Eat for free? these are the words which came through my mind after dining at Annalakshmi this evening. Whats more, this is the place where mum always wanted to dine at for the last month (which in turn resulted in 3-4 unsuccessful Hillstreet visits over the weeks). Uniquely, this is unlike any other restaurant. Firstly as it serves only indian vegetarian food & secondly, it is run all by volunteers. Whats the catch? – There are no prices on menu & you get to pay whatever amount you like! Furthermore, all proceeds will go in benefit for Charity. The spread is relatively good, though I will usually need double the usual serving portions to fill me up. Despite being purely voluntarily, the kitchen is hygienic with an ‘A’ grade in cleanliness. Service was fast, friendly & responsive, moreover the place is very well decorated & furnished with a rather indian palace ambience & distinctive aromatic scent.
The interesting thing is the bill payment part, where you can pay any amount you seem fit. Whats more, even Visa payment options are available though cash is often the popular mode of payment here.
😈 With this, Singaporeans often get to rear their ulgy head – With some paying only $10 for a table of 4. Heard from mum that there are even people paying $2 for a 3 pax full meal. We paid $30 in all for our table of 4 based of the quantity & dishes we ordered & would have even gave more if the food waiting time were to be shorter (Averaging 20mins per order). But its not as if the staff are not doing their job either, often seen frantically running in & out of the kitchen & serving guests during the peak hour dinner period, so I guess we can give & take on that. To avoid that, daily lunch is served buffet style, which will definately be more appealing.
I remembered having a hard time gauging how much to order as I usually base portion sizes off the price in the menu (which is obviously lacking in this case!). Food portions are generally half the standard servings I eat, so its was mostly doubles for me most of the time as a general guide. Food is of good texture & mostly served hot, (no cold dishes on my part). There is no cheap feel to it either, definitely a place to recommend for good indian vegetarian food with a unique twist.
Now I wonder how will it be like if I were to bring my friends over to the place for dinner… will we empty the whole place upside down & pay only $1?
Evil us…
P.S First post on my T4020, whee!
