It’s All Gravy
The Oakham Curry Club (OCC) is a well-respected Institution with multiple international franchises. This review of “Gravy – It’s All Gravy” being the latest by our Singapore branch. The OCC takes pride in searching out the finest Indian restaurants and providing impartial reviews of Curry Houses all over the world.
Members vote anonymously without being influenced by other members (we call this “no swaying”) on 5 categories, and an average score out of a maximum 10 is given to each restaurant we review.
For full transparency, see below scores (out of 10). The voting is based on the votes from OCC members. Restaurants must score an average of 7/10 or above to receive the OCC sticker of recommendation. All OCC members have been through a rigorous selection process to gain entry into the Club. In short, we all know our curries.
Gravy (Tanjong Pagar)
Meet on the 23rd September 2020: 1 Hoe Chiang Road. 089310
Quality: 8.15
Customer Care: 8.5
Value: 8.45
Service: 8.45
Atmosphere: 7.13
Overall: 8.14
Gravy (Tanjong Pagar) IS AWARDED the OCC badge of recommendation scoring > 7 in all 5 categories
Once again adhering rigidly to the Covid restrictions relating to no large group gatherings, this meet required the local OCC to split the sittings. A shame for us, and additional challenges for the restaurant who now need to deal with 2 groups of idiots and also ensure that they keep their standards consistently high across multiple sittings of connoisseurs.
The pre-meet drinks were an absolute shambles with various “will-they, won’t they” meet up scenarios being discussed in what can truly be classed as some of the worst chat the OCC WhatsApp group has had to endure; and it’s a low bar.
No idea what the first sitting ended up doing, but Team (Chilli)B ended up moving from fussy cocktails (not to the liking at all of our Northern or Welsh members) to some slightly less fussy cocktails and Prosecco.
Feeling that the wheels were suitably greased and that spirits were high, Team B set off for the restaurant and entered to find that spirits in Team A were significantly lower; to the tune of an entire bottle of whisky.
The setting was far removed from the pretentiousness of a cocktail bar, and summed up by one member as “Very simple decor which was fine and more a reflection, I think, of the brothers being very confident in the cuisine.”
Similar to some of our other recent reviews, this doesn’t necessarily come across as a romantic dinner type restaurant, but as it’s fair to say that with approximately half the OCC now unemployed/(able?), we are very much no longer on the Gravy Train and so value and quality far trump the requirement of an extra candelabra to nail the lighting. Plus they were smashing out bangers from Nirvana, AC/DC and Terrorvision, with I believe some Ronan Keating and Enrique Iglesias mixed in there too; so a little something for everyone.
Without imparting any sway Team A still managed to convey that they’d recommend just following their lead and ordering the same, including the bottle of whisky. We duly obliged, and reader, we were not disappointed. Well in fact we were disappointed that Team A had skimped a little so doubled down on some of their orders!
The evening started well with an excellent combo of pappadoms, including a smoked pappad which was new even to many of our seasoned members, and a bountiful flow of sauces. The Masala Pappad (bruschetta style) split opinion, but worth noting that Team B ordered an extra round.
The staff and owners could not be accommodating enough over the course of the dining experience. Indeed one member, with a very exacting set of standards, commented “Other than arranging for the latest latino cross fit Instagram model to rub my head whilst bathing me in imperial leather, with free flow haribo & vimto and cricket on radio, I don’t know what else a curry house can do!”
As Haribo was not on the menu, the OCC contented themselves with a range covering Masala Peanuts (look odd, but are top notch), Mutton Tawa (“unique semi-dry gravy”) which was uniquely delicious and then others followed in a gentle procession of excellence: Prawns Hari Mirch Masala, Mutton Vindaloo, the Non-veg platter (tip-top combo which was to almost everyone’s liking and included lamb kebab, 2 different chicken options and fish tikka)…and then we realized there was a Vegetarian amongst us who until this point had had to make do with the peanuts, a few pickles and an experimental Pizza Cheese Naan.
It’s fair to say the Pizza Cheese Naan was the least well-received dish, with some OCC members spouting off purists’ views on Curry fusion dishes, yet undermining this somewhat by polishing off the PCN in double quick time. Personally, I think it is an affront to both Indian and Italian cuisines and should never be permitted anywhere…but the melted cheese was difficult to resist for this fat lad.
Anyway, quick to help as ever, the staff arranged a Vegetable Jaipuria and then out of nowhere, a Lychee Diwani Mastani. Some Team Members approached this with trepidation (apart from the peckish awkward Veggie) as a bit too avant-garde and as we all know a lychee does look an awful lot like a testicle. Anyway, it was a sure-fire winner and to quote one of the OCC “Lychee Curry: Who knew!?”
Aside from the aforementioned dishes, one OCC member quibbled whether the basmati rice was indeed basmati “as it was a little wetter than expected”, but this was a solitary remark to this effect.
The general consensus was that the food and service was excellent, and to that we were all pleased to add “value”. This was not just for the food, but the whisky and other drinks were perhaps just a little too conveniently priced given how happily the Team took advantage of what, at times, felt like free flow.
The owners are clearly and rightly proud of what they are trying to achieve, and the constant flow of delivery orders being collected is testimony to what they have accomplished thus far. Their willingness to take feedback coupled with some really excellent dishes means that, whilst there may be some bumps in the road, it’s all gravy from here on in!
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