Sansara at Robertson Quay reopens after a revamp, specialises in North Indian royal cuisine

Did you know that roti prata is a dish that doesn’t exist in India? At least, not exactly.

Our roti prata has similarities with the paratha flatbread, but isn’t the same. 

Likewise, a lot of native Indian dishes can look and taste quite different from what we’re accustomed to here.

For anyone that wants to explore more uncommon Indian flavours, restaurants such as Sansara at Robertson Quay are good starting points.

Located in Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Sansara is an under-the-radar restaurant that first opened in 2023. 

What makes it special is the style of cuisine: It prides itself in a contemporary style of North Indian cuisine, which also looks to royal Awadhi cuisine for inspiration.

The restaurant has undergone some changes, and has only recently reopened in August with a new design that’s simple and elegant — it’s apparently inspired by the Taj Mahal!

Sansara’s diverse menu

Although it takes its cue from royal cuisine, Sansara’s menu is not just opulence overload — you also get some humble, but well-done dishes such as the Mutter Darakash Ki Tikki (S$28).

The pan-seared green peas cake is more of a street food and the magic is in how the earthy profile and crunchy crust are perfectly complemented by the smoky, but tangy yoghurt at the side.

One of the must-orders at Sansara is also a rustic staple: The chewy naan (from S$8).

While there are an assortment of permutations, ranging from the timeless plain (S$8) and garlic (S$8) options, to cheese & chilli (S$10) and paneer kulcha (S$10), the wildly unique olive goat cheese (S$12) was the centre of our attention.

As unorthodox as it may sound, Sansara’s ingenious combination of earthy olives, and fresh and aromatic goat cheese make for very addictive bites.

Then, you have more creative spins on familiar flavours, such as the Tali scallops (S$54), in which Sansara aims for a luxurious appetiser using premium Japanese Hokkaido scallops.

It features three huge scallops, which are marinated in light turmeric then seared. 

Honestly, it’s quite pricey for just three pieces and the scallops were inconsistent in doneness — ours arrived quite over-cooked. In our opinion, this is a skippable dish.

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The spice of luxury

Given how Sansara draws on royal cuisine for its menu, we had to try out some of them and the Sansara-Nasila Dungar lal maas (S$40) is a very intriguing one.

The meat curry is traditionally a dish enjoyed by royalty during their hunts, and made with the game they’d caught.

For this, Sansara uses Australian lamb shank and smokes things up with a potpourri of spices, then douses it with a sugarcane rum.

The lamb is tender with nice scores of fattiness, while the curry is tremendously flavourful, especially when imbued with the smoke and a pineapple-like sharpness from the rum.

When we talk about modern luxury though, nothing trumps lobster as a top-tier, premium protein, and the Sailana Shevand (S$65) uses that to its advantage. It riffs off a traditional royal prawn dish, but uses spiny lobster in its place.

The crustacean is well-cooked, but the piquant and sweet tomato-onion gravy is the key to this dish. 

It also goes exceptionally well with Sansara’s olive goat cheese naan!

Ultimately, with its showcase of Indian flavours not commonly found in Singapore, Sansara is probably more suited for those who want to explore more diverse flavours.

Our visit was rather hit-and-miss, but if we were ever to be back, the olive goat cheese naan would be a must-order for us!

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on the photogenic new floral-themed cafe at Orchard and McDonald’s crunchy new McCrispy burger!