Ansari Briyani Restaurant

I first learnt about Ansari Briyani (along North Bridge Road and near the Sultan Mosque) from PutriBerendam, one of the few surviving Muslim-themed food blogs that I visit very frequently. I saw some promise in Ansari and it was not very long after before I decided to bring fellow bloggers Glenn and Zaylene on a road less travelled to briyani haven.


The menu here is severely limited, intentional I'm sure, and primarily offers chicken and mutton "dum" briyani. In the case of "dum" briyani, the meat has been prepared and cooked together with the rice, and is served within the usually generous heap of basmati rice. I'm quite sure you can't spot the chicken thigh in the picture above, but it is tucked underneath all that rice! The plus point is that the flavours of the rice and meat wouldn't be too disjointed and would instead blend together quite nicely, if done well.

Chicken Briyani


All three of us opted for the Chicken Briyani, which I found quite good given the appropriate type of rice grains used as well as the overall taste and texture of the dish. The rice wasn't too moist or dry at all and so struck a good balance. The chicken was exceptionally moist and tender, just as it were to be if it had been braised for hours.


My sole complaint would be the Dhalca gravy (a type of North Indian curry), which I found a tad too oily and diluted. The lady running the show, Zizie, promised that she would look into it and admitted that the day's dhalca was less than satisfactory by her standards as well. Something for her to work on then.

Service
Very good. Check them out on Facebook!

Price
$7.00 for the chicken dum briyani
$3.00 for specialty iced drinks

Place
753 North Bridge Road,
Further down from Zam Zam and opposite the landmark Sultan Mosque.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.