Good Times

by Rosy Meek
on Monday, March 31, 2008 12:00 AM

Good Times Dining - Cafe

Stepping into Good Times is a baffling experience. The patchwork tablecloths, garden tool ornaments and 'painting by numbers' pastiches on pinstripe egg-yellow walls create a dizzying dining space. Accompanied by a mega-mix of 'Now That's What I Call Music' circa 1991, and you might find yourself thinking you've stumbled across the Mad Hatter's Tea Party of Shanghai. And the comparison doesn't end there. Dishes are served up in over-sized tea cups and Good Times transcribes itself into a newspaper style menu, complete with enough puzzles to leave dining quiz buffs grinning like the Cheshire cat.

The idea of the newspaper is a thoughtful one; to keep solitary diners company, but it really is quite hard to see the wood for the trees. Once you spotted something edible amongst the jungle of journalese there is an extensive assortment of dishes from across the globe, including Fish and Chips and Stroganoff. But by far the best find is the Southern Indian cuisine which is a world away from its infamous North Indian counterpart. Our waiter made some fantastic suggestions and despite the many external distractions the dishes dominated our dining experience. The Murgh Kathi roll wrapped in an egg paratha with mint yogurt dip was a fantastic first course. To follow, the Chicken Chettinad curry, 58RMB, was similar in style to a Pasanda but much more colourful in terms of flavour and ingredients. The curious Mutton Chilly Spice, also 58RMB, could easily be overlooked on such a sizeable menu. Mutton is not always a popular choice, but it was skillfully prepared giving kudos to the phrase 'mutton dressed as lamb'.

A cousin of both Masala Art and Patiala Pearl, Good Times aims to bring a more global café feel to this Indian restaurant chain but the Southern Indian cuisine is the real headline news here.