Muthu’s Curry is like an old friend you can count on. For busy folks like us who are perpetually stuck in the office, this is still one of the best bets for reliable Indian food. The 40-year-old establishment continues to deliver consistently yummy North Indian delicacies without needing you to break your piggy bank, and it helps that their last order is at 10:30pm daily. A good thing too that the décor is inviting—modern finishing with an inviting live cooking station smack in the middle of the floor which will make you feel right at home and at the heart of the action. Arriving way past 10pm meant that we had to miss out on Muthu’s signature curry fish head (which takes at least 30 minutes to prepare), but there was still lots to be had. Vegetarians can choose from a respectable array of non-meat dishes like the chef signature chili paneer (cottage cheese cooked with an assortment of chili and spices, $9.90) and aloo mutter (potatoes and peas cooked with garlic, onion and fennel seeds, $8); with seafood and meat dishes making up the rest of the menu. We opted for the butter chicken ($10) and chili fried crab meat ($9) to go with our staple rice ($3) which comes with complimentary sides of two vegetables and papadum. All our mains pretty much hit the spot: The aloo mutter had just the right amount of spiciness, sweetness and fragrance, while the butter chicken is one of the best we’ve had (trust us, we’ve had many)—its gravy a melding of lime, peppercorn, cinnamon, cloves and of course, butter, which really worked. It was the first time that we’ve tried the chili crab meat of this variation (could well be a specialty here), but it was cooked with just enough pepper for that extra kick and could work fantastically as a starter too. Ditto the chili paneer with its firm cottage cheese texture juxtaposed brilliantly with the variation of sliced capsicum and red chili that accompanied it. Too bad we didn’t have time for desserts such as the signature sweet kulfi, which would have rounded off the meal perfectly. Rest assured that it won’t be long before we’re back (again).
