It's the Indian New Year
In view of tmr being Deepavali, we decided on an Indian Restaurant downtown. Mamtaz Mahal Restaurant.
Once past the doorway, I din feel like I was in Singapore anymore. Statue elephants, godlike wall fixtures, intricate tableware, table-lit candles, thick accent waiters, even the air I inhale felt indian! The only weird part was, in that cosy little restaurant, not one customer of indian ethnic could be spotted. There were the angmohs and the chinese but none dark-skin. I wonder why.
So I was trying to digest the menu consisting of Bold indian letterings and small english prints right beneath it and with what seemed forever we settled on: Tandoori Chicken, some veggie curry, 2 Naan, and being a tea-lover, one Masala Tea.

I guess its standard practice they serve appetizers just like some peanuts or pickled vegetables in Chinese restaurants, here we found ourselves some spiced crackers and a tray of spices to go with it. In the tray there were 4 compartments each filled with some green puree, yellow puree, orange and red puree. Being adventurous I tried all and only 2 caught the fancy of my tastebuds. The other 2 were strong not foul but strong-in-a "i can skip that" way.
Having served up all our dishes, the table was full! The appetizers itself was a whole tray and the masala tea I ordered came along with a pot for refill and 2 containers bearing 2 different types of sugar: usual white and granulated brown sugar. Dining there is in itself quite an experience. You feel creative. You put together different spices getting different taste and a sense of satisfaction if it's pleasant. To sum it up, both the tandoori and the curry veg were fragrant and the naan heavenly. Im thankful there is diversity in this world.