A recent weekday lunchtime saw me being adventurous and I instigated a few of my colleagues to follow me on this jaunt to unchartered territories i.e. Dunlop Street in the quest for the best Dum Biryani. Readers of this blog may remember my previous post on Al Azhar's Dum Briyani.
Anyway, the taxi meandered through the long and winding roads (thanks to all the road diversions caused by the construction of the yet to be finished downtime line MRT) finally getting to our destination - An unassuming shophouse unit opposite Fragrance Hotel at the junction of Perak Road and Dunlop Street. Unassuming if you discount the red banner on top of the shop that proclaims that if you do a google or yahoo search for the best Dum Briyani in Singapore, you would end up here.
We made our way to the corner table in the back nearest to the kitchen area and waited patiently for our orders to be taken by an elderly chinese man, who was busy taking orders and bringing drinks to the occupied tables. This nearly had me doing a double-take to check if we were in the right location. My early apprehensions were laid to rest when I saw the Uncle bringing plates of Biryani and baskets of Papadums to the hungry customers.
Those who know me, know how much I love Mutton so its a no-brainer that I ordered the Mutton Biryani while a few of my companions went for the Chicken Biryani. Pictured below is the Mutton Biryani :
Quite a sizeable portion as you can see, the Basmati rice is garnished with Fried Onion slices and comes with a Hardboiled egg and a small saucer of yogurt chutney ( I think). You don't need to dig much to find the mutton, there were four big chunks of mutton encased in the rice. Close up of a Mutton piece below:
Now to the most important part: The taste! At first glance and taste, you might think it resembles fried rice in some aspects. This rice is "deceptively" spiced i.e. the initial mouthfuls won't make you think it is spicy hot but it grows in intensity the more you eat, a slow burn. The Mutton, on the other hand, is so tender that it almost takes no effort to separate it into smaller pieces with your fork or spoon. The inner parts of the meat are slightly reddish. It is nicely spiced, not overly salty and has a slight sour taste (I'm guessing that there's yogurt in the marinade). The yogurt chutney helps to keep your tastebuds interested and prevent you from getting too "Gelak". Now complement this with papadums and you have a winning combination! You can definitely taste the effort involved in creating this dish.
As a bonus, the dish is not oily and is probably the healthiest Biryani I've tried so far :)
My Colleagues who tried the Chicken Biryani also gave it the thumbs up. When we were paying up, the owner also recommended for us to try the Kebabs, not forgetting to put in the comment that Lonely Planet rated their Kebabs higher than their Biryani! Oh, more things to try in the future. Here's a view of the menu:
A word of warning that this is not the Biryani that most people are used to in Singapore, the kind where the meat is slathered in curry gravy. There is NO curry gravy, ok? The faster you can get that into your head, the better.
Taste Verdict: Definitely a keeper, if you love Dum Biryani, this place comes highly recommended. The Mutton Dum Biryani is excellent but at S$9 a plate isn't cheap (Chicken Biryani is S$7) but considering the effort involved and the sizable portion, it is definitely worth a try. I give it 4 and a half out of 5 stars. Is it THE best Dum Briyani in Singapore? I can't say so till I've tried the competition. But as it stands, it is one worthy candidate.
Where:
Bismillah Biryani
50 Dunlop Street (Located at the junction of Perak Road and Dunlop Street, opposite Fragrance Hotel)
Opening Hours: Daily: 11.30am–3pm, 5.30pm–10pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
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