If you’re looking for some delicious Indian food, along with some excellent drinks, head over to Adda, and you won’t be disappointed, says Alpana Singh
With so many Indian restaurants in Singapore, it sometimes gets difficult to choose which one to patronise. So, on a warm, Monday evening, I find myself at Adda, on Beach Road, with a bunch of friends. The casual-dining restaurant was packed with diners on a weekday night, which is always an excellent sign.
With a beautiful kitschy bar in front, the restaurant has a sleek modern look, and also offers al-fresco dining, overlooking the street. We were ushered into our seats, and served a delicious margarita shot to kick-start the evening.
The music was reminiscent of early 2000s rap music, and pleasantly took me back a few years. The restaurant has a range of Indian-inspired cocktails, such as Chai-Ho, which had some interesting Asian flavours like pandan, and lemongrass, and came with a frothy, milky top.
I really enjoyed the Mumbai Express, which incorporated mezcal, an alcohol similar to tequila, with other liqueurs, and was spiced up with flavours, such as cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger, and served with an eye-catching garnish of bird’s eye chilli.
The friendly staff brought out the starters, which were mostly Indian street food appetisers. I am quite a snob when it comes to lamb seekh kebabs, but the ones at Adda were exquisite, and melt-in-the-mouth delicious, which Chef Harish Chand Arya informed us, had been magicked up in the kitchen.
Then came the platters of chaat, which is a set of savoury snacks sold by roadside vendors, in India. The ones we sampled were, the pani-puri, which came in a really cute, mini Indian chaat cart.
Pani Puri is small puffed flat-bread, filled with spicy water, mashed potatoes, and tamarind chutney. It has to be dunked into your mouth in one go, and you’ll be surprised at the myriad of flavours bursting in your mouth.
The dahi puri, again small flat bread, and the aloo tiki (spiced potato patty) were just perfect with the tantalising flavours of tangy, but slightly sweet yogurt, mixed with mint and tamarind chutney.
For the mains, we had a lovely fusion dish of butter chicken pot pie, which came in an earthen pot, covered with a top of the most exquisite, flaky pastry, perfect for mopping up the butter chicken gravy.
The chicken biryani was perfectly spiced, with not too many masalas, and one bite of it was just not enough. Adda also has a range of vegetarian fare, and I tried the cottage cheese kofta (little balls made out of cottage cheese), which came in a creamy curry, with a touch of fragrant spices.
All of this was accompanied by a lovely bread basket with a range of Indian bread in it, such as naan, and tandoori roti.
The evening ended on a sweet note, with luscious Alphonso mango kulfi, and a delicious gulab jamun cheesecake, which was decadent, and very different from the usual Indian desserts.
In Hindi, an adda is a hangout, which you frequent with your best buddies. Well, I can see this restaurant is just that: a hotspot for delicious food, heady drinks, and good company.
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a. 7500E Beach Rd, #01-201 Diners Building, Singapore 199595