Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club Tasting Session
3C River Valley Road
#01-10 The Cannery @ Clarke Quay
Opening Hours:
Daily: 12pm - 1am
http://maziga.com.sg/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from Heat Branding, Daniel Food Diary, Hazel Diary, and Fundamentally Flawed.
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| Golgappa Chaat With Chilied Jaljeera Oxide (SGD $12.90) |
North Indian Street Food, Redefined
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 6
Service: 8
Value for Money: 6
Budget about SGD $35 per person.
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Founded in January 2016 by the same owners behind the acclaimed North Indian fine dining restaurant Punjab Grill, the Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club is their fusion cafe and dance club concept. Occupying 2 levels in The Cannery @ Clarke Quay, an intimate casual dining bistro bar serves up modern North Indian reinterpretations of street food on the 1st level, while a lively Bollywood meets Bhangra dance club occupies the 2nd level.
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| Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club Exterior |
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| Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club Interior |
Ambience at Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club is intimate, with the dimly lit interior highlighted by spotlights and shadows. Casual, simple, and functional wooden furniture line the tiled floor, while the bar displays rows upon rows of bottles in the background. The quirky movie poster decor stood out for me, as well as the Tandoor oven repurposed into a table, but otherwise, the overall ambience is decent at best.
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| Poster |
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| Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club Entrance |
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| Bar |
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| Seating |
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| Tandoori Oven Table |
Service at Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club is friendly, professional, and efficient. Am pleased that staff make the effort to engage and check for feedback on your dining experience. They're quick to greet and seat guests, and display excellent product knowledge, not only making recommendations, but also describing each dish when it's served. They come around regularly to top up drinks, as well as clear away empty / dirty plates. Memorable service, will return because of this.
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| Bottles |
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| Bottles |
Food at Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club is distinctly modern fusion, taking classic North Indian dishes and flavours, and presenting them in new, exciting ways that still pay homage to the traditional. Food is generally big and bold in flavour, with attractive plating. Overall execution is decent, with several outstanding dishes. Portions are tapas sized, and meant for sharing, thus, communal dining of at least 3 - 4 people or more is encouraged. Prices are decent for a bistro bar, budget about SGD $35 per person for a good meal here.
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| Tasting Menu Prices |
The Masala Pasta Fries (SGD $9.50) surprised us with its crisp, crunchy texture, and hit of spices. The fusilli pasta noodle strands are coated in a tasty masala spice coating, savoury salty spicy, deep fried, and served with a light salad garnish. Loved it, makes for a great bar snack!
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| Masala Pasta Fries (SGD $9.50) |
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| Masala Pasta Fries |
Absolutely loved the Tava Grilled Bhavnagri Chillies Stuffed With Amul Cheddar Cheese (SGD $9.90), with its smoky savoury grilled chilies, contrasted by smooth creamy sharp cheese. Simple, but the combination works beautifully. Highly recommended!
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| Tava Grilled Bhavnagri Chillies Stuffed With Amul Cheddar Cheese (SGD $9.90) |
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| Tava Grilled Bhavnagri Chillies Stuffed With Amul Cheddar Cheese |
The best thing about the Tandoor Smoked Apple Salad, Crispy Soft Shell Crab (SGD $18.90) was actually the signature smoked apple, with its crisp, juicy texture, and sweet smoky flavour that has a hint of caramelised sugar. The breaded soft shell crab was large, clean-tasting, sweet, and meaty, decent in taste. I preferred eating it with the spiced masala dipping sauce.
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| Tandoor Smoked Apple Salad, Crispy Soft Shell Crab (SGD $18.90) |
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| Tandoor Smoked Apple Salad, Crispy Soft Shell Crab |
The best dish, I felt, was the Sweet & Sour Soya Glazed Tandoori Jerky Lamb Ribs (SGD $24.90). Tender and moist, with fall of the bone lamb meat, coated in a delicious, smoky sweet sour salty glaze. I detect notes of roasted coffee beans and spices within. So good, it's unstoppable. Highly recommended!
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| Sweet & Sour Soya Glazed Tandoori Jerky Lamb Ribs (SGD $24.90) |
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| Sweet & Sour Soya Glazed Tandoori Jerky Lamb Ribs |
Felt the Paneer Chili Tikka (SGD $16.50) was decent. Creamy smooth cubes of paneer cheese, smoky savoury salty in taste, make this a decent vegetarian choice. The little squeeze tubes of mint sauce and sweet & sour sauce make this a playful dining experience.
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| Paneer Chili Tikka (SGD $16.50) |
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| Paneer Chili Tikka |
When we tasted the Wok Masala Fries With Chili And Sweet Glaze (SGD $9.90), we turned to each other and wondered, "How do they make this so good?!". This is among the best potato wedges I've eaten, fluffy hot, coated in a sticky savoury sweet spicy glaze. Perfect bar snack, completely addictive and unstoppable. Highly recommended!
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| Wok Masala Fries With Chili And Sweet Glaze (SGD $9.90) |
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| Wok Masala Fries With Chili And Sweet Glaze |
Possibly the most filling dish, the Chowpatty Beach Ragda Pattie (SGD $13.50) features a stack of large potato patties, coated in a tasty and thick gravy of spices, mint, and tender chickpeas. The crunchy strings of fried onions on top lend a satisfiying crunch. Soft, smooth, easy to eat, but really heavy on the stomach. Best shared.
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| Chowpatty Beach Ragda Pattie (SGD $13.50) |
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| Chowpatty Beach Ragda Pattie |
The Golgappa Chaat With Chilied Jaljeera Oxide (SGD $12.90) is a performance showpiece. Crisp pani puri shells are presented on mini lawn chairs set in a garden, while the chilled jal-jeera / cumin water is kept cool in a test tube submerged in ice. When presented, billowing clouds of dry ice capture the attention. Definitely a wow for presentation. In terms of taste, it's alright, closely resembling similar version I've eaten in India. The crunch of the shell is satisfiying, then you get the sour sharp bitter sweet taste within. Not as memorable in taste, just decent.
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| Golgappa Chaat With Chilied Jaljeera Oxide (SGD $12.90) |
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| Golgappa Chaat With Chilied Jaljeera Oxide |
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| Golgappa Chaat With Chilied Jaljeera Oxide |
The Lamb Galouti Kebab In Maska Pav (SGD $12.50) features a minced lamb patty, in a typical burger bun. Dry, rather forgettable in taste, and let down by the unusually firm fries on the side.
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| Lamb Galouti Kebab In Maska Pav (SGD $12.50) |
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| Lamb Galouti Kebab In Maska Pav |
The Amritsar Fish & Chips (SGD $9.50) features a nicely battered fish, crisp outside, with moist, tender flaky fish meat within that is fresh and savoury sweet. Served with piping hot, fluffy potato wedges. Rather decent dish, albeit small in portion. Love the cute little boat it's served in though.
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| Amritsar Fish & Chips (SGD $9.50) |
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| Amritsar Fish & Chips |
Didn't manage to photograph the Wok-Fried Paneer Tacos (SGD $16.90) in time before it was eaten, so I was left with only 1 piece. But it was a delicious morsel, soft chewy taco shell envelops a smoky savoury salty mashed paneer cheese filling. While it's considered a main dish, I think this would also be a great bar snack for sharing.
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| Wok-Fried Paneer Tacos (SGD $16.90) |
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| Wok-Fried Paneer Tacos |
The Red Snapper In Banana Leaf (SGD $20.50) was delightful. A large, fresh filler of red snapper fish, completely deboned, served on a banana leaf with a light curry gravy. You can taste the fresh sweetness of the fish, layered by the mild savoury taste of the curry. Highly recommended!
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| Red Snapper In Banana Leaf (SGD $20.50) |
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| Red Snapper In Banana Leaf |
East meets West in the Naan Pizza (SGD $12.50), a tantalising slice of naan bread pizza crust topped with savoury smoky tandoori chicken and vegetables. Slight spicy, bold in flavour, this went down well with our group. Good!
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| Naan Pizza (SGD $12.50) |
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| Naan Pizza |
The Masala Chai Kulfi, White Forest Candy Floss (SGD $13.90) is like a little cloud. Fluffy candy floss covers a milky sweet masala chai / tea flavoured kulfi ice cream. This modern North Indian dessert has an intense sweetness, layered with notes of earthy tea. Eat it quickly, as it melts into a puddle really fast!
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| Masala Chai Kulfi, White Forest Candy Floss (SGD $13.90) |
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| Masala Chai Kulfi, White Forest Candy Floss |
The Kulfi Santa Banta Nao Nao (SGD $13.90) feature 2 flavours; a betel leaf flavour, and a pistachio flavour. Of the 2, I personally preferred the nutty earthy sweet taste of the pistachio.
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| Kulfi Santa Banta Nao Nao (SGD $13.90) |
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| Kulfi Santa Banta Nao Nao |
Overall, Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club is a good North Indian casual dining experience, having good service along with decent ambience and food. Best visited in groups, so that you're able to share their tasty bar snacks with others. While the menu at Maziga Cafe & Bollywood Club is fresh and exciting, only time will tell if they can survive in the highly competitive and cutthroat dining scene in Clarke Quay.
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CONVERSATION