I’ve said it before and gratefully (no, not customarily) I’ll say it again. CC is an old friend I’ll never really be able to totally let go of. It’s more of an emotional attachment, though not to the point whereby I’ll refuse to admit its flaws and slightly fallen standard. A little gem in Upper Thomson, bursting with gaudy colour and advertising itself with greasy A3 menus, serving one of the most decent plates of hot, crisp and chewy prata in town. You can read my previous review here.

So. The second official session of Culinary Appreciation Society. Casuarina Curry, our group leader said. Typically when confronted with such a familiar sound, I’d immediately feel a quick tinge of doubt, weighing the pros and cons of such an option. My mind opened its eyes once more to the delectable memories of brown, crisp rectitude. The humble paper prata, with its spongy egg interior and fried, chewy exterior. Couldn’t ask for any more, and frankly, afraid of going against gut-fired impulse.

Us three girls shared chocolate and onion cheese pratas. Clearly, the one above is the wafer-thin, crackly, chocolate neighbour of the tissue paper. I enjoy sitting back and admiring the view of the menu, mentally taking in all the possible cheese/egg/onion/banana (and other such) combinations which these lovely Indian fellows came up with. i can almost imagine them designing the layout and choice of words, throwing connectives such as ‘and’ between words such as ‘mushroom’ and ‘cheese’ out the window to give straightforward and authentic sounding gorge lists. We decided upon those specific two to provide some taste variety; they nicely ticked the savoury and sweet boxes. The only heart-breaking thing, unfortunately, is that they don’t use real melted chocolate. Chocolate tissue paper never was their specialty, lets get straight to it. These guys are famed for their fish head curry, prata, murtabak and thosai, not flimsy, left-of-field inventions to add some chimerical distraction for the children who hopped by with their parents. Clearly it’s Hershey’s Artificial Chocolate Syrup, however the texture is still there, the paper-like consistency still in tact. The texture and infallibility is what I’d be happy to rave about, and not much else.

Onion and I go way back.

This was the onion cheese option. Apologies for the unappealing lighting, but sometimes one has to make do with such case and circumstance. The texture could not be failed, though the onions were unimpressive. I don’t expect a french onion soup texture or specific cutting/caramelising technique, however these onions could definitely have been more caramelised and daintily dealt with. These were unimpressive and pastel to the core, with only a hint of translucency in some. I would have happily waited another 10 minutes if it meant superb onions lying in a formation fit to look part of one of Picasso’s modern day cubism pieces. Square and wilted rectangles hanging in a morose, burnt, submissive state, enveloping each mouthful of crisp stodge and cheese with a great deal of mild sweetness and round earthiness.

Scrunch and crunch.

A flashing note: if there’s any drink to order here, it must be the teh tarik. Forget your kopi or iced milo (which is always diluted at this nook). Just get this creamy, frothy, provocative shade of sienna. Savour and ignore the slight burn on your tongue.

Sweet rendezvous.

Re-rating: 3.7/5

Casuarina Curry

138 Casuarina Road

Tel: 64559093