The Asian Makanstall - Chicken Briyani @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

Update: The Asian Makan Stall has renamed to Onion Mamak Stall and relocated to another stall at the same food centre. The address has been updated at the bottom of this post.

The Asian Makanstall at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre has been around since 2017 but in all honesty, I have not heard of them before.

Their odd location at the food centre might be the reason why people walked by without even realizing they are there as they are hidden from view behind some pillars.

In aquarium speak, the stall is located at a dead water zone where the current (customers) does not flow through.

If it is of any help, the stall is situated at the blue zone of the food centre right next to 二姑糖水, or along the same row as Babas Peranakan.

The stall name is not quite telling as to what they sell but according to Google, the Chinese-owned stall started off selling Fuzhou oyster cake and nasi briyani (chicken/mutton).

Yes, you heard me right. Stalls specializing in Fuzhou oyster cake are usually standalone stalls so it is quite unusual to come across one selling other food items particularly one that is from another ethnicity. 

They have since included rojak, glutinous rice and tau pok pau on the menu.

Sikkander's Briyani @ Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

Sikkander's Briyani is located on the second floor of Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre. I have bookmarked this stall since a very long time ago even way before I planned a food trail here.

This Indian stall specializes in the usual Indian fare like murtabak, thosai, puttu mayam, roti prata and nasi briyani. 

I would have loved to try something new but, my focus today is their chicken briyani.

The reason why their briyani caught my attention was its price point. At $3.50, this has to be the most affordable chicken briyani I know. Even their mutton briyani costs just a little more at $4!

Anyway, this is already my third briyani from Sikkander's since I started checking out this food centre. 

Al Mubarak Restaurant - Chicken Briyani @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

I was visiting the bank in the area so I thought I would drop by Foodclique at blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road for brunch.

I had spent the entire morning waiting at the bank and I was getting hangry. While pondering over what to have from the coffee shop, I saw this huge pot of briyani beckoning to me from the counter-top of Al Mubarak Restaurant, an Indian Muslim stall.

Resistance is futile, they say and I think there is much truth in that as I succumbed to temptation and ordered myself a chicken briyani ($5.50).

My eyes sparkled when the staff removed the lid that was partially covering the pot, revealing the basmati rice together with mutton and chicken in its grandeur.

As I did not had my camera with me, I returned for a second visit within the same week, this time, armed with my trusty camera for a proper review... only to realize that the memory card is still plugged into the computer at home.

I had to depend on my iPhone camera, albeit unwillingly, for the rescue mission.

Mohammed Raffi Muslim Food Stall (Koothurar Nasi Briyani) @ Blk 17 Beach Road

This is actually an accidental find during one of my many trips to Golden Mile Food Centre. I was walking past the coffee shop at Blk 17 when my nose caught a whiff of curry in the air.

Once, I got home, I began googling for "blk 17 beach road curry" and the term "koothurar" turned up. A further search revealed that Johor Kaki, Seth Lui and Dr Leslie Tay have all blogged about this stall before.

Well, this can only mean that a visit to Koothurar is imminent!

Singapore Zam Zam - Mutton Briyani @ 697 North Bridge Road

My visit to Zam Zam was entirely accidental and unplanned. No prior homework was done for my visit to this century-old business specializing in briyani and murtabaks.

I actually ended up here after I took a wrong turn while on my way to Blanco Court Prawn Noodle. I did not even know that Zam Zam was located in this area!

Nevertheless, I carried on my way to have my prawn noodle as that was the main purpose of my trip. After having my noodles, I figured there is still room for a murtabak so I made my way back to Zam Zam which is a two-storey shop house. 

The upper floor is air-conditioned with long tables while the lower floor is the kitchen where all the action took place and with a relatively smaller seating capacity.

Banana Leaf Pork Briyani & Rainbow Prata @ Woodlands Wave 9

Update: Banana Leaf Pork Briyani has permanently closed.

Pork Briyani, anyone? 
 
I know what you are thinking. I could not believe it myself when I first heard of it recently. I got to know about this when a small commotion erupted among the Muslim community on Facebook because they were creating awareness and warning each other to be careful of it.

Although technically not a Malay dish, briyani are usually sold at food stalls run by Indian Muslims therefore I understand their concerns when this dish, which is not Halal, suddenly pops up in their midst.

Initially, I thought the fiasco is about somebody being caught selling pork at a Halal-certified stall but as it turns out, the business owner, who is a  non-Muslim is actually selling the pork briyani at his own non-Halal stall.

After visiting the stall for myself, I must say their worries are redundant. The pork dishes on the menu are clearly labeled and with the image of a sexy sow on the signboard, it is unlikely that any Muslims would have accidentally consume something haram.

Yakader Dum Briyani @ Tekka Centre

 Dum Briyani SGD4.50 with an added hard-boil egg for SGD0.50

All my life, I thought Nasi Briyani is simply Nasi Briyani - a spice-infused rice dish drizzled over with curried meat. The only difference is having either chicken, mutton or fish to go along with your meal.

My first trip to Tekka Centre recently taught me otherwise, as I soon found out that there is another kind called the Dum Briyani where the meat and rice (placed in alternating layers in a pot) are cooked together where the rice stews in the meat juices, absorbing the delicate flavors of the spices and herbs as opposed to Nasi Briyani where the rice and meat were cooked separately.