I’m sure everyone of us residing in Singapore has a favourite prata place to go to and Casuarina Curry is one that I have been frequenting since the 90s when my mum stumbled upon the restaurant on her way to Thomson Plaza and fell in love with its plain pratas and curries.
There’s nothing extraordinary about this restaurant that serves up standard Indian cuisine but its location and family-style atmosphere have been constantly drawing me back again and again over the years. Comfort food in familiar surroundings is always inviting. This is probably why it is always packed to the max on weekends with droves of people, both young and old, indulging in Singapore’s all-time favourite breakfast of lip-smacking pratas.
The husband decided that he wanted to try Casuarina’s briyani for a change so we ordered a chicken briyani with additional mutton cubes.
The fried chicken was tender to the bite but it wasn’t served hot enough as though it had been sitting on the counter for too long.
The mutton cubes were far more superior than the chicken. It was cooked till perfection. Every piece of meat was so soft and tender, it easily fell apart in layers as we bit into it. The mutton didn’t have a lot of fats and I couldn’t detect any gamey smell too – thumbs up for this! The gravy was also remarkable with a good balance of flavours from the various spices and the right amount of heat.
I wasn’t blown away by the basmati rice in terms of its texture which I felt D’Rubinah at Sembawang did better. The rice lacked that aromatic fragrance too.
Casuarina Curry offers up to almost 50 selections of pratas but I’m never tempted to order those contemporary flavours of savoury pratas so I’d always go for the traditional plain and egg every time.
Their plain pratas are very different from Thasevi’s that are crispy, light, airy and flaky inside out. Casuarina’s pratas are only crispy and flaky on the outermost layer but are soft and slightly springy on the inside and this is the reason why I adore their pratas. It just gives you that bite without oozing grease from the surface. And yes, their pratas aren’t that oily too.
The egg prata came in a long rectangular shape instead of the usual squarish looking one. A bigger surface area merely meant this was made more crispy without it being too thick. Texture wise, it was decent but not spectacular. I’d still prefer the plain ones to this.
The mutton murtabak was of a substantial portion with well-seasoned ground mutton and crunchy diced onions evenly spread over the dough. The exterior was nicely browned and crispy but if there could be more of the filling inside, this would have been perfect.
I enjoyed their masala thosai which was like a thin crepe filled with spiced potato filling and served with various chutneys. The potatoes were soft, nicely-flavoured with a hint of turmeric fragrance and really complemented the slightly tangy thosai. And I had fun pairing the thosai with the different sauces too, lol.
For dessert, we decided to go with a chocolate prata that came in a rainbow shape, paper-thin, drizzled with chocolate sauce and sprinkled with chocolate rice. The combination of sweet and salty in this was unbelievable. It was so good, we agreed to order a second one. The prata was very light and crispy as though we were eating a cracker. In fact, if you just use a fork to knock against it, it would probably crumble to pieces. Anyway, I used my hands to eat this and I must say, this was really finger-licking good. Chocolate, who doesn’t love?
Don’t forget to try their teh tarik too. I normally request for ‘less sweet’ and the sweetness is just about right for me. Fragrant tea flavour that wasn’t overpowered by the milk. A robust concoction for sure.
While Casuarina Curry’s briyani doesn’t live up to expectations, its pratas, thosais and teh tariks are definitely worth returning for. Click here to view its complete menu.
And when you’re done with your meal, be sure to check out Biscuit King which is a few doors away for a wide selection of old school childhood snacks and biscuits.
Casuarina Curry
136 & 138 Casuarina Road (Off Upper Thomson)
Tel: 6455 9093
Website
Opening hours: 7.00am to 12.00am daily