Malaysia – Vansh (Indian) Restaurant

Restaurant: Vansh Restaurant
Cuisine: Indian
Last visited: April 21, 2010
Location: 2 locations – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Beside The Ritz Carlton Hotel)
Address:
Lot LG 9 Lower Ground Floor
Feast Floor/Feast Village
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang inside Starhill Gallery (High end shopping mall)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (03) 2142 6162
Price Range: $30-50CAD or RM 90-150

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5 (based on what I had)
Service: 6 (My friend is a regular at it was 3pm so not busy)
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• Owned by Rang Mahal Group in Singapore
• Specializes in Indian food
• Modern Indian food
• Touristy/Business/Formal occasions
• Traditional techniques
• Home cooked
• Tandoor grill
• Casual chic (fine) dining
• Award winning restaurant
• Contemporary/trendy/modern
• 2 locations (Singapore, Malaysia)
• Private parties
• Wine list
• 12-2:30pm set lunch available
• 12pm-1am daily

**Recommendations: Tulsi Sherbet, Bombay Pani Puri, Honey Kulzza, Naan, Mixed Fruit Raita

Vansh Restaurant is the sister restaurant to Rang Mahal, a fine dining, award winning restaurant in Singapore. Vansh has 2 locations, one in Malaysia and the other in Singapore and I visited the one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Vansh Restaurant is part of the gourmet fancy “food court” located in Malaysia’s high end shopping mall, Starhill Gallery.

It’s visually stunning with exquisite decor. To see the other restaurants click here.

The Food

The food is not really authentic Indian food, but it is modern Indian food served in a casual fine dining and chic atmosphere. The cooks, chefs, and servers were all Indian and the menu items are traditional, but not necessarily made authentically. Although very tasty, it was quite “watered down” in terms of flavour and spices – probably because it appeals to more tourists/mass market. What the Rang Mahal Group is trying to do is make Indian food mainstream and popular to the degree of Italian/French food being popular.

I found the decor more impressive than the food. Being from Vancouver, BC I am spoiled with great Indian food. I’ve also had lots of home cooked Indian food so I have something to compare to. I’d still come back, but I would try a different restaurant. The price you pay is a major bargain for what you get. The quality for the price is amazing, but the flavour is short of.

On the table:

Complimentary Papads or Papadams

• I almost always see these served in flat round tortilla sheets

• These are homemade and looked like eggrolls – thy served them with 3 kinds of chutney

**Tulsi Sherbet – 5/6

• Distinctive blended concoction of basil, fresh lime juice and ginger ale RM 17  – about $6CAD

• This is very refreshing and loaded with lots of chopped fresh herbs like mint. I kind of wish it didn’t all float at the top and blended into the drink.
• It’s non-alcoholic and like the freshest citrus Ginger Ale you’ve ever tasted. Almost like a mojito.

Honey Kulzza – 5/6

• Fresh fluffy bread topped with a sweet spread of honey, tomatoes, coriander and onions seeds RM 18  – about $6CAD
• This is one of Vansh’s signature leavened breads, top sellers and healthier choices

• It tastes like a very soft whole wheat cheese pizza bread with fennel seeds, cumin, and also some yellow split peas.
• It was very good, but barely Indian tasting to me.
• It’s not stringy cheese, but you can taste the cheddar cheese baked right into the bread. Indian style cheese bread is what I’d call it.
• I couldn’t even really taste the honey.
• It’s not traditional Indian food, but modern/Westernized Indian food.

**Bombay Pani Puri – 5/6

• Crunchy semolina puffs with chilled spice water and sweet tamarind chutney RM18  – about $6CAD
• It’s one of their best sellers.
• I’ve never seen these before and I was so excited to try them.
• It’s a refreshing and light common street snack in India. It was like the Indian version of salsa and chips.
• The Puri are these deep fried crispy hollow cups or shells made from semolina and wheat flour.
• The cups are filled with chick peas, sev (a type of dried vermicelli),those tiny fried green peas, and the yellow beans of bean sprouts.

• The Pani is the “water” part – you will the cups with some of the sauce in the middle. There was also what seemed like deep fried mini dough balls in it.
• The sauce tastes like water mixed with tangy tamarind – it’s like a really bland watered down sour and spicy chutney, but it’s supposed to be.

Samosa – 4/6

• Golden pastry with vegetable fillings RM 11  – about $4CAD
• These were stuffed with potato, onions and peas. Another top seller.

• They were very good, crispy and well stuffed but also nothing I haven’t tried before.
• The spices seemed toned down compared to samosas in Vancouver, BC.

Butter Chicken – 3/6

• Tandoor grilled chicken morsels simmered in house tomato gravy RM 34  – about $11CAD
• I’ve had better butter chicken in Vancouver, although it was still good here.
• It was a sweet tomato gravy with some cardamom flavour and definitely not as creamy as the ones we have in Vancouver.
• Butter chicken is not traditional Indian food, but this seemed more Westernized than most.
• There were no onions in it and every Indian recipe starts off with onions almost, so I found it odd.

Dal Tadkewali – 4/6

• Yellow lentils tempered with onion, tomato and cumin, laced with fresh coriander $12 Ringgit – about $4CAD
• This is sooooo cheap.

• It was very creamy, but also a bit bland. There weren’t as many spices again.
• The best part as that it had a few chunks of dates in it which I loved. Not authentic, but a nice modern twist.
• However I’ve had a few home cooked versions so nothing really beats that. 

Deccan Rice – 3/6

• A South Indian specialty of basmati rice cooked with peanuts, tamarind and tempered yellow lentils RM 30 – $10CAD
• This was good, but also not memorable. It’s a top seller.
• The rice was a bit clumpy.

• I could taste some smokey cumin seed and it wasn’t really spicy although it’s meant to be. I wasn’t crazy about it. Just a simple fried Indian rice to go along side my curry.
• I loved the peanuts, although they could have been more toasted to enhance flavour – peanuts in rice isn’t really something to ‘wow’ over though.

**Mixed Fruit Raita – 4/6

• Appetizing light yogurt preparation $10 Ringgit – about $3CAD
• They offer regular, mixed fruit, and vegetable raita – but I was recommended the mixed fruit.
• It was canned mixed fruit (peaches, pears etc.) with some lychee, mango and flavorless canned papaya. I expect fresh fruit especially being in Malaysia – a tropical country!
• It almost tasted like vanilla yogurt, it was tangy but also quite sweet.
• I give it a 4/6 because it’s creative, and it was good but could have been easily better. It went well with my deccan rice.

**Naan – 5/6

• Plain Indian Tandoori naan $8 Ringgit – about $3CAD
• Hot off the real tandoor grill, freshly baked and made upon order.
• This was excellent.
• Very crispy and not too salty but nicely buttered with ghee.

**Garlic Naan – 5/6

• Indian Tandoori garlic naan $8 Ringgit – about $3CAD
• This was great, but I could find just as good in Vancouver.

Dessert

Rasmalai – 5/6

• Cottage cheese dumplings soaked and sweetened with thick milk.
• I don’t even like Indian desserts that much and I’ve had Rasmalai before, but this one was actually better than most.

• It was a very spongy and moist cottage cheese dumpling and it was topped with a little pistachio.
• I could taste a little rose water and cardamom flavour in the sweetened milk it was soaking in. The cheese dumpling absorbed a lot of the flavour.
• It’s wasn’t too sweet and I actually quite enjoyed it.

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