Came here to celebrate my dad's birthday, i was surprised to see how big the place was cause it seems pretty small from the outside. The restaurant is located on the second and third floor of the building, but the third floor only opens for reservations.
So when i got there, i kept asking myself how come i didn't know this place existed when i sleep less than 1 km from here? the answer might be because:
1. I thought it was a carpet store,
2. My family is not very familiar with indian cuisines. Well, except for the chicken tandoori my mom used to buy every time we go to Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking of the decorations and atmosphere, i loooove this place a lot. The restaurant looks very private, cozy, and intimate, it may suits you if you're going on a romantic date. The main light was dark, but there are lots of chandeliers and fairy lights hanging around the walls. We sat at the non-smoking area where they provide booths for approximately 4 people (though i found it too cramped for me and my family to sit, maybe those booths are meant for super skinny people).
Now let's talk about the food..
For the appetizer we were served a plate of Papadum, a thin and crispy indian savory crepe with 3 different choice of sauces; the red onion pickles, mint chutney, and mango chutney. They served us 6 pieces of papadum, 3 of them were spicy and the other three were the originals. My favorite was the spicy one with the red onion sauce, and since i hate the idea of savories combined with sweets, i detested eating papadum with the mango chutney.
We ordered chicken biryani - 104.000, lamb biryani - 114.000, chicken tandoori 94.000, vegetables samosa - 59.000 & lamb samosa 74.000. (prices in IDR). We only ate half of what we ordered cause we definitely ordered way too much (we didn't expect the portion to be so big. It's totally worth the price).
For the taste, i was actually a little bit disappointed. There are so many good reviews about Kinara on Zomato, they even have lots of certificates of best Indian restaurant hanging on the walls, and maybe, based on that, i expected too much. When i ordered the biryani, i imagined eating a tasteful bowl of middle east rice, but instead, i got a tasteless one (i think they forgot to put salt in it). Other elements in the biryani was good though, my only problem is the lack of salt in it. Then i realized that indian biryani and middle east biryani are supposed to taste different, and my tongue likes the middle east one waaay better. It's not that they serve bad food, it's just because (i think) they serve the real taste of Indian food that are not adapted to the Indonesian taste, which explains why there were many tables with indian guests.
The samosas are OK, i like the vegetable one better than the lamb one. I feel like they stuffed too much minced lamb inside the samosa without adding other ingredients, making it rather a boring dish. They also undercooked it, so i can feel the flour from the samosas skin. For the chicken, i really like it and i don't think there's any complain about it.
So would i come back to eat here again? Well considering the price, portion, taste and (mostly) the place, the answer is definitely yes. Loving the atmosphere in there & longing to go there with some of my closest friends. Definitely would not go there when i crave for biryani (i would've gone to a middle east restaurant), but would come back to eat those chicken and drink a glass of lassi.
Jalan Kemang Raya No.78, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta
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