Totally not in sync with other establishments in terms of layout and interior design, this feels more like an eatery in Little India. But fortunately for those who are living closer to Dempsey than Little India, this place serves decent Indian food to satiate any cravings.
I have been here on several occasions, and this time craving struck while me and The Wife was thinking of where to eat. She wanted to visit the newly opened Henri Charpentier, but being the sensible one, I decided that we needed to get some real food before dessert. (Alas, after this meal was over, so were the operation hours of the dessert shop).
My to-go food here is always biryani.
I love biryani.
Not those who cheat you with Umbrella Thai rice or whatever type of other cheaper rice grains there are.
But actual basmati biryani rice.
Basmati rice really brings out the flavour of the spices used in biryani.
Behold Exhibit A.
That is a quick way to differentiate basmati rice from other types of Asian rice.
My definition of good biryani is that it must be good enough to eat on it's own, without any curry or meat.
If the chefs aren't stingy with the spices, this generally isn't much of an issue. Samy's biryani passes the Lunatic's Test.
But therein lies my dilemma. I like the biryani to be tasty on it's own, but I hate picking out the spices IN the biryani. I like the rice, not the extra bits and pieces of cloves, nutmeg or whatever!
This Lunatic, so hard to please!
Of course, the best way to eat biryani is with curry! LOADS of it!
Sometimes my biryani turns out more like gruel than rice. HEHE.
I always try to go for chicken curry as it compliments the chicken that I usually order with biryani.
The Samy's rendition is pretty decent, not spicy enough to give weak palates a heart attack, yet providing enough oomph for people like me with stronger taste buds.
The daal is pretty bland, but I guess it's more of a distraction, so it doesn't matter. I really like chick peas, so if I were to say I can do without this, it might be a huge signal. Haha.
The Wife had one look at the tandoori chicken and declared that she wanted it. Huge mistake. The meat was dry and didn't have any tandoori taste beyond the outer layer. You can tell my the photo that the inside of the meat is pretty much like eating the breast meat of a very fat roasted chicken. Totally tasteless without any condiments. Order at your own risk!
The masala chicken though was a different story.
Similar to the tandoori chicken in that the flavour did not go all the way in, the redeeming quality of this is that just a little bit of masala enhances every bite. While nowhere near the best masala chicken and not something that would make your jaw drop, it is fundamentally still comfort food.
Remember the free flow biryani? Well they don't allow sharing, and The Wife was denied just 1 mouthful, which got her fuming. She didn't even get to try the rice! Such a pity. As such, she has declared this place to be a no-go in the future as she feels cheated. Honestly, it wasn't like I would have asked for a rice topup anyway.
I didn't even finish the mountain of rice plonked in front of me!
Although I do respect their business standpoint, they could have been slightly more flexible in that aspect.
Looks like I won't be back for quite a while.
Price : About $10 per pax
Address : 25 Dempsey Rd, Singapore 249670
Tel : 6472 2080
Website : www.samyscurry.com
Signing off,
The Lunatic