You’d expect a plethora of options for banana leaf fare while walking around Little India. But in the vicinity of Bukit Timah – an area well known for million-dollar bungalows and upscale European restaurants – sits a well-known South Indian restaurant minutes away from Bukit Panjang MRT station.
Located at 808/810 Upper Bukit Timah Road, Karu’s Banana Leaf Restaurant has been around for 31 years, though not always at its current location.
Over the past decade, the brand has moved its main outlet back and forth, as well as opened and closed a second outlet because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2016, the eatery shifted to the now-closed Sime Darby Centre in Dunearn Road, but made the unusual move back to its initial locale just three years later, following issues with the landlord.
In April, Karu’s opened a new branch at HomeTeamNS Bukit Batok, a recreation centre dedicated to police and civil defence personnel – though it is also open to the public.
Restaurant owner Subramanyam Nallappan, 58, said he started the first Karu’s restaurant in 1993 along with his brothers.
“They were chefs, and I was interested in cooking, so we always wanted to open a restaurant together,” he said.
“Little India was the obvious choice for the location, but we felt the restaurant pool there was already saturated. We realised the Bukit Timah and Bukit Panjang areas lacked Indian restaurants, leading us to opening Karu’s there.”
Over the years, Karu’s has become known for its signature South Indian dishes such as masala chicken and Mysore mutton, as well as its free flow of rice.
A standard set meal – with an unlimited choice of biryani or white rice, two vegetables, a meat dish and pappadums – costs around $13.50.
The new branch in Bukit Batok, equipped with a bigger kitchen, offers more options, including North Indian dishes such as butter chicken and gobi Manchurian. Garlic naan and butter chicken cost $4 and $14.50 respectively.
In 2016, Karu’s shifted to the Sime Darby Centre due to a lack of kitchen space. It then moved back to the initial location after issues with the new landlord who took over midway into the tenure.
Determined to branch out, Mr Subramanyam opened a new branch at Turf City – also in Bukit Timah – in 2020. But it almost immediately faced challenges borne from the Covid-19 pandemic, and had to draw its shutters permanently in 2022.
Around that time, Karu’s main outlet faced a customer-parking issue when the car park behind the eatery had to make way for a new condominium.
The restaurant and its diners face no such issue at the HomeTeamNS outlet, said Mr Subramanyam.
“At HomeTeamNS, there’s a huge car park where our customers can easily park their cars. There’s a FairPrice just down the lane, so there’s good human traffic here as well. We get a healthy number of customers every day,” he said.
The new outlet has seen a healthy mix of Indian and non-Indian customers since its opening, said the owner, who attributes Karu’s popularity over the years to consistent recipes.
“We have never allowed for a compromise on our quality. We also provide generous portions. I believe this has led us to our success,” he said.
“For now, we don’t have plans to open more outlets. I believe in having two good shops rather than four to five substandard ones.”
