Bismillah Biryani Restaurant - 50 Dunlop St

Heard a lot of publicity regarding "Best Biryani in town" today i got the chance to go there and dine in. The entire dish looks OK but taste was average and texture of the entire dish was very dry. The egg served was cold while the briyani was warm....

Lamb shank biriyani: Personal suggestion is that why pay 5$ more for a lamb shank bone when you can have the same goodness in plain mutton biriyani. It’s no different just the view is more satisfying.

Pricey but their lamb briyani (dum) is indeed well cooked - meat slips off the bone, tender & aromatic. The rice is also rich in spices & “lamb-ness”. Will definitely try their lamb shank the next time. The briyanis are on the drier side, served without the typical laddle of meat curry / daahl curry / side vegetables in SG; It does come with a laddle of yoghurt. Personally, in terms of flavours, Bismillah has not overtaken my go-to briyanis (1 in Tekka market and 1 in Yishun for a good $5-6) but I,m one of those who enjoys that extra modest laddle of meaty masala. That said, the lamb here is really well prepared and it’s not realistic to compare with the hawkers using cheaper mutton to keep prices down. We also had the chicken briyani, grilled mackerel and palak paneer. The fish and the palak paneer were very enjoyable but that wouldn’t be the reason to be here. Lamb trumps the chicken and if you,re already paying restaurant price, might as well… With this years-long procrastinated visit, I finally checked off the “last” acclaimed briyanis in Singapore!

Has the chicken Briyani. Had high hopes as this place was recommended. However, the Briyani tasted average only to me. The chicken meat that was not on the drumstick was tough and dry. Saw quite a number of takeaway orders when dining in though. Self-service concept so no added GST to the price.

This restaurant is featured by the Singapore Airlines as the promotion of a Singapore signature local dish, thus my expectation to this restaurant was really high. The food itself is quite good and the serving size is quite big. Their large portion came with 3 pieces of chicken (thigh, drumstick, and breast). However I do not feel that the chicken dum biryani is more special than biryani in other restaurants.

Biryani (SGD $12.50) @ Bismillah Biryani. . This Michelin Bib Gourmand stall by chef-owner Arif Salahuddin has been regularly regarded as having among the best renditions of this dish since 2008. . Generous with the spice blend and portion size, the heaping plate has morsels of bone-in mutton peeking out from the fluffy mound of spiced basmati rice, crowned with swirls of fried shallots. . Cooked dum style, the mutton meat pulls off easily, tender and succulent without being gamey, boldly meaty savoury spice in taste. . The loose grains of rice separate easily, with the biryani masala spice blend lending a fragrant, non-oily, grainy sweet savoury spice flavour infused into the rice. . Completed with a side of creamy raita, the milky sweet sour yoghurt cutting through the richness of this lovely dish.

To be honest, like I said in other reviews, I have been quiet liberal in giving reviews. But with all the name and fame of this joint, I came by after few years and well, only to be hugely disappointed. Well, interior deco sucks and on top to make things worse the taste sucks as well. I had come with great hopes but really disappointed with the experience and food taste. Experience and ambience doesn’t really matter if the food is great. But I guess, the old magic of this place has withered away. Only good thing was the meat was tender and soft. Hence 2 stars.

The kid mutton biryani was fine — meat was tender and tasty, though could use a bit more salt. Paneer masala was surprisingly better. For all the awards and positive press, our experience fell short of expectations. Seems the place has also seen better days.