Biryani

Serving since December 1985, this brand is known for their well-spiced rendition served in large hearty portions.
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The turmeric stained long-grain basmati rice is fluffy moist loose with gentle grainy sweet spice flavour, enhanced by crisp fried shallots that lend a burst of salty savoury flavour.
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The bone-in mutton chunks are large but so tender, pulling apart easily. Generous in portion, the mutton carries meaty savoury spice flavour, yum.
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I also like that they serve a bowl of curry on the side to enhance your experience with its spicy salty savoury flavour.
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Biryani
Cahaya Timur Briyani House
@ 5 Changi Village Road #01-2013
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

Compared with the more established brands, this relatively newer stall has been garnering rave reviews for their Bangladeshi style rendition, courtesy of co-owner and chef Bepar Sharief.
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Served without curry gravy, the aromatic spice infused basmati rice is delicious on its own, with robust grainy sweet savoury spice flavour. It's light without being overly oily, loose and fluffy to the point of addictive.
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Each plate is also served with chunky tender roasted potatoes, which lend good starchy sweet savoury smoky notes. And crisp fried shallots whose fragrance perfums the dish.
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Tried the highly rated fish version, with tender chunks of flaky basa fish that has sharp spicy salty savoury flavour. Also had the mutton version, where the tender soft meat pulls off easily, carrying bold meaty savoury spice flavour.
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Personally, I consider this to be the silver medal version amongst those I've tried in Singapore.
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Biryani
Briyani 47
@ 3 Saint George's Road #01-67
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

Perhaps some of the appeal of this delicious biryani lies in how rare and challenging it is to get.
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This humble, hole-in-the-wall joint is owned by Chef Hassan Abdul Majeed, whose grandfather founded the legendary Islamic Restaurant at North Bridge Road, a place reowned for their biryani.
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Chef makes nearly everything from scratch, and his labour-intensive 3-stage cooking process means each dish is top notch, though it also limits his menu to only 5 items; all a variation of either biryani or mandi rice.
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His belief that saffron is key, means the dish is generously and luxuriously flavoured, and along with other spices, impart a rich grainy spice sweet savoury flavour to the loose and fluffy basmati rice.
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The large and generous mutton is fall-apart tender, with meaty savoury spice flavour, complimenting the rice. Was so large that chef handed me an additional empty plate for portioning it out.
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Completed with an intensely sour spicy pickles, and a side of curry (although the biryani is good enough on its own).
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Chef only opens for a mere 4-hours for lunch each day, and often sells out before closing. This, along with the limited 12 - 14 seats at the stall, means careful advance planning is needed to dine.
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Still, this biryani is the gold medal standard for me.
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Biryani
Cafe Mariam
@ WIS @ Changi, 116 Changi Road #01-02
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

They serve a unique seafood biryani here, generous in portion and so aromatic.
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The fluffy loose pile of spice infused basmati rice is soft and appetizing with medium grainy sweet savoury spice notes.
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Buried within are chunks of tender flaky boneless basa fish and succulent deshelled shrimp, juicy sweet savoury spice in flavour, yum.
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Reminds me of the luxurious seafood versions I had during my travels in India.
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Biryani
Daawat Tandoori
@ 207 Upper Thomson Road
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

This stall is now run by the 2nd and 3rd generation owner, ever since it started in 1964.
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Dad Hamid and son Hannan frys shallots, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and other spices, infusing the rice with the spice blend along with evaporated milk and ghee.
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Tending towards the softer side with more moisture, the long-grain rice carries mild grainy sweet savoury spice notes.
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The generous chunk of mutton is tender and chewy, better on the outside as it gets slightly dry in the center. Has a nice meaty savoury spice flavour.
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Served with a side of dalcha curry. Among the better versions in the area.
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Biryani
Geylang (Hamid's) Briyani Stall
@ Geylang Serai Market And Food Centre, 1 Geylang Serai #02-146
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

This is, without a doubt, the most flavourful, punchy version of biryani around.
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Serving since 1921, the 3rd generation owners behind this Turkish-royalty inspired version has long-grain basmati rice infused with a secret blend of spices.
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Each mouthful of the loose fluffy grains is a burst of grainy spice sweet savoury, seemingly a complex layer of more than 10 spices. Intense yet addictive.
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The tender chunks of mutton fall apart softly, releasing robust meaty savoury salty spice flavours. Crunchy spiced cucumbers with vegetal sweet spice notes on the side.
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A medium dalcha curry rounds this out, but the rice is tasty enough on its own, and in fact holds more flavour than the curry.
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Little wonder this 100-year old establishment is frequented by royalty and celebrities.
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Biryani
Islamic Restaurant
@ 735 North Bridge Road
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

This popular stall, serving for over 30 years, is reowned for their hearty, delicious biryani.
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Now helmed by the 2nd generation owners, they typically draw a long queue even before they open... and which only grows longer until they sell out, usually within 4 hours.
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Much has been said of their large, generous chunks of mutton. Meaty and tender soft, coming apart easily, each bite carries a bold meaty savoury salty spice flavour.
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Their basmatic rice is fluffy and loose, well tossed and seasoned with a complex blend of spices, including cardamom, cloves, turmeric, and uniquely, pandan / screwpine leaves. This imparts a delicate and enticing floral earthy grainy sweet spice flavour.
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Sliced crunchy pickled cucumbers lend a refreshing vegetal sweet sour contrast, while the bouncy hard boiled egg lends body with eggy sweet notes.
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They serve with a rich dalcha curry, though I find it good enough without, it's tasty as is.
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Biryani
Koothurar Nasi Briyani
@ 17 Beach Road #01-4705
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

This murtabak and biryani speciality stall has been quietly operating for nearly 3 decades, since its founding in March 1994.
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The 2nd and 3rd generation family-run business serve a distinct Singaporean style biryani - lightly spiced basmati rice, with predominant flavour from the spiced meat and curry gravy.
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The rice is alternating fluffy and clumpy, carrying a delicate grainy sweet spice aroma that perfumes the air.
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The richly curried mutton is fall apart tender and moist, with deep meaty savoury salty spice flavour. The pairing of meat and rice is delicious and enticing.
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The outstanding achar, a mix of crunchy juicy cucumbers and pineapple, lend a bright and refreshing contrast with vegetal fruity sweet flavour. Yum.
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Biryani
Marhaba Restaurant
@ 52 Changi Road
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

Established since 1908, this popular eatery is known for specialising in murtabak and biryani, serving well-regarded renditions.
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Uniquely, they offer this beef biryani version of the dish, which is tender with a slight chew, and bold meaty savoury spice flavour from the marinade. Rather satisfying.
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The rice carries a medium grainy spice sweet note, infused with spices such as cardamom, cloves, turmeric, and black pepper; fluffy in parts and clumpy in others, tasty but could do with more stirring.
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Some crunchy spiced cucumbers round this out with bright vegetal sweet spicy flavour.
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Biryani
Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant
@ 697 North Bridge Road
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

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.
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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.
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Cooked dum style, the mutton meat pulls off easily, tender and succulent without being gamey, boldly meaty savoury spice in taste.
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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.
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Completed with a side of creamy raita, the milky sweet sour yoghurt cutting through the richness of this lovely dish.
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Biryani
Bismillah Biryani
@ 50 Dunlop Street
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

Done dum style, with the meat and rice layered together with spices, and cooked for hours.
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They're generous with the portion, the turmeric stained rice being loose and fluffy, light with grainy sweet spice notes.
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The mutton carries a more intense taste profile, bold with meaty savoury salty spice notes, not overly gamey. Comes apart with a light chew.
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Discovered a hard boiled egg buried beneath, a welcome eggy sweet treasure. The crunchy pickled cucumbers lend vegetal sweet sour spicy flavour, while a bowl of mild curry gravy rounds this out.
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Biryani
Yakader Muslim Food
@ Tekka Centre, 665 Buffalo Road #01-259
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html

With a choice of bone-in or boneless chicken, marinated in a blend of 40 spices (including saffron), layered with basmati rice and slow cooked dum style for over 6 hours, this is excellent.
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The biryani rice is richly aromatic, with a fluffy texture and mild spice sweet savoury flavour. Don't need any curry gravy with this, it's delicious enough on its own.
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The chicken meat is tender and moist, yielding easily with bright sweet spice savoury smoky flavour. Crisp fried shallots lend a contrasting crunch and a fragrant earthy spice note. Portion size easily feeds 3 people.
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Biryani
Awadh
@ The Centrepoint, 176 Orchard Road #01-33H
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/04/best-of-singapore-hawkers-biryani.html