Firangi Superstar

Firangi Superstar takes its name from the Hindi word for a foreigner, and the whole restaurant is a joke about that outsider's gaze — an affectionate send-up of the colonial-era clubs and railway hotels through which Western visitors historically encountered India. It is laid out as four connected rooms, each dressed as a different set: the Officer's Club, the Old Railway Room, the Elephant Palace and the Jungle Lodge. The effect is theatrical without tipping into kitsch, and it makes the room a genuine occasion venue on a Craig Road strip that is otherwise fairly restrained.

The cooking follows the same logic. Dishes are modern Indian reinterpreted with unexpected global influences rather than regional recreations, and the kitchen is confident enough to be funny about it — the vegetarian section, in particular, is a real strength rather than a couple of obligatory paneer dishes, with plates like the Wada You Want showing off what the kitchen can do without meat.

That willingness to play carries into the drinks, which is what earns the restaurant a place here. Rather than treating non-drinkers as a rounding error, the bar builds named zero-proof drinks with the same spice-forward palette as the food. Tatler Asia has documented the Masalada Colada, a spiced non-alcoholic reading of the piña colada in which the Indian masala vocabulary is used to add warmth and complexity to what is normally a very sweet template, and a strawberry-pistachio sour rounded out with guava and citrus — pistachio being a natural bridge between Indian dessert flavours and the creamy texture a sour needs. Both are constructed drinks that make sense specifically at this restaurant. It is worth confirming what is currently pouring when you arrive, since the drinks list moves with the menu.