Buddy EJ brought me to Usman Restaurant in Singapore's Little India. EJ had been eating here for nearly 20 years and his raving about Usman's "white nasi briyani" got me excited. I am a nasi briyani fan and had never even heard of "white briyani" before, till now.
Usman Restaurant is located at the intersection of Serangoon Road and Desker Road in Singapore's Little India. This historic precinct is the best place for authentic Indian cuisine in Singapore (Johor and Batam).
A beautiful cheerful wall mural across Desker Road from Usman Restaurant.
Usman was typical of Indian restaurants in Little India, though the corner shop was relatively large. Opening out to the colourful, busy Serangoon Road, the non air conditioned eatery felt spacious and breezy.
They have menu cards and the menu was also on the wall. I always felt a bit lost with so many unfamiliar names of Indian dishes. Usman specialised in Pakistani and north Indian food.
About a dozen curries and dhals (also spelt dal, daal) were on display.
Usman Restaurant serves white briyani on Fridays only. Compared to the "usual" nasi briyani, white briyani looked pale and rather less photogenic.
But hey, white briyani is no sloth in flavour compared to its more colourful cousin. The pale creamy looking fluffy rice tasted deliciously gently savoury sweet from the ghee, herbs, spices and basmati rice. I guess a bit of flavour was infused from the chicken embedded in the rice as well. The ghee gave the rice a rich taste and feel (without feeling greasy). I love this white briyani rice.
But, the chicken though quite tender and moist, tasted a little bland to my taste buds. The white briyani comes with a small dish of flavoursome spicy dhal which gave the dish the required flavour boost.
Usman Restaurant only serves chicken white briyani (there is no beef or lamb versions).
Luckily we got an idea - seeing these paya, curry lamb shanks in the food display, we quickly ordered a couple.
Public domain photo
The lamb shank bones were quite long and high calibre 😄
The gently savoury sweet white briyani and mildly spicy curry lamb shank were a perfect match for us.
The lamb shank had a bit of meat, lots of sinewy tendon, some collagen and plenty of infused mild spice flavours.
Not much marrow inside - it's mostly grainy spice trapped inside the hollow.
Simply shiokadoo. No, shiokadoodoo.
We also had naan - one garlic and one plain - it would be a major crime to leave a good north Indian restaurant without tasting their naan.
The dough of flour, yeast and ghee were kneaded in house and freshly baked in their charcoal fired tandoor oven.
The chewy naan was soo... good together with the spicy haleem, a thick spicy stew of wheat grain, lentil, spices, ghee and meat that packed a quite sharp hot sting (which dissipated quickly).
From the dozen side dishes in the display, we had Aloo Gobi which is curry cauliflower and potato.
Pakora - deep fried fritters of spiced mashed potato wrapped in spiced batter.
Their freshly baked tandoori chicken looked seriously good. Shall definitely try them at my next visit.
Saw another customer having this Chicken Jalfrezi Hot Plate. Couldn't resist popping over for a snap to remind myself to come back for it 😄
The default level of sweetness is very, very high. I couldn't carry on after one sip of the tea. Remember to ask them to cut down the sweetness, if you like less sweet.
👉 There are at least a hundred good authentic Indian restaurants in Singapore's Little India. Usman Restaurant is one which I would like to visit again - I would like to taste their tandoori chicken, palak paneer (cheese and spinach), sizzling Jalfrezi hot plate, and of course, encores of white briyani.
Another review on Usman Restaurant by ijustwantfood 👈 click
My Singapore Little India listing 👈 click
Restaurant name: Usman Restaurant
Address: 238 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218085 (intersection with Desker Road)
GPS: 1°18'35.1"N 103°51'14.5"E 🌐 1.309744, 103.854020
Tel: 6296 8949
Hours: 12:00 noon - 2:00am
Halal
Date visited: 19 Oct 2018
If you want to try cooking chicken white briyani at home 👆
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Enjoyed my meal very much there also. Affordable and delectable!
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