GEM restaurant had always been on my list of Indian restaurants to try, and I finally got around to eating at their Brickfields branch two weeks ago. If I am not mistaken it also has a restaurant in Petaling Jaya along Jalan Gasing.
One thing to note about GEM is that it is more high end and the menu prices reflect that. You can think of GEM as a semi fine dining restaurant in which their vast menu offers mostly South Indian food.
We started off with one of their signature non-vegetarian appetizers – Prawn Pakora @ RM16.90 served with local chilli sauce as dip. The prawns had a good flavour of spices with a crispy bite after deep fried in a chickpea marination batter.
The Mutton Roganjosh @ RM21.90 is classic Kashmiri lamb curry made with an onion based gravy and spices and topped with chilli oil. It might look really spicy but the spiciness is just enough for you to take notice instead of being punishingly hot. We thought this was nice and enjoyed the tenderness of the boneless mutton.
Another gravy-based dish we had was the Chicken Coconut Curry @ RM20.90. Among the handful of items we tried here, this was the best tasting one despite its unassuming name.
The chicken was nicely cooked to a juicy perfection while the sweet-tasting gravy had a mild spiciness from the green chilli paste. Just one sip of the delicious gravy was enough for us to know that we had to order a naan to dip into it.
So we did. The butter naan @ RM5 here is delightfully thin and amazingly crispy just the way we like it.
And how could we walk out before trying their briyani. The Prawn Briyani @ RM21.90 was not bad but could have been a lot better if only the prawns weren’t overcooked to a dry and rubbery texture.
With only a slight disappointment on the prawn briyani, the overall meal experience at GEM restaurant proved to be a great one. Service wise it was quick but cool with an attitude. The waiter who served our naan literally just threw the plate on our table, then turned around and walked away, lol.
124, Jalan Sambanthan
Brickfields, 50470 KL
Tel: 03-2260 1373
the prawn in veges curry also very nice, very fresh and sweet
A Brickfields stalwart, this calm, air-conditioned restaurant serves good South Indian food, including specialties from Chettinad, Andhra Pradesh and the Malabar coast. The thali is great value.
The picture of rogan josh is not the dish. It’s a north Indian dish cooked with spices and lots of oil (rogan ). Wonder why tamil have to attempt this. Gem’s rogan looks scary and terrible