Being voted as one of the Best Indian Restaurants in TimeOut KL Award 2013, Passage Thru’ India has proved that a good restaurant will not swallowed by time together with the competitive growth of F&B in recent years.
Established in the year of 1994, this long-standing restaurant is reaching second decades this year, continues to bring diners on a gourmet journey through India, the land of spices, capital of curries and masalas, as the restaurant’s name implies.
Pushing the door into the restaurant, diners will be transported into reminiscent of India instantly. The interior is rich in both colour and texture, with various shades of Indian textile, crafts, arts and designs.
Ceilings are decorated with suspended lanterns and custom-designed fabrics, making a contrast to the exposed brick walls and textured stucco walls that create a rustic touch. Buffet counters are designed to represent old brick and concrete cooking stoves, completed with old pots and pans source from india.
All the colourful paintings adorning the walls are painted by the owner himself, a person who loves arts and drawing. Each and every corner is so exquisitely designed and arranged with embellishments, simply no specific rules and no pretensions, but an objective to interpret the beauty of India. Definitely worth spending some time to appreciate all displayed items.
Apart from admiring the sophistiscated atmosphere, we tried out the Set Thali Meal which is priced at RM20, available on Mondays, Tuesdays, wednesdays. Diners can choose from North Indian Thali, or South Indian Thali, where each set comprises of 11 side dishes that will rotate daily.
North Indian Thali puts together Palak Paneer (Cubes of soft cottage cheese cooked with blended spinach leaves in a creamy garlic flavoured base), Makhni Sabzi (Mixed vegetables cooked in a butter based sauce with spices), Aloo Gobi (Potatoes & Cauliflower cooked in a dry pounded masala), Daal Tadka (Yellow lentils tempered with a garlic and cumin flavour), Channa Masala (Chickpeas in an onion and tomato masala base), Mixed Raita (Diced vegetables mixed in a light mixture of yogurt with spices), Biryani Rice (Fragrant basmati rice cooked with biryani spices),Roti (Wheat flour bread cooked in the clay oven called Tandoor), Salad, Papadum, and Gulab Jamun (Milk balls fried and poached in a sugar syrup) in one plate. Served along with Mango lassi, a chilling yogurt based mango flavoured drink.
For South Indian Thali, diners will be served with Mixed Veg Porial (stir Fried Vegetables),Potato Podimas (Potatoes mashed and sauteed with fragrant masalas), Bendi Porial (Lady fingers cooked and stir fried south Indian style),Vegetable Kootu (Lentils cooked with the vegetables of the day), Brinjal Kuzhambu (Sliced brinjal pieces cooked in a red gravy), Chapatti, Steam Rice, Papadum, Jalebi Dry Chilli, Banana, and Pickles.
The set is served alongside with Mooru, a common Summer drink in South India. It is also known as buttermik, comprises of water and yogurt mixed with salt, herbs and spicies to deliver a savoury, spicy concoction. Not an easily accepted drink, but no doubt it tastes clean, refreshing.
Both the set Thali Meal is vegetarian, so if you like to add on with meat, there are Murgh Shahjani and Mutton Varuval available, priced at additional RM5 to the set. Murgh Shahjani features chicken chunks cooked in cream coconut sauce with cashew nut milk. Rich, creamy and flavourful.
While Murgh Shahjani is good, Mutton Varural is not shadowed too. This delicacy has no gravy in sight, and involved blends of ingredients such as garlic, ginger, chilli, curry, coriander during cooking to result in tender chunks of mutton coated with dry curry that is distinct with wonderful, robust flavours of spices.
Apart from the set meal, their ala carte menu is also worth checking out. Roganjosh consists brings boneless mutton cubes into a slow-cook with 16 types of spices, leaving a comfort, beautifully spiced dish that goes really well with rice, naan or chapatti.
Do not leave Passage Thru India without trying their Tandoori Chicken. It tastes better than we expected. The chicken leg which is roasted in tandoor clay oven is so succulent, juicy, complete with a layer of smokiness brushed with savoury spices.
Prawn Jingha is also another highly recommended dish, having prawns cooked in a onion and tomato masala. Prawns are fresh and bouncy, with sweetness accentuated by the rich, creamy sauce.
Photographer: Summer
Write Up: YLing
Address:
Passage Thru’ India
No.4, Jalan Delima,
Off Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Contact:+60 3-2145 0366
Website http://www.passagethruindia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passagethruindia