The Banana Leaf Apolo (Race Course Road)

We have heard of this eatery quite a while ago, when boss considered it for one of our colleague's farewell. It was passed for a cheaper alternative in the end, but S did mention that it's nice. So when she's leaving for her post-grad studies, we decided to have our own little farewell here. We decided on the branch at Race Course Road. It was during Ramadan that we went, so when we reached about 6 plus, it was still relatively empty. But midway through eating (or while waiting for our food actually), the crowd started swarming in for breaking fast.

We actually weren't sure what to order, and the server wasn't very helpful. So between our mixed understanding of the items on the menu and their sizes, we somehow managed to order what sounded like a decent amount of food for the 6 of us. The drinks came first. I think all of us ordered lassi. Mine was a mango lassi. Sweet, sour and refreshing. I liked it.

Mango lassi and sweet lassi

Gobi 65 was highly recommended by one of our ex-colleague, so we ordered that. It was basically cauliflower coated with some seasoned flour and deep fried. Who doesn't like deep fried food? And deep fried vegetable does seem somewhat healthier than deep fried meats, although it sounds a little sacrilegious. The seasoning was good, and the crunch perfect. Very nice start to the meal.

Gobi 65

When you don't know what to order, a mix platter is always a good starting point. So that was exactly what we ordered - a tandoori mix platter. It had chicken, fish, some otah-like thingy and prawns I think. Overall was pretty yummy, but the otah-like thingy was too spicy for a few of them, so I ate quite a lot of it. It's spicy with a touch of sour, and went well with my rice. Because this was awhile back, I actually don't remember much of the rest of this platter.

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 This was followed by a series of gravilicious food to go with the naans we ordered, as well as saffron rice. Garlic and butter naans hot out of the kitchen was oh so nice, especially with all the curries and gravies. The mutton masala were bite sized pieces of mutton, tender enough to chew without feeling like I was chewing gum. Its gravy was a mildly spicy curry, flavored with a good amount of Indian herbs and spices. The fish curry was really good. It was very spicy, but very flavorful. Even the ones who didn't like spicy had a good number of servings.

Garlic naan and butter naan

Mutton masala

Fish curry

There was another dish that I absolutely can't remember what it was, even after staring at the picture for a long time. So I really can't comment on it. Midway through we decided we wanted more greens, and ordered something that had '7 vegetables' in its description. It had a creamy gravy, and I didn't actually try to identify 7 types of vegetables in it. But we liked it's flavor, very aromatic, and also goes well with naan. XP and YJ even needed extra white rice to go with all those saucy dishes.

The dish I can't remember

The restaurant got really crowded as the night proceeded, and the servers started clearing our plates as soon as one empties - a signal to us that we should leave. Even after 5 out of 7 of us had left the table to go to washroom, pay at cashier etc, I stubbornly sat there with YJ accompanying me to finish up the remaining food and papadam. Oh yes, I loved their papadam.

I must say that while their food is yummy, it's actually quite similar to other Indian places. And quite pricey too. Ok, at least it's better than Khansama's. The girls say they prefer Anjappar, which I have yet to try. Maybe next outing we'll go there.