Yantra

Open Now

Now Closed

Yantra sits peacefully and undisturbed in a corner of Tanglin Mall; a perfect, central location for hanging out without being constantly scrutinized by passer-by every other second.Though a modern fine-dining restaurant, Yantra offers an opportunity for the otherwise uptight dinner to be interactive and fun with their open kitchen concept.Now you can (quietly) play a game of truth-or-dare with your dining companions. And when one chooses dare, dare them to volunteer making their own naan at the tandoor. While it might seem easy with the Chef doing it day in day out, the cylindrical clay oven can actually go up to 480 degree celsius. To think they can get their naked hand in and out of it, each time lasting a few seconds, is amazing. Making your own naan is at no extra charges.The Private Dining Room is available for booking for both lunch and dinner. Minimum spending applies, at $500 for lunch and $1,000 for dinner. It can take 8 – 10 people in the room.It’s a hidden cave, the restaurant itself. It is 650 square metres big (about 5 times your normal size of 5-room HDB flat), for its indoor area, and another about 350 square metres reserved for its alfresco area. If you want to hold a big party, here is it.If you are working in the Tanglin area, you are in for a treat. For only $19 before taxes, you get to enjoy a lunch buffet from 12pm – 3pm, Monday – Thursday. I mean, dining anywhere else in the Orchard area already burns a hole in your pocket anyway. It’s $25 on Friday and Saturday.Broccoli Cheddar Tikki ($29++) :: Thankful that it doesn’t have a strong raw broccoli taste, not exactly a fan of vegetables here. The pineapple dip made the otherwise dull starter more appetizing. It’s fused with cheese and bell peppers; some sweetness and spiciness to open up your palate. Soft and easy to slide in your main course after this.Cottage Cheese stuffed with Crunchy Walnut ($29++) :: As with other Indian food, especially this Cottage Cheese, is to be consumed piping hot. When it’s cooled, the layers of puffs and cheese would dry off, harden and ruin the taste. It is coated with cardamom and mace flavored creamy marinade.Chicken Marinated with Coriander, Chilies and Cumin ($34++) :: My favorite appetizer of the night. It’s chicken meat skewered with chili bottoms. Distinct flavors of the marination – citrusy, peppery, spicy and nutty.Mutton Pepper Fry ($29++) :: Save for its excessive salt, the dish was perfect. What I like about Indian Restaurants is when they say it’s pepper fry, they mean it and don’t give no mercy. The flavors were bursting with every bite of the tender meat. It’s stir-fried with onion rings and cumin as well.Grilled Halibut with Coriander and Spinach Gravy ($42++) :: I was very skeptical when I first saw spinach gravy. But I can count on an Indian Restaurant to make the vegetables taste right. The gravy can be easily swept aside to taste the freshness of halibut, and picking it back for the added fragrance. The seafood was perfectly executed – soft, moist and not flaky.Biriyani with Marinated Lamb ($39++) :: Being cooked with extra long grain basmati rice, the Biriyani is especially fragrant with hints of pandan-like aroma. It also seems to be tougher in nature, harder to break down, and thus giving a reasonable bite to the course. The lamb thrown in did not mix too much with rice, thus still keeping its original flavors. I like how the meat was so soft it eased in with the rice without effort. It is also available with Chicken ($37++) and Vegetables ($31++).Oysters with Chili Ice Cream & Cress ($49++) :: The most intriguing style of oysters yet. Think slightly peppery, tangy and ice cold spiciness with oysters. Encouraged to pair it with crackers. I love the refreshing taste.Naan ($8 – $15++) :: An Indian meal wouldn’t be complete without naan. Not too oily, and generously flavored, Naans can be found from ordinary flavors like Garlic to the more exotic ones like Blue Cheese and Sundried Tomato. I say they’ve hit this on a home run.Masala Chaas ($9++) :: If you’re not a wine person like me, Yantra has some pretty kick ass non-alcoholic beverage list. Crash course. While Lassi is water blended with yoghurt, a Chaas is the liquid left after extracting the butter. I loved the Mango Lassi ($10++), used with extraordinary India-acquired Mango flavors; rich and thick. The Masala Chaas was too much for me though. If you are a Masala person, you should go for this because it’s really strong.The restaurant was quite packed the entire night. If you see Indians going in and out of the restaurant, you know you can expect authentic tastes. I must confess – I don’t usually like Indian cuisines because of its loud spices and flavors, but I quite enjoyed this one here.—> Note #1: Though it’s not Halal-certified due to its alcohol service, all food served are halal. continue reading

My turn to buy lunch with my friends. Yantra @ Tanglin has a S$19/pax lunch buffet from Mon to Thu; S$25/pax from Fri to Sun. I like the nice and classy ambience, and since I don’t have too many kakis for Indian food – so we decided to go there. Food was good flavour-wise, the spread was small but ok really except it lacked a lamb dish like rogan gosht, and a tandoori chicken, and (say) a bharta (eggplant).The chick pea curry was good with the naans, like all the sauce curries & the dal.I guessed the buffet was a vegetarian paradise. This green curry murgh & another chicken dish were the only meats (there was a fish tikka & great curry prawns though). I don’t really like both the chicken dishes. a butter chicken (murgh makhani) would be perfect or a tandoori whether whole chicken or tikka.The vegetarian dishes were great. This mixed vegetable & also the potatoes aloo gobi. I liked this prawn curry & had a few helpings. It went well with the garlic naans as did the other curries & dal. The paneer tikka was the usual tofu texture but not so flavourful. Not quite sure what this was, like cucumbers with some squash. The mango pickles was nice. Did not take a photo of the fish tikka. It’s next to the prawn & potatoes in the above photo – my plate was full of food. It was quite good. The green chicken & another anemic looking chicken were at the left.Indian dessert doesn’t work for me. Anyhow I am not a dessert person so I did not try any.Overall the food was good, not pricey & ambience was excellent. But somewhat lacking “shiok” factor for me. Must go find another Indian food fix.For full review and more photos, visit http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/s19pax-indian-lunch-buffet-yantra-at-tanglin-mall-on-10jun2013/. continue reading

Good indian cuisine buffet. The variety of food is not bad. Quality and taste is good as well.The indian rice (i assume) is interesting and tasty. As expected, there are many varieties of curry, all are very fragrant and delicious.Naan is very well done also. I went for the weekday lunch buffet promotion, so the price is really reasonable.The only not-so-nice thing is that the waiter keep some of the dishes when it's still half an hour to the end of the buffet. Environment is very spacious and beautifully decorated.Overall, yes I will return again. continue reading