Vansh – Feast Village, Starhill Gallery for Regional Indian Cuisine

Vansh....

…….authentically indian, excitingly modern.

Even the humble papadom appeared refined before us. Rolled tightly, regal in a glass & came accompanied with its little trio of sauces.

Whilst the interior of the restaurant depicts nothing of a typical Indian restaurant, soft mimics of its Indian heritage are depicted through Sanskrits embedded around the restaurant. Colours are bold, but the general ambience is casual and relaxing.

We were taken for a culinary exploration of the world of Regional Indian Cuisine. At Vansh, (pronounced as “v-ahn-ch”) the focus is on Tawa (griddle) and Tandoori (Eastern oven) Indian fare from Regional India.

And it did not disappoint. The Tandoori Lamb Chop (RM50), was medium in doneness & amazingly tender with its marinate thoroughly permeated into the meat.

Garlic Naan – RM10. Butter Naan – RM10. Plain Naan – RM10.

All the breads to mop up the delicious curries.

I was in love with the Chicken Tikka Masala – RM35, which was the tandoori marinated chicken cooked with capsicum in a flavourful tomato masala. A little spicy with a sweetish tinge, this is perfect for those opting for a less fiery Indian experience.

Kashmiri Rogan Josh – RM36. An Indian specialty & a must order during any Indian meal. At Vansh, the Rogan Josh boasts of tender lamb cubes simmered in a fennel scented yogurt gravy; resulting in an aromatic & flavourful dish. Again, this was perfect with the naans.

My expectations of food runs proportionate to the prices I pay. For example, why pay RM20 for puri?

Bombay Pani Puri. RM20.

Because it was very well prepared & served with extra care, that’s why. Here, even the humble Puri was given a playful twist, with each little crunchy semolina puffs came served filled with little goodies inside, like the sweet tamarind chutney.

Paneer Tikka Chaat – RM23.
Vansh’s homemade cottage cheese marinated and grilled in tandoor; then sprinkled with traditional chutney was moreish and pleasantly addictive! I liked the nutty flavour and how each cube has a nice coat of tandoor spices coupled with a hint of smokiness from the grill.

“Kebab was introduced to India by the invading armies of Genghis Khan. Chefs from India then turned it into a refined culinary art.”

Kebab sampler platter – RM50.
Chef’s exquisite kebab sampler featuring malmali sheekh, murg malai tikka and tandoori tiger prawn.

The Malmali Sheekh is the long shaped kebab you see above. It is basically tender minced lamb with a curtain of colourful bell peppers, mint and spring onions.
Murg Malai Tikka is chicken, delicately flavoured with fragrant green cardamon and white cheddar marinade. I preferred this among the 3 on the platter. The prawns was the least memorable of them all.

“Briyani originated from Persia, but it held a special place in ancient India.”
Briyani, which means succulent meat simmered in its own juices along with fragrant basmati rice, is a meal cooked on dum.

Lamb Briyani, RM45.
Here at Vansh, the briyani was superbly soft and fluffy, delicately infused with the fragrant spices with the juciest lamb chunks.

An Indian restaurant will not neglect their vegetarian devotees. Vansh offers some vegetarian options such as the Vegetarian Kebab Platter– RM30.
Chef’s exquisite kebab sampler featuring aloo mutter tikki, tandoori mushroom and tandoori paneer tikka.
Aloo – golden potato patties packed with tempered green peas.
Tandoori mushroom: fresh button mushroom wtih herbed cheese marinade.
Tandoori Paneer  Tikka: cubes of indian cottage cheese wrapped in herbal marinade.

More vegetarian options; Chilli Cheese Kulzza – RM20.
Fresh fluffy bread packed with mild yellow cheddar, piquant chilli and fresh coriander. Akin to a herbed cheese naan.

Honey Kulzza – RM20.
Fresh fluffy bread topped with a sweet spread of honey, tomatoes, coriander and onion seeds. This encompassed all the “S” – sweet, savoury & spice!

Indian sweets to end the meal fit for the Indian Maharajahs.

Khajooor Kulfi – RM18.
Homemade frosty flavoured with exotic dates.

Lychee Kulfi – RM18.
Homemade frosty flavoured with exotic lychees.

Pictured below is the refreshing lychee kulfi. But essentially this is an Indian dessert, so it was a tad heavy on the cream & sugar.

Some chai to wash away the guilt cleanse the palate.

A quick judgement of how good an Indian restaurant is (for me at least),  is by how they do their lassi. I look for a thick but slurpable consistency, with rich aroma of fruits (if any were added and BLASPHEMY if they dared to use syrup!) with well – balanced ratio of sugar versus the yogurt. The lassi here at Vansh barely passed the mark of “good”.

Mango Lassi – RM17 .

Since this was an invited tasting session, we sampled in total more than 20 dishes. Missing from the pictures above are the sublime rich Palak Paneer – RM28. I really loved the smooth creamy texture of homemade cottage cheese in fresh spinach. The Lamb Vindaloo -RM38 we had was a velvety preparation of goan spices with tender lamb. I find the samosa, RM15 ordinary.

CONCLUSION: Keep your choices to the palak paneer, the tandoor meats and the briyani.

Note: Vansh means “a new generation within the family“. First developed in Singapore in 2001, Vansh in Singapore is now located at the stadium waterfront- Singapore Indoor Stadium. It is operated by the Rang Mahal Restaurant – the multi-award winning fine dining Indian restaurant located at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore.

VANSH
Tel : 603 – 2142 6162
Mon. – Sun :- 12:00pm – 1:00am

All prices stated are excluding 10% & 5%.

Superb pics here thanks to Marcky & Dylan !!!