Exploring Little India

IT was on a whim after coming out of the veterinary clinic at the corner of DMSF Drive (Dr. Gahol Avenue) when I remembered Imee's long-ago invitation to try the Indian restaurants outside the medical school. Why not?

Thus, last Friday noon, I ventured out on foot under the scorching heat of the noonday sun. I made it up to the first restaurant just outside the medical school's first gate. I popped right in after seeing that it was an airconned restaurant and basked in the cold gush of air. I didn't want to venture any farther.

The name is Him. don't know why.

I ordered basmati chicken rice and egg curry as the Indian owner looked with concern.

"It's spicy," the owner told the waiter to warn me. I shrugged it off.

The basmati chicken rice order is huge. Two can share it. It's hot and spicy. I'd say, it's not the best there is, but it's flavorful enough. I topped it off with yoghurt. It was watery yoghurt, but I liked it.

Suffice it to say, I wanted to explore further, and so I was back the following noon, all set to check out where the Indian medical students are eating.

Except that... Singh is King, the one recommended by Imee is not airconned, and I tend to sweat a lot, so I ticked that off my list. The one beside it, Royal Indian Cravings House is airconned, but it was full. Just as jampacked was the India Spice Resto. Punjabi Diner still had some table space, but you have to share, I felt shy about sharing with perfect strangers of a different nationality.

Finally, there was Food for You, that had enough Indian students eating inside to indicate that food is all right with them, and it was airconned.

I got vegetarian mix, tomato rice, and one piece chapati. Like the day before, I got the concerned look of the servers who warned me that their food is spicy and that they have Filipino food on the other side.

I mumbled, "I went to an Indian restaurant to eat Indian food."

They have Malaysian food, too, by the way.

The chapati comes with a thick soup. The tomato rice tasted interesting, with the tart sourness of tomato adding flavor to the whole experience, and the vegetarian mix curry tastes like Indian curry.

The slow steady burn of Indian spices mixed well all together, I wanted to try the chicken, as well, except that I no longer had any tummy space to fit them all in.

I will definitely be back, maybe earlier than lunch time, to check out all those full restaurants to taste the difference. They must really be good to be filled to the brims on a Saturday.