SUKA MAKAN: RANGOOLI INDIAN CUISINE @ CLEMENTI WEST

Although located in the heartlands of Clementi West, this place looks unexpectedly classy. This outlet of Rangooli Indian Cuisine, which serves both north and south Indian varieties of dishes, is rather posh. Simply, it does not have the common cafeteria atmosphere that most curry houses have. There is a price to pay, it's a little more pricey that most but well worth the outlay. 

The service is excellent, and the young South Asian man who took our orders also had a sense of humour. A basket of poppadums came immediately with cups of plain water. Within a short space of time, the naans and curries arrived as well. 

Masala tea and black tea

Butter chicken tikka masala

Mushroom curry

Rogan josh (mutton curry)

We ordered a combination of chicken, mutton and mushroom curries, each with a different taste and level of spiciness. Most Singaporeans are tolerant of high levels of spice, thus we enjoyed this and the generous helpings of curries which fully justified the added cost. Definitely coming back again.

Garlic naan and Butter naan

The full monty

Outdoor city, but not
at this level of heat and haze.

RANGOOLI INDIAN CUISINE

Block 721 Clementi West Street 2 

#01-138/140

Singapore 120721 

Rangooli

SUKA MAKAN: MONGKOK DIM SUM @ CHEONG CHIN NAM ROAD

The current task at hand is to try all the restaurants on Cheong Chin Nam Road. That will take the best part of a year but you've got to start somewhere. So for our second entry is Mongkok Dim Sum. Mongkok is the shopping district in Kowloon, Hong Kong where I buy some of my CDs and indulge in the shared passions of Singaporeans and Hongkongites - food and shopping. 

The selling point of Mongkok Dim Sum is not just the food but the fact it operates 24 hours a day. That means if you get hunger pangs at 4 am in the morning, this is a possible solution. However at 6 pm in the evening, we can still do the yumcha thing which is a morning activity.

The dim sum - we picked three favourites - was excellent. And we had to try and the highly-touted beef hor fun. This one is called Geylang Lorong 9 Beef Hor Fun, which is the hot and wet variety with the flavour of tau cheoh (bean paste). Why Geylang? I suppose people go to Geylang to get hot and wet. Anyway, it's very tasty and the beef slices are very tender too. Will come back, perhaps at 4 am to get hot and wet.

Hot and wet: this Geylang beef hor fun 
is as delicious as it looks.

MONGKONG DIM SUM

8 Cheong Chin Nam Road

Singapore 599733

Mongkok Dim Sum - Cheong Chin Nam Rd | Grab Dine Out

NIU NIU PREVIEWS GALA CONCERT FOR VIVA FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER

For its 20th anniversary celebration, Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer is presenting a fundraising gala concert on 27 October 2026 at Esplanade Concert Hall entitled Viva Concerti: Where The Twain Shall Meet. The concert features Chinese former child prodigy pianist Niu Niu performing eight piano concertos with the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra conducted by Chan Tze Law.

Jennifer Yeo, Chairman of Viva Foundation
gave the opening address. An accomplished
pianist herself, she has performed with the SSO
to raise funds for the orchestra.

On Wednesday 2 September, Niu Niu gave a preview of this concert by performing a piano recital at Viva Hub, Novena Medical Centre. His programme of popular keyboard classics included an 8-minute mash-up of the eight piano concertos to be performed.

For the record, movements from the eight concertos to be performed include:

1. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1

2. Chopin Piano Concerto No.1

3. Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2

4. Butterfly Lovers Concerto

5. Liszt Piano Concerto No.1

6. Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5

7. Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue

8. Yellow River Concerto

At the age of 12, Niu Niu became the
youngest pianist to record all the Chopin Etudes.

Niu Niu was a student of the legendary
Leslie Howard besides being a Juilliard alumnus.

Niu Niu will also perform the violin (from the Rin Collection) in an abridged version of the Butterfly Lovers Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, his debut in a violin concerto.

His recital opened with Wang Jianzhong's transcription of Ren Guang's Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon. Also included in were Tchaikovsky's March from Nutcracker (transcribed by Mikhail Pletnev), Liszt's La Campanella, Rachmaninov's 18th Variation from the Paganini Rhapsody, Gershwin's I Got Rhythm and the first movement from Franz Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 

Niu Niu accomplished this feat of virtuosity and bravura on a Cristofori grand piano which valiantly withstood more multitudes of notes than it had ever endured. As an encore, he let down his hair in an original composition Sunny Day, delighting in infectious bossa nova and samba rhythms.

The preview concert was followed by a sumptuous buffet dinner for all who attended, the photos of which I will not include here.

VIVA CONCERTI:

WHERE THE TWAIN SHALL MEET

NIU NIU PLAYS 8 CONCERTOS

Tickets from $20-1000 

are available at SISTIC:

VIVA Concerti : Where the twain shall meet

SUKA MAKAN: THE ARTISAN'S TABLE @ RAIL MALL

I'm beginning to dig Rail Mall. I usually avoid places that use the word "artisanal", "bespoke", "deluxe" or anything with chi chi French names, simply because these connote high expenses, but made an exception for The Artisan's Table. Walking past the other day, I could not help notice its bright and cheery atmosphere, and small but welcoming menu.

So we came, and were impressed by its simplicity and general wholesomeness. The prices were also looked reasonable for somewhere that prides itself of being "artisanal". What does that even mean? Never mind, I was even tempted to have a cappuccino despite being more of a tea person.

Mackerel in olive oil.

Parma ham pizza

We ordered two dishes to share, and both were excellent. First was the mackerel in olive oil, which was very savoury, and the Parma ham pizza was thin-crust and very delicious. Despite stuffing myself, I even had something to take home for a late night supper. Will definitely come back and try their other dishes.

Just the place to buy items to make
the most perfect high tea at home.

THE ARTISAN'S TABLE

474 Upper Bukit Timah Road

Singapore 678082

The Artisan's Table – The Artisan's Table