It was Valentines Day and my dear partner decided to take some time off work, to take me out for lunch. The both of us were in the mood for some North Indian food and after browsing the net for information, we came across a list – “New restaurants and cafes to check out in February 2020” and in the list was Swaadisht. Considering they offer the very cuisine we were craving for, it sealed the deal. This was where we were heading to for lunch.

swaadisth 2 — Image credit: **Swaadisht KL**

swaadisth — *Image credit: **Bachan Dhillon** via Facebook*

We arrived at lunch hour and it was crowded. It sure seemed to be doing well at peak hour and unfortunately for us, as we did not make any reservations prior to our visit, we were seated at the back – towards the mini bar section because the front was fully occupied. The front had the usual, comfortable tables meant for a proper meal … the back, not really. It mainly include two seater high tables with high chairs and lets just say that it wasn’t the most comfortable experience when eating rice and a bunch of other dishes on it. The table was small and it was crammed. I generally like my space when I am having a meal, this wasn’t ideal for me. So, if you are dropping by during peak hours, do make a reservation/booking – 03 2300 8012 or 012 943 0017, unless u don’t mind the high tables.

Despite being full house, customer service was awesome. They were quick to attend to us. We were given the menu and as soon as we were ready to order, they appeared immediately, which I thought was pretty good considering that the restaurant was fully occupied.

Dum Chicken Biryani, 25 ringgit + Garlic Naan, 9 ringgit + Sarso Da Saag, 16 ringgit

The first dishes to arrive was the Garlic Naan and the Sarso Da Saag . I am crazy about spinach and so, the first thing to go was the vegetable, I ate it all up with much gusto. It wasn’t wet and/or soaked in gravy. No, what it was, was tasty and flavorful. I liked it lots.

Then, the naan. Umm, the naan here isn’t my favorite. It does not matter if I order Garlic or Cheese naan, in most cases, the restaurant usually coat the top part with some butter, just to make sure it is somewhat soft. For thicker roti, this step can be skipped because the thicker dough by itself if done well, should be soft and dense. For thinner roti, like the ones served here, sometimes butter is necessary. Unless the thin roti has achieved a perfect equilibrium between being thin, crispy and yet soft, some butter is necessary. The naan here is thin, which I liked but soft it was not. Thin and dry – it may appeal to some but not me.

On top of that, I had an issue with the garlic. When you order Garlic Naan specifically, you would expect all 4 pieces of the roti to have similar amount of garlic sprinkled on it, right?? What would you do if the piece you get only has one or two tiny garlic bits on it. To some, this may not be a big issue but to me, it was. I specifically ordered this particular naan because I like garlic. My partner and I, we usually share our dishes, which meant that between the two of us, each of us got 2 pieces of roti. This was mine….

If the image isn’t clear enough, the piece on the top is the one with a good amount of garlic on it and the bottom is the piece with hardly any on it. It was as though one piece was garlic naan and the other was plain naan with an accidental piece of garlic on it. So, what I did was call one of the guys, show him my pieces of naan, explained the situation so that he could see for himself what I had to deal with. To me, a piece of naan with one or two tiny pieces of garlic does not qualify as a garlic naan. I conveyed what I felt to this guy and made sure he understood what I meant by pointing out the difference in garlic to roti ratio between the two pieces. I would usually skip this process and instead head home and write about it on the blog. However, ugly past experiences have thought me to be upfront and discuss the situation there and then with the folks of the eatery being present, to prevent us from being accused of lying. So, I made it known to the guy, of which he agreed, said he understood, took my plate with the 2 pieces of roti on it, went back to the kitchen and returned saying they were making another roti for us. We however did not get to taste that roti because we had no time to spare as we had a meeting to attend.

*** To the guy who served us, kudos to you. You handled the situation very well. From the time you took our order and throughout us complaining, you remained cool and calm. Smiling through it all. Keep up the awesome work.

The biryani, I was impressed with the presentation. It looked nice but sadly, we had issues with the biryani too. This I suppose, more so than the naan, is a matter of personal preference. Both my partner and I agreed that the rice was rather dry. In most cases, we don’t need to touch the gravy as the rice itself will be moist, dense and packed with spices. Here however, although there were spices, the rice by itself was rather dry and so, we had to add in the gravy just to make it a lil wetter. The chicken pieces, if I am not mistaken – there were 4 pieces? … that was tasty. My partner further pointed out that the other biryanis that was served after us looked more dense and moist. That I shall not comment on because as far as I am concern, no one really makes a fresh pot of biryani every time someone orders it. Usually, a batch of biryani is cooked in one large pot and every time someone orders it, a little is taken out of that large pot and served. I do not think that the biryanis served were from different batches. I don’t know what to say in regards to the difference in texture. Perhaps it was merely an illusion influenced by the lighting?? or maybe my partner was right?? Maybe different briyanis comes from different batches? Dum Chicken Biryani, Dum Lamb Biryani and Seafood Biryani comes in 3 separate batches.. hence the difference? I don’t know.

We may not revisit Swaadisht. If you guys do pay them a visit, hopefully your experience will be better than ours. After all, they were doing well for lunch, that has to count for something, right?