Return of Ramu’s Curry

Had a delicious meal at Ramu’s Curry. I don’t know if you’ve been to Ramu’s before. It used to be at Upper Thomson Road, along the row of shophouses at the 7-Eleven near Thomson Plaza. I still have memories of eating at that restaurant many years back then.

Back then, it was a great deal to go for dinner at Ramu's. It was almost an event on itself. After it was closed, we could not find another place for that kind of experience any more.

When you walked into the restaurant, they would serve you by first laying out a piece of banana leaf on the table, then going around serving the rice and the vegetables separately. There are 3 kinds of vegetables that come with the rice set, and this, the waiter would serve in an interesting hand-held container with a ladle.

Well, Ramu kept this practise at his new place. It may not be unique to Ramu's Curry, i've not been to enough South Indian restaurants to know, but it meant a lot to me.

With some stroke of luck, I found Ramu's again from an article featured on Today. Here's a link to their pda version of that article. They've yet to set up a website. I'll try to convince them, I nearly could not find the place! Thankfully Today had kept an online version.

The biryani rice was fabulous! You can taste the fragrance of the herbs in the rice with every mouthful. I believe this to be the best I have had, and believe me, it is good, because I consider biryani one of my top favorite food in Singapore.

Must try the curry fish head. The gravy was appetizing, spicy and sour, and filled with subtle layers of spices. Half a fish at 12, it was more than enough for the five of us. The fish meat was not flaky like how other fish head dishes i've tried felt, the overcooked ones. The meat was still tender, and yet, with the seasoning managing to get infused just right.

Also try the masala chicken. I have run out of descriptive phrases for the chicken, take the earlier part abou the fish, replace curry with gravy, fish with chicken, and you will get what I have to say.

One thing we missed was the fish cutlet, if their standard is intact, try that too!

The greatest fact about Ramu's? It did not burn a hole in my pocket. It was my treat that afternoon, the meal cost 40 plus, and we were all sufficiently full. The great thing is that Ramu's is air-conditioned, clean, (the kitchen was located next door, so no spicey smell on clothing when you are done with your meal), and moderately priced. You can't find many of South Indian restaurants that fit that category in Singapore. Either you have Muthu's Curry at Little India, which cost double for the same group of five, or 20-30 at Casuarina Curry at Casuarina Road, the other end of the spectrum. Ramu's is somewhere in the centre, representing great value for money.

Address that took me so long to find :-

Ramu's Kitchen, 198 Yio Chu Kang Road
Telephone: 6286 9861
Opening hours: 11am to 10pm, daily