Chat Masala @ Upper East Coast Road

Tucked in the leafy suburbs of Siglap, Chat Masala is an unassuming pint sized eatery, occupying the corner unit of an old style shophouse.

This eatery has easily been around for more than 8 years and is owned by ex-Singapore team footballer Sundramoorthy. Although Mr S has since retired from the sporting scene, its nice to know that his food legacy still lives on.

On a particularly warm and lazy Saturday evening, Hubby and I decided to spice things up a little by going to Chat Masala for dinner. Parking was a bummer and we had to resort to illegally park by one of the side lanes. We were the first visitors for the evening and were fortunate to secure a table for 2 without reservations (on the understanding that we would have to vacate our table by 8pm).

Here's what we had:

A scrumptious concoction of mushrooms in a creamy butter curry. We had to restrain ourselves from ordering seconds. This is good stuff!

Needless to say, the gravy went really well with our garlic and cheese naans, which arrived piping hot.


A simple dish of ladies fingers doused in chili oil. Though fresh and crunchy, I felt this dish lacked a fiery punch to it.

Masala chicken. The gravy was sufficiently rich and the chicken meat was tender. However there were coriander seeds and spices hidden in the gravy, which resulted in a slightly jarring aftertaste. I also wish they had deboned the chicken.

Our total bill came up to SGD48.50, which, considering what we ordered, is decent value for money. Feeling slightly unsatiated after that, we headed to Ice Cream Chefs for dessert.

Chat Masala's catchy slogan of "Hot Food and Spicy Gossip" never fails to tingle my tastebuds everytime I drive past. Unfortunately, whilst the food is well presented and palatable, the restaurant seems to have somewhat detrated from its "spicy" roots (possibly to cater to the tastebuds of its predominantly expatriate clientele).


This place is great for quick fix when craving for Indian food in the East. However, for a more authentic (and extravagant) dining experience, I would probably head to Rang Mahal.

Chat Masala
158 Upper East Coast Road
Tel: 6876 0570

Shahi Maharani- So disappointing!

I am not a big fan of Indian food -it makes my burp stink and makes me feel fat. However , once in a blue moon, I do get some semblence of a craving for Indian food.

There are 2 main types of Indian food in Singapore- North and South Indian. South Indian cuisine obtains its distinct flavours by the use of tamarind, coconuts, lentils, rice and a variety of vegetables whereas North Indian cuisine is distinguished by the proportionally high use of dairy products (eg butter, milk or yoghurt). Naturally my inclination is towards North Indian food.

Of the many Indian restaurants in Singapore, there are several which feature prominently on my hitlist- Banana Leaf Restaurant, Muthu's Curry, Saffron Bistro and Shahi Maharani. I've heard that Rang Mahal serves the best (albeit priciest) Indian chow in town. They do feature an affordable weekend lunch buffet on weekends but I've never gotten round to trying it since my makan escapades are typically restricted to weekday lunches.

Since it has been awhile since I've eaten Indian food, it came as a pleasant surprise when an ex-colleague turned friend suggested lunching at Shahi Maharani for her birthday. I promptly made a reservation for 2 but it turned out that there was actually no need to make any reservation because (horror of horrors!) the restaurant was empty when we stepped in. Dang. We should have gone next door to Sichuan Court for my favorite cereal crusted egg tofu instead!

The restaurant is running a perpetual 1-for-1 lunch buffet promotion. It has been ongoing for at least 2 years. Perhaps its a ploy to attract the bargain hungry Singaporean? If so, I am guilty as charged- because I would not have spent SGD36 a head for a buffet here.

The ambience is slightly oppulent, with plush maroon carpets, wooden interiors and padded chairs. Service is thoughtful but non obtrusive.

Naans- We had garlic, cheese and butter naans. These are best eaten piping hot dipped with generous dollops of curry. Unfortunately presentation was lacking. They were not nicely cut into halves but came in jagged torn pieces.

Meats- There was the usual tandoori chicken, a yellow chicken curry and a red lamb curry. All these dishes lacked a certain zing to their taste. It felt as if the chef wasn't putting much love into his cooking and just wanted to serve something which was edible but not mindblowing. Sigh.

Vegetables- Items featured include samosas, mixed vegetabels (curried baby corns, long beans and carrots) and some dhal curry. The samosas were passable but I did not like the mixed vegetables at all. These tasted like miscellanous vegetables which had been thoughtlessly thrown together to form one dish. Yet another disappointment.

Desserts- By the time we were ready for desserts, I was starting to feel quite disillusioned with the whole place. Plus I was not in the mood to indulge in cloyingly sweet stuff (like that cute little dough ball immersed in syrup). I instead helped myself to some cut fruit and tried to channel my mind to think happier thoughts.

Overall, it was not a pleasant experience. I will definitely not be going back to this place in a looong loooooong time.