Dinner at Rang Mahal

Knowing that she enjoys Indian cuisine, I booked dinner for two at the Rang Mahal, located at the Pan Pacific Hotel for the ex-Girlfriend on the eve of her birthday. The Rang Mahal is reputed to be one of the premiere Indian restaurants in Singapore, serving up not just Indian food mind you, but "haute Indian cuisine" and boasts of "legendary fine dining" on its website.

The restaurant boasted a wide variety of choices from its selection of pan-Indian cuisine, particularly North Indian delicacies. Being spoiled for choice I settled for their Thali platter of the day. This involved a soup and starter which was followed by a main, two curries and basmati rice served on a lovely glass platter. If this sounded like it was all impossible to finish, I assure you that it was not. This really was haute cuisine - small, slightly larger than bite size portions, especially the curries. The food was wonderfully flavoured from the lentils to my main course of lamb. A generous helping of naan bread and a fresh salad rounded the Thali set off. Definitely something to savour. For those who are interested the Rang also boasts a comprehensive (and award winning) wine menu.

On the whole, I was suitably impressed by the service. The staff were attentive, well-trained and generally polished. They did the small things well, and then some - such as a waiter using a cloth to dab at a spot on the carpet where the ex-Girlfriend nearly tripped. The overall service experience was only marred by the fact that it took a short while to get a waiter's attention for the bill. Also not to sound too snobbish, it would have been useful if the front of house and reservations person could speak slightly better English. It was definitely interesting to be informed that there was no reservation under my name on arrival at the restaurant (I had called to book earlier) only to find that she had written my name down as "Caleboo" (and after I had explicitly spelled it out in its entirety for her). It provided amusement for the ex-Girlfriend at the very least.

The restaurant was very tastefully designed. We were seated just within the entrance in a kind of walkway or pavilion leading to the main dining hall. Tables were divided by wonderful decorative screens affording us plenty of privacy. I also loved a small stone fountain set into the ground, lit by a series of small candlelit table lamps. The restaurant as a whole featured lovely wood and stone decorations on an Indian theme. Overall, I would have said that the ambiance and setting was perfect but for one drawback - the live music from the atrium lounge could be readily heard from our table by the entrance and often threatened to drown out the soft traditional Indian classical music that was being played.

Final Verdict: The Rang is one of the standard bearers for Indian fine dining in Singapore. If you love Indian food, this is a must try especially given the high quality setting and attentive service.