STEP into Karma Kettle & Rhapsody and for a brief moment, you'd think that you're in England. Or a colonial-themed restaurant in a Commonwealth country, like a tourist spot in Australia perhaps, or a hill station in India.
Okay, so the latter option is made with prior knowledge of the couple who started the eatery, but more on that later. Even without it, the English vibe of Karma Kettle & Rhapsody - from its country-themed furniture and charcoal-like character etchings on the wall down to its name - is undeniable. A quick scrutiny of the menu also supports the notion: Chilled cucumber and mint soup, pork vindaloo, shepherd's pie, Eton's Mess.
The whole outlet has a welcoming, quirky feel to it - and is the first venture of a young Indian couple who relocated to Singapore in the middle of the year. Dhiraj Arora, 27, and his wife Priti, 25, have business management backgrounds, but also practical hotel experience, and just found Singapore to be quite a viable place for this restaurant concept.
'Dhiraj had been mulling over the idea of opening a restaurant for about two years now,' reveals Mrs Arora, adding that he'd visited Singapore off and on for business. Before relocating here, Mr Arora had set up a boutique hotel in Darjeeling, India, which is in the middle of three famous tea estates - Ambootia, Castleton and Makaibiri. The hotel, called Cochrana Place, is now running smoothly so Mr Arora felt it was time for a new venture. And so Karma Kettle was born, with the help of a local investor. The couple's idea is to offer a menu that's European, but with a South Asian treatment.
The fusion menu reminds one of ye olde Hainanese-style eateries which served pork chop and tomato soup adapted to local taste, but this would be the South Asian version. So instead of pork chop, it's pork vindaloo - a Portuguese-inspired dish with diced pork in a thick curry gravy.
So far, the hits have been the English Lavender chicken served with cumin rice (quite aromatic), and the seven varieties of mushrooms in a creamy, parsley-infused sauce served with cumin rice interestingly called Across the English Channel (a tad too creamy, although the herbed rice gives it a lift).
The flavours are fusion, although some dishes would be more authentically British, such as the shepherd's pie and the old-fashioned Eton's Mess served at the famed school's annual prize-giving. And then there are items created to reflect the cuisine here, such as the black pepper crab sandwich.
Mr Arora conceptualises the menu, and so far, the couple have taken to local fare like chicken rice, chilli crab and dim sum. Incidentally, the two are newlyweds: Mr Arora swept his wife off her feet just as she was about to further her studies in hospitality in the US. 'We moved here in August, and got married in September,' says Mrs Arora, and you can just hear her blushing over the phone.
For now, the couple have their hands full as their second and bigger outlet is opening at Dempsey Green next week. They also have a retail space at Cluny Court, selling limited liquors and gourmet products from France. The liquors they hope to use in the drinks list at Dempsey, which will see a more extensive food menu as well. Over there, the decor will be more art-led, with colourful art from Latin American artists providing the visual vibrancy.
As fate would have it, they now get a bigger kitchen at Dempsey as well, so it'll be interesting to see if Karma Kettle & Rhapsody plans to take its cafe-like cuisine further up a notch.
Karma Kettle & Rhapsody #01-01 Cluny Court
501 Bukit Timah Road
(S) 259760
Tel: 63143483
