha is their speciality and that did not disappoint too. The breads go well with the curries.
Finally, I ordered a mango lassie to go with the food as I was afraid they would be too hot. But surprising, the dishes are not. They are light on the chilli which is good as you can taste the different spices used in each dish more.

The portions were very filling. So I'm glad there were many of us to share. This allowed us to try more dishes too. I think this is a place to go with a group of friends. The waiters were generally attentive and helpful in explaining the dishes to us. I noticed on the menu that they do lunch buffets at $25 per person. This sounds like a good deal. Will try that sometime.

I grew up eating curries and "Indian food" cooked by my grandad and at several "Authentic Indian" restaurants. Love the spiciness and the combination of the spices so commonly used in Indian dishes. When I was invited for a food tasting session, i signed on as i was keen to try out fine Indian Coastal dishes.

Upon being seated, I enjoyed a view of the Singapore River and Riverside View. Its really quite a sight at night and the comfortable chairs made me feel at ease. Tables were not too close so its good to have private conversations. At 8pm it was not too crowded but as time went by the crowds started coming and i noticed many caucasians and Indians.

Before our orders, we were served with some crackers with dips that tasted like mint and another tomato. found the crackers reminded me of papadums, flour crackers with spices in it. yummy.

Glancing through the menu, I selected a few dishes that looked good but did not realise that they even had different pages for mains.
We got quite a few items to try and my favourite section was the staples section with a wide array of paranthas, rotis and kulchas to choose from.

Our appetizers were
Crabmeat soup - tasted alot like curry , but wasnt too thick, had quite a good amount of crabmeat in it and one curry leaf was floating in the bowl. i liked it but didnt finish it as too much can be a bit too rich.

Crispy Spicy Chicken(i think)-nice presentation but i found it more sweet and spicy. reminds me of the ayam masak merah that my grandad cooks. but sweeter. chicken was boneless and juicy. but i wish the skin was used though.

Malabari Trio - Grilled prawns, chilli chicken and lamb. The chicken was again juicy, but this time it was different from the crispy spicy chicken. i think it was cooked with chilli and coconut. and the lamb was tender. no lamby smell but it was kinda lacking spice and kick. i loved the prawns. cooked with curry leaves, i loved the juicy succulent prawns. my fav out of the 3.

Lamb kebab and lamb chop- two different dishes. somehow both dishes didnt really wow me. But the kebab was bursting with spices. but i think the meat was way too minced.. chop tasted alot like satay.

Potato- This potato dish was not bad. the almonds gave it a nice crunchy taste.

Our mains came after this.

Lobster- im not a big lobster fan maybe cos well it just seems so troublesome to eat but found the lobster to be quite good.

Crab cakes-doesnt look like ur normal crab cakes. but upon tasting it. it was bursting with spices but i found the crab cakes a bit normal.
Chicken-cooked dam style, while chicken was tender and well marinated, i didnt take well to this dish. i thought that maybe tamarind was used which im not a big fan of.
Fish-this was good. i kept taking the gravy as it was very curry like but not too thick yet still quite rich.
Mutton pepper fry-the only non gravy dish. the mutton was tender and juicy and i liked that it was not the gravy laden dish that we have been trying. the spices used were kept at a minimum i think. simple but quite good.
white rice was served and while at home i never eat rice found this rice to be light and each grain stands out and is so very delicious.

Staples
tandoori parantha
garlic naan
onion cheese chili kulcha
roomali roti
the staples were so soft and light i wish we had ordered more. especially liked the garlic naan and the tandoori parantha.

had a rice pudding for dessert. not my cup of tea but it wasnt super sweet which i think the gulab jamun was.

I appreciated that the head waited remembered my request to serve my drink without a lemon slice and consequently did not add a lemon slice to my drink.

It was a good tasting session, got to try a wide array of dishes and left feeling full. If i were to return i would probably bring my mom along and on special occasions. the food although good is a bit on the rich side.

I must admit I don't regularly eat Indian food in Singapore, which is predominantly the South Indian variety in the hawker centres. The only experience I had of North Indian food was during my 10 day backpack trip in Himachal Pradash 4 years ago. I was invited for a food tasting session this time and jumped at the chance when I heard it served coastal Indian cuisine, something which I've yet to experience. Basically for food tasting, I'm usually game to try unique dishes and love familiar dishes which are done outstandingly.

Set along the Singapore River in Clarke Quay, the 2nd story restaurant offers you a view of the crowd downstairs. The interior is cosy and crowded with Caucasians. Service is fairly prompt although the restaurant was nearly full on a Friday night. Although the restaurant is not choked up with its tables, but it can get rather noisy when the crowd is in.

For starters, I had the Murgh Yakhni Shorba, which is chicken soup with cumin and lemon juice. The spicy soup with chicken cubes was a good start to the dinner. My friend had Southen Traditional Masam, which was basically pineapple soup. It didn't go down well with her, but this is mainly due to personal preference. I've got to admit this is an acquired taste. Many other diners had the crab soup, which was creamy and tasty and well received.

For appetisers, we tried spicy chicken, wasn't as spicy as the name suggested and chicken was soft and tasty.

The Malabari trio, which was a combination of prawns, chicken and lamb was so well received I was lucky to grab a piece of it before it was taken up by the rest.

Peshawari Aloo was oven grilled potato with cottage cheese, almonds. This was another new dish for me which is worth a try. Lamb kebab was so so.

For main course, we had tandoori lobster. This was very well done and was 1 of the chef's special. The meat was fresh and well marinated with spices.

We also tried an assortment of chicken, mushroom, fish curry. We were advised that white rice goes best with the curry, so we didn't try any of the flavoured rice also offered on the menu. The curry didn't have a heavy spicy aftertaste and wasn't too hot, so it should go well with most who aren't used to too much curry.

Parat wale baingan, which was eggplant lasagne stuffed with cheese and bell pepper was another interesting dish. It wasn't spicy and the cheese didn't give me the 'jelat' feeling even though it was the last dish of the dinner. This is another dish worth a try.

We also tried Roomali roti, which is a very light and thin roti which goes very well with all curries as it doesn't fill you up as the usual roti prata does and allows you to take more roti to sample the various curries. Garlic naan, parantha were the other staples which we tried. They were warm and crispy and also went well with the curries.

Masala crab cake was another tasty dish. The usual mutton smell from the Mutton pepper fry was only minimal, so may go well with those who aren't comfortable with mutton.

For dessert, I tried the Scottish Sensation, which was a dollop of ice cream with a almost equally large share of wiskey on it. Its almost like drinking wiskey with ice cream. For those who can't take the liquor smell, you better avoid it. Otherwise, its another unique dessert.

Finally, for those who find even the mild curries here too spicy, then feel free to order the lassie drink. The fats in the drink help to dissolve and wash down the chemicals on the tongue which causes the spicy sensation.

This is a restaurant I will return for special occasions, with friends who are game to try Indian cuisine. Otherwise, being a fine restaurant, the prices are equally fine and definitely not for anything more frequent than the occasional treat.

However, it has a buffet lunch which costs only $25 pax. It promises to serve an assortment of the dishes from its ala carte menu. I've yet to try it, but it does sound promising, judging from the ala carte dishes I've tried in this trip.

was there with the wife yesterday evening for dinner. saw their advert on their Kebab festival and thought we'd give this place a try. ordered the charcoal grilled tiger prawns and boneless lamb kebab, some naan and curry.
we did not finish either kebab dish. the prawns were somewhat soggy and did not seemed to be grilled well. and the lamb was powdery and left an unpleasant after taste. the curry saved the dinner somewhat but altogether still quite ordinary.

the bill was abt $120 including a glass of housepour and a beer.
the decor is okay, although i thought it was a bit wasteful not putting tables along the 'river view'. the service was responsive, although the length of hair and finger nails of one of the waiter was a bit of a turn off.

on the way out, we walked past the persian restaurant with the outdoor kebab stand, and we wished we could have tried that instead. it could not be worse i guess.