We’ve covered a fair few Indian eateries on our website, including Kamal’s Restaurant, which offers fried chicken briyani in the CBD, and the Michelin-approved Muthu’s Curry at Farrer Park. Less known is Kalavaraa, a restaurant in Boat Quay that serves Kerala food cooked in a bamboo stem.
The restaurant is best known for its Bamboo Seafood Shellout ($69.90+), which is said to contain generous portions of seafood such as crab and prawns. Many customers love this dish as the shellfish is consistently fresh and well-marinated. Also, what makes this platter so delicious and unique is that the ingredients are served from a bamboo stem, from which the waiter pours the seafood on a banana leaf in front of you!
If this cooking method sounds familiar, you might have come across our Paradise Briyani coverage, which also offers bamboo briyani!
Image credit: Gloria James
Bamboo stems are known to be the traditional cooking vessels of the Keralites. Meat is layered with rice and pressed together to create what is known as the “Puttu”. If you’d like to try this flavourful dish and you’re not dining in a big group, we recommend getting the Malabar Mutton Puttu Briyani ($13.80+).
Image credit: aravindh subramaniam
The Kalavaraa Masala Fish Fry ($17.00+) is another crowd favourite. FYI, this dish is known to be very spicy, so we encourage you to eat it with rice to mellow down the punchy flavours. Else, the crispy and juicy fish is sure to complement any dish you get here!
Image credit: Jamestan Jamestan
End your meal on a sweet note with the Kalavaraa Special Puttu Ice Cream ($15.80+)! This is the restaurant’s take on the food trend in India, where a variety of ice cream flavours is layered into the bamboo stem instead of meat and rice. Kalavaraa’s puttu ice cream combines Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, and Butterscotch ice cream with nuts, caramel, and chocolate syrup drizzled on top.
Kalavaraa is located along a row of shophouses, so parking space may be limited. We recommend taking public transport as it is only a seven-minute walk from Clarke Quay MRT Station or Raffles Place MRT Station.
For more Indian food places in Singapore, check out our review of the award-winning crispy prata from Mohamed Javed Indian Muslim Food! Or if you are in the area, read our Clarke Quay food guide for Korean pocha and Japanese speakeasy.
Address: 12 North Canal Road, #01-01, The Offshore, Singapore 048825
Opening hours: Sun, Tue-Thurs 11am to 10pm, Fri-Sat 11am to 12am
Website
Kalavaraa is not a halal-certified eatery.
Feature image adapted from Suganiya Rajandran and Gloria James