From Samar to Amirah

It was decided to hold our next Syndicate makan at Amirah’s Grill. Coincidentally, it is just opposite Samar along Bussorah Street! So this is gonna be more like a restaurant and food review. There are two Amirah’s Grill around that area, the older one being along Pahang Street. It was a cool Tuesday night as we trooped into the quaintly decorated double-storey restaurant at about 1930hrs. Leonard and Gabriel were already there. I had the good fortune to get a parking space right IN FRONT of the restaurant! The rest of the guys were still finding places to park. We were led to the 2nd floor and were seated on a row of chairs. Although much smaller than Samar’s 2nd floor, it was just a tastefully decorated and the ambience was just right for an evening of fun, laughter, catching up and camaraderie. There were 2 cozy corners that can sit about 10 persons each just like Samar’s. There were 2 groups of sofas with one having a television set! We looked through the menu as Lit Lam, Roy, Mei Kheng came in. We were later joined by Kamel, Kenny, Jason, William, Jefri and Chris. Only Sean and Willy can’t make it. There was a good spread of food. From the ‘relatively’ cheap $7.90 fish and chips to Turkish kebabs to $20 butter prawns which had the Navy guys licking their chops! To top that off, there was an option for a set meal at $20 each which included soup, pita and dips (hummus and one more that I can’t remember), a main dish and ice-cream/caramel!! Being typical Singaporeans, the 12 of us obviously went for the $20 set meal! The drinks came soon after we had ordered our meals, unlike Samar’s which took ½ for every request! And they were cheaper too! And came in pots…unlike Samar’s! The 2 dips with baskets of pita and bread soon followed. The dips were nice and had a tangy taste to it and were given in generous amounts. Before we had time to finish them, the main course came! I ordered beef steak (well done, that’s how I liked it), while the rest ordered mostly lamb chops and seafood platter. The 2 accompanying slices of potatoes were crisply done…nice! The steak was delicious and I finished every bit of it! I preferred it to be a bit more well done though. Kamel (our resident fighter pilot), offered me a piece of lamb chop just as I was starting to feel bloated…well, who was I to see good food wasted. We carried on talking for another half hour after the food was finished. Roy picked up the tab (from our Crab Kill bounty but that’s another story!) and we left soon after. A simple evening dinner with good friends…In summary, I would return to Amirah again one day (they even have International Buffet at $9.90+! from 1200hrs to 1600hrs every day!), for its ambience, fast service, good and cheap food…