Prawn Biryani & Lamb Shoulder

When the table enjoys Shahi Maharani's flavors, we made a 8pm date. Celebrated both the husband and E's birthdays. M had flown out on a work trip and couldn't make the date, so we naughtily picked Indian cuisine since it isn't her favorite but the rest of us like it! Teeeeheeee. 

The restaurant serves up good food that has been consistent, and great company makes for an easy wind-down before bedtime. We don't bother coming here unless our dining companions enjoy Indian food done in this style. 

Skipped all the chaat, because we didn't have enough stomach space for everything. We couldn't wait for the mains! We ate all the papadum in a small cup and asked for more, and that arrived in a big basket. Hahahaha. The food arrived together, as intended, making it a nice communal meal. 

We wisely followed the server's recommendation to do half a lamb shoulder instead of the full portion. That was more than enough for us when we wanted to sample other items. A spicy Chettinad chicken, fried potatoes and dal completed the meal.  Carbs came in the form of naan and rice. Prawn biryani is a must each time we come. That was done tonight too.

I was glad that we met at this restaurant. I didn't manage to get a gift for E earlier. There were shops downstairs, and a tiny Kinokuniya that provided me gift ideas and I managed to get her birthday presents sorted! We didn't mind one drink, but nobody wanted to drink that much. A glass of white for me, and gin tonics for the rest. It was a good meet after a loooong day at work. 

Lunch with My Smol Girl

I do enjoy hanging out with my Smol Girl at lunch. She's really quite the sweetest thing. Well, dogs chilling out at cafes are a thing, but not quite everything.

There're many dogs who can't quite do cafes, and that's okay. These floofs can stay at home. It's taxing for owners who insist on their dogs adapting to their preferences, and these dogs bark their heads off at every passing dog or human, and try to nip servers. 

Of course I would need to walk Choya before sitting down so that her toileting is settled, her sniffing sorted and she could exercise another aspect of her brains and maintain her training. I'm not fussed about her being on the floor. She always gets wiped before getting into the car, and a thorough wipe-down and brushing at home. I just don't want horribly dirty floors littered with grease, food remnants, cigarette ash and rat/lizard poop.

That day, Smol Girl and I went out to lunch at Acqua e Farina at Keong Saik Road. Along this whole stretch, this is the only restaurant that bothered to extend its canvas to shelter the outdoor tables from the noon-day sun. The sun hits full-on and even a 10am coffee at Tong Ah next door is quite unbearable. The overheard fans at the restaurant also made the humidity bearable on days I don't have portable fans. 

Lunch specials at restaurants are always fun. You don't have to eat that much. I feel slightly less pressurized to have alcohol. Hahaha. Well, it's all about self-discipline, isn't it? I had none of it that day, and got a glass of white to go along with my pasta. 

I decided to have an aglio e olio with mushrooms and pancetta. The flavors are always a winner when it's done dry. I really like how the restaurant does it here — casual and hearty. The kitchen threw in big chunks of garlic, along clear big chillies, not that much spaghetti and everything doesn't simply drown in oil. 

Fish & Lamb Shoulder at Ummi

The friends took us out to mark the husband's birthday. Opted for UMMI because they know we would love the hummus and grilled items. We have always passed by but never went in because we hadn't rustled up a table of four to share the calories. Tonight was great. 

UMMI has quite an extensive menu. Opted for a few starters in the form of labneh, hummus with lentils (they have it with lamb and beef too), baba ganoush, fried eggplants with chickpeas, and hazelnut chickpea falafel. Added on a portion of batata harra (crispy potatoes tossed in garlic, chilli and coriander). These came with piping hot flatbread. It's delicious. We all eyed the lamb tartare (frakeh nayeh), but none of our stomachs felt adventurous tonight. That would have to wait till our next visit.  

Then we moved on to mains of a six-hour slow-cooked very tender lamb shoulder on minced lamb rice, a superbly delicious grilled sea bream and instead of half a chicken, we opted for the smaller and more manageable option in the form of shish tawook marinated with yoghurt and spices. Mains were fabulous. 

We got to dessert, yes. This table is full of dessert fiends. There was piping hot mint tea (which I skipped). Along came two plates. There were a kunefe, and I honestly couldn't recall what on earth the other dessert was; it might have been a rice pudding since there was the strongest flavor of rose syrup in it. You know how much I dislike rose-anything. The kunefe was GOOD — the pistachios crumbled atop were delicious, the rose syrup used was hidden by the sweet cheese, I'll take that.