Islamic Restaurant: The Grandaddy of Biryanis!

Mutton Dum Biryani $8.50 (Papadams not included)

I last blogged about Famous Islamic back in 2007 when the blog was barely six months old.  Since then, they have moved further up North Bridge road, dropped the "Famous" from their name, and the given a much needed makeover.

There has been very mixed reactions to this Biryani.  Some people, especially those from overseas seem to love it, whiles a lot of Singaporeans fail to be impressed by it.  My first impression of Famous Islamic was less than stellar, but as you can see from the photo I took in 2007 and the one I posted above, the Biryani looks very different even though the boss, "Prince" Kalil insists that it is the same recipe that has been passed down by his grandfather.


The Iconic Lemonade

His grandfather, M. Abdul Rahman (1886-1949) had been the head chef for the Alsagoffs and used to serve this Turkish-Indian inspired Beryani to foreign guests as a very special dish.  In 1921, he opened Famous Islamic along North Bridge Road which was soon patronized by dignitaries who have eaten the Beryani previously as guests of the Alsagoffs.  Over the last 92 years, the restaurant has served many of Singapore's VVIPs such as the late President Yusoff Ishak as well as ex-President SR Nathan and today is still a favourite haunt of foreign politicians like Malaysian PM Najib Razak .  I guess when politicians are looking for places to eat, the most logical thing to do is to SMS another politician right?  Or maybe they have a private "PM, Presidents and other Politicians" Facebook group where they talk about these more politically mundane, but important life matters.  You think?

Anyway, in order to cater to these VVIPs and other lesser VIPs or even to self-proclaimed IPs and ordinary not IP's who crave a Briyani-in-bed, they have a very special "Dial-a-Beryani" service where you can get Beryani delivered to your place at any time of the day!  The magic number to satisfy that Beryani craving is 62961161 and there is of course a minimum charge for such a service which you have to order in advance.



Anyway, I must say that I found the Biryani much better then when I first blogged them in 2007.  In my last post on Blue Diamond Biryani, I alluded to the fact that I like my Biryani light and not over spiced, so that you can enjoy the fragrance of the Basmati Rice.  And, if it is great Basmati rice you are after, then Islamic serves the best rice I have come across so far.  The grains here are impressive as you can see from the photo above with each grain almost as long as a lady's manicured fingernail!  However, although the texture of the rice was textbook perfect, I felt it still lacked a certain oomph in the flavour and aroma.  The mutton was excellent, though.  They use a very quality lamb which was cooked till tender but still moist and juicy by incorporating a modern combi oven into their traditional cooking methods. 4/5

"Prince" Kalil

Conclusion

There is no doubt that they use quality Basmati Rice and meat here but somehow I still have this niggling feeling that it must have been better in the past. Still, since it is a restaurant which such a long legacy, it certainly behooves any self-confessed foodie to make the pilgrimage there to decide for themselves if they like the Biryani or not.

Islamic Restaurant
745 North Bridge Road
Singapore 198713
62987563
10am to 10pm

Rendezvous Restaurant: Childhood memories of Nasi Padang

Ayam Korma $16.40

I have a few childhood memories of food that I recall very distinctly.  My first meal at Rendezvous is one of them.  It was the first time I ate curry and fell in love with it.  Before Rendezvous, I wouldn't touch curry because I wouldn't eat spicy food, but it was the Ayam Korma which changed all that.

I remember mom insisting that Ayam Korma was a type of curry which was not spicy and persuading me to eat it.  I was hesitant at first, but eventually, when I tried it, I was hooked.  That taste experience is firmly imprinted in my temporal lobes and I have been trying to find that exact same taste again for years.

The other really significant thing about Rendezvous was that it was first time I came across the word "Rendezvous".  Not being as sophisticated as kids are nowadays, my first attempt at pronouncing the French word came out as "Ren Dez Voss", a pronunciation which I still use nowadays, just to irritate my wife and teach the kids some French.

Incidentally, I managed to talk to the 2nd generation owner, Mr Seah King Ming, who told me that the name "Rendezvous" was coined by a friend of his father's at the lawyer's office. The restaurant has been around since 1950 and is arguably the oldest Nasi Padang eatery in Singapore. But the history of the restaurant actually stretches back to before the war.  It started out as Hock Loke Kee which served Western cuisine to cater to the British.  It was after the war and with the gradual withdrawal of the British and Anzac troops that the restaurant decided to introduce Indonesian cuisine to cater to the local population.


Hock Loke Kee before it was renamed Rendezvous

I am sure, many readers would still remember the old restaurant which was located where Hotel Rendezvous now stands.   So famous was Rendezvous restaurant that they named the Hotel after it even though the owners of Rendezvous have no share in the hotel itself.  The restaurant was initially located within the hotel before moving to its present location in Central.

Our group of Kakis were looking for a place to celebrate Soundman's birthday and ended up at Rendezvous.  All of our group of Gen Xers (and Baby Boomer) have been to the old Rendezvous and so our expectations were, understandably, quite high.  I have this theory that nostalgia is the most powerful condiment because I have yet heard anyone say that a present day dish far surpasses that of yesteryear.  The food we used to enjoy in the past would certainly be tastier as the produce would have been fresher and most of it would have been "organic" but I think that its actual taste would have been enhanced by a certain amount of psychological embellishment.  Don't you think so?

Sambal Eggs $3

But even if I discounted the psychological embellishment, I must say that I was less than enthralled by the food at Rendezvous that day.  When the Ayam Korma was served, I managed to detect that familiar smell but alas the taste didn't quite give me that "Anton Ego" moment which I sought.  When I first ate the Ayam Korma years ago, I couldn't stop eating the rice with the gravy.   However, the Ayam Korma that day felt like I was listening to Mozart through my telephone.  3.75/5

I am not sure if it is because I am more accustomed to eating spicy foods now that I am older but the Sambal Eggs in the good old days seemed to be much spicier.  I remember eating them and then having to swallow copious amounts of water.  The sambal seems much less spicy now but still goes very well with the eggs.  Think Nasi Lemak and you can understand that the combination of egg and sambal works remarkably well!  4/5


Beef Rendang $12.60

The Beef Rendang was nice but again I felt that it lacked that extra ooomph especially considering that it is much more expensive than what you can get from the neighbourhood Nasi Padang stall.  The beef was tender but the gravy came across as a lazy pussycat rather then a snarling tiger.  4/5


Brinjal $6.20

The one dish which was commendable was the sambal brinjal.  The brinjal was cooked just nice and I liked how the natural sweetness was balanced by the sambal.  It was the best dish of the day.  4.25/5


Cuttlefish Sambal $12.60

The Cuttlefish Sambal was actually very good except for the fact that the cuttlefish had spent just a little too long on the bain-marie such that they had lost that bounce to the bite.  It would have been a very nice dish if it had just come out of the kitchen.  4/5

Conclusion

I would really like to hear from the old regulars of Rendezvous about what they thought of the food these days.  I have only eaten there after a very long interval so I am not sure if my memories serve me well.  What do you all think of the dishes today?  Have they tweaked it to be less spicy or are they just as good as when they were still in the old place?

Rendezvous Restaurant
The Central #02-72/73
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
Singapore 059817
11am to 9pm daily
63397508
www.rendezvous-hlk.com.sg

Guest Appearance on Singapore Talking: How do we preserve our Hawker Heritage?

In this episode of Singapore Talking, we discuss the topic of how we are going to preserve our Singapore Hawker Culture in the midst of modernization.  Of all the points which we discussed, I think the most interesting and practical point is that we should include Singapore heritage food recipes into our school curriculum.  Why are we teaching our kids how to make muffins in home economics class and not Ang Ku Kueh?  Why are they taught to make a French Omelette instead of Oyster Omelette in our culinary schools?  We really do need to include Singapore Hawker Cuisine as a module when we train our next generation of chefs! 

Here is Part II, Part III, Part IV.

Thanks to Sen for the upload.

Blue Diamond Restaurant: Super Spiced Dum Biryani

Mutton Dum Biryani $6.50

I think there are essentially two schools of foodies when it comes to Nasi Biryani.  There are those who like a heavy Biryani where the spices hit you like a truck and there are others who like the rice to be light and aromatic and decide how much masala they want to eat with each spoonful.  I actually belong to the latter group as I like the light and airy texture of long grained Basmati rice and the natural fragrance which makes real Basmati rice special.

Of all the rice varietals that we commonly eat, only Basmati and Thai Jasmine Rice have that alluring fragrance which, incidentally, is a "freak of nature". Most rice do not have fragrance, but in the case of Basmati and Jasmine, there had been a mutation of a certain gene called BADH2 which causes the production of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, the aroma compound that gives Jasmine rice, Basmatic rice and Pandan leaves its characteristic fragrance.  That explains why people like to cook  Chicken Rice with a knot of Pandan leaves in it to accentuate its fragrance. It also explains why Basmati can also be used for Nasi Lemak as its fragrance can also be accentuated by Pandan leaves and coconut milk.


Individual servings of Biryani in pots to keep warm

But most of us have been conditioned to eat Biryani where the fragrance essentially comes from the spices used in the masala principally because real Basmati rice is quite expensive.  So most shops will not use the top grade Bastmati rice but instead serve the rice with a robust masala.  That is not to say that it is necessarily bad, its just that you miss the essence of what makes Basmati so special.

Now, the Biryani at Blue Diamond is very good, but in the way that each grain of rice is coated with a very well balanced masala.  This shop is a favourite amongst our group of kakis.  The boss, Mr Farook told me that theirs is a real Dum Biryani where the rice and the meat are cooked together in a sealed pot.  He had learnt the recipe from various hotel chefs while he was working in the hotel line for 18 years prior to opening Blue Diamond.

My mutton biryani came with two generous pieces of tender lamb pieces which I have no complains about.  It was well spiced, tender and wasn't gamey.  My other kakis, however, commented that their pieces were more bones than meat.  The rice was coated with a masala which I thought was going to be quite heavy, but turned out to be fragrant and nicely spiced.  My kakis loved the Biryani here.  My personal preference is for the lighter version, but I still quite enjoyed the Biryani as the masala wasn't overly spicy.  4.25/5

Conclusion

If you are mad for masala, then this is the place for you.  The mutton is wonderfully tender and the masala well balanced.  The hard boiled egg sets it apart from the other Biryanis and actually goes quite well with the rest of the dish!

Blue Diamond Restaurant
24-26 Buffalo Road,
Singapore 219791
62911629
9.30am to 10pm daily

D'Bun: Juicy juicy Tua Pau!

I have been on a bit of a pau craze lately.  It all started with me trying to make the perfect pau skin at home.  I had tried it a few times before, but without much success.  Those of you who have tried it before at home might empathize with me.  My pau skin always comes out a bit yellowish and doesn't have that soft, billowy, cottony texture that our local pau possesses.  They are, in fact, more like the ones that Din Tai Feng makes which I never liked.

Liang Kee Teochew Restaurant: Teochew Chef behind the Wok!

Braised Duck $15

I always get excited about restaurants where the Chef also happens to be the owner of the restaurant.  I get even more excited when I find out that the Chef happen to be a 2nd generation owner who has been wokking for the last 30 years.  That usually means that the recipes have all been tried and tested by generations of satisfied customers and the wok has been honed thin by the relentless clanging of wok ladle.

The History and Origins of Yu Sheng: An Editorial

It's true that the press likes to sensationalize things.  There is no better way of getting readers to buy papers then to have headings like "Let's yee sang for another round of food fight" (1)  and then following it up with "Cyberwar of words over dish" (2).  But just who is waging the war?  I have cousins living in Malaysia and when this "war" erupted, I simply called one of them, wished him a Happy Chinese New Year and had a nice, albeit lively debate with him about the origins of Yu Sheng.  I am sure that many of us cross the border to meet up with relatives over Chinese New Year so you can just imagine discussing this topic over a game of Mahjong, can't you?  It's hardly a war and I just want to make it very clear from the start, that I am writing this article simply because I am interested to piece together how Yu Sheng became the cultural icon of our generation.