Little India has been one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Singapore from the time I was a little kid. My Dad, a great lover of South Indian/Tamil breakfast foods inculcated in me a love of the same kind of dishes he adored: kal-thosai (soft, homemade type of thosai), upuma, poori, battura, roti prata (Singapore-speak for paratha) and idlis.
And for the longest time, our family favourite for a South Indian breakfast is Komala Vilas, exactly 70 years old this year, but still up there among the best in Singapore. Komala Vilas elevates vegetarian South Indian food to an art form, and generations of Singaporeans walked through its doors on Serangoon Road, the main thoroughfare of Little India.
My breakfast option this morning was a Masala Thosai - “thosai” is the Tamil (one of Singapore’s 4 official languages besides English, Mandarin & Malay) term for “dosa”, the thin, crisp crepe-like Indian pancake that, to me, is one of the best breakfast options anywhere in the world. The Masala Thosai comes in a rolled-up form, with a dollop of spiced potatoes-onion-carrot-peas filling in the centre.
A standard order of thosai usually comes with a white coconut chutney, a yellow dhal curry, and spicy, orange-hued kara-chutney.
The beverage just has to be Indian milk tea - strong, milky and (unless you specify otherwise when you order) very sugary-sweet.
Hot beverages are usually serve in tall thin metal cups, resting on a shorter, wider metal cup. One pours the hot beverage from one cup into the other repeatedly to “cool off” the beverage before drinking.
Breakfasts at Komala Vilas never disappoint - waiters whom may seem standoffish initially quickly warm up to you. The atmosphere in the restaurant’s closely packed dining rooms (both downstairs and upstairs) is often noisy but convivial.
One other South Indian breakfast spot which quickly became my favourite is Madras New Woodlands on Upper Dickson Road, off Serangoon Road. It’s just a couple of minutes’ walk from Komala Vilas, round the corner. I first came across Madras New Woodlands when I was working for the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation back in 1990. Our TV station was 15 minutes’ drive away , but I loved the food at Madras New Woodlands so much, I actually went there for lunch and dinner daily for 14 days straight!
I ordered a Masala Thosai on that same morning last weekend, just for comparison’s sake. Madras New Woodlands’ version had been even better than Komala Vilas’ and, 27 years later, they maintained that edge effortlessly. The one I got was thinner and crispier than Komala Vilas’ rendition:
Milk tea was just as good as the one at Komala Vilas - very little to differentiate between the two.
Madras New Woodlands is currently undergoing some renovations to make its dining rooms brighter.
Addresses
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Komala Vilas
76-78, Serangoon Road, Singapore 217981 -
Madras New Woodlands
14 Upper Dickson Road, 207474