The Quest For Briyani Part 6: Saffrons Cafeteria

Here we at at stop number 6 in our Quest for Briyani series and this time we are visiting a place that we normally visit for something else (not the Briyani) but quite a few readers have been egging us to try the Briyani here. WE HEARD YOU!!! :)

Mutton Briyani Dum ($6.00)

When someone says Saffrons to me, the first things that comes to my mind are Mee Goreng and Prata because that's basically what I almost always have when I go there. I've always seen lots of people ordering the Briyani there but never really thought much about it. Well it seems that a lot of people knew something I dind't and I'm here to find out what it is.

The first thing that hit us as soon as they brought the Briyani to the table was the aroma. Now here was a plate of Briyani which had the strong aroma you'd expect from a power serving of Briyani! We've had Briyani where there was surprisingly no smell at all but this was definitely something else!

Maybe it had something to do with the banana leaf? Well I'm not sure about if it made a difference but it definitely made a good impression.

At first I thought the rice looked kinda dry but boy was I wrong.
The rice was nice and fluffy and full of flavour. The rice was so tasty that I could have gone on eating it without any meat or anything else.

But thankfully, I remembered the meat!

The mutton was absolutely the bomb! The masala gives you a nice strong kick but it doesn't overwhelm you so when you have it with the rice, you can still taste the rice and the masala compliments it. The mutton was tender and easily torn apart with just my fork. Add all that into one satisfying mouthful.

I'm quite confident in saying that this is one place that calls it 'Briyani Dum' and really means it!

The acar and the dalcha only add to a dish that is already delicious on its own.

The acar has a nice tang and spice to it. Don't be afraid of those chillies you see, it's not that spicy.
And the dalcha was simply sublime. I guess one of the reasons it was so good was that they add in some of the lamb fat (tetelan) when they cook it (similar to some of the other places we reviewed) and it seems to make a world of difference. You don't have to eat the fats though! It's already done its job :)

As you can see, I really enjoyed my meal!!!

And of course, finish off with a nice cup of Teh Tarik!

Adam's Verdict:
Mutton Briyani Dum 4.5/5

I know I still have hundreds more places to have Briyani. Half of which have been recommended by you - our beloved readers. Don't worry, I'll try my best to cover as many as I can. But for now, Saffron's is one of the best Briyani's I've had so far.

Just an extra note, we normally eat at the Tampines Saffrons because it's so close but they also have a new outlet at Swan Lake in Opera Estate. And so far, the high standards are upheld at both venues!

Saffrons Cafeteria

23 Swan Lake Avenue

Tel: 9185 0954
www.facebook.com/SaffronsCafeteria

Operating Hours:
8.00am til 10.00pm Daily

Old Town White Coffee Part II

So we visited Old Town White Coffee (OWTC) for the first time awhile back and that was when it had just received its Halal certification.

This time we decided to go back for some breakfast!

Omega Soft Boiled Eggs on Toast ($3.20)

My darling wife tried this when she visited with her friends recently and I've been hooked on the idea of trying it since she sent me a text with a pic of the eggs on toast... Soft-boiled eggs is one thing but double bonus when it's already on the toast!!

First thing I'm going to mention is the bread.
I'm not sure if it was intentional but the toast was a little too... toasted.
I'd even go as far as to say it was bordering on burnt. I'm someone who likes my toast with a little extra char and crisp but it's too much when you have that 'burnt' taste.

But the redeeming factor? The eggs!

These Omega eggs were of top-notch quality.
Big and solid and obviously of a very high-grade, these eggs made it worth the price of the dish.

A little bit of dark soy and pepper and you're all set!

A good question would be how are you gonna eat it?
Do you pick it up? Will the eggs run all over the place if you do? Believe it or not - I actually ate it with a fork and spoon! Cut off a piece and scoop it into the mouth. This way, you get bread and egg in one mouthful and no problems!

Old Town French Toast ($3.40)

Good old French Toast... bread covered in egg and fried and then topped off with peanut butter.
Wait... PEANUT BUTTER?!?!

The menu didn't say anything about peanut butter and it's definitely not a classic recipe to have it on french toast so it was actually a bit of a shock. Especially for my darling wife who doesn't really fancy peanuts...

Oh well, one simply cannot live on bread alone am I right?

Old Town Nasi Lemak with Sambal Sotong ($7.20)

One of the first few things I saw on an OTWC poster was the Nasi Lemak and I've been meaning to try it for the longest time. So even though I had some eggs and toast, I was still hungry enough to have some of their famous Nasi Lemak.

The rice itself was not too bad. Still can be considered quite tasty. I wasn't too impressed with the sambal though. I always prefer my sambal to have a bit more of a sweet taste and not just all chilli.

But I think the worst part was the Sambal Sotong. It is cooked with pretty much the same sambal that comes with your Nasi Lemak and has this really weird texture to it. I know people like their sotong to be soft but this was more like a jelly-like texture.

For the relatively high price of $7.20, I really expected more.

They also have a 'Special' version for an extra $0.40 which comes with Acar Timun (Cucumber Pickle).

Curry Potato Paratha ($3.80)

As you can see (and probably expected), the prata is the instant type which they just need to dry-fry on the grill so it gets warmed up. But to be fair, it is pretty soft.

The curry itself is surprising because it's got some taste despite being very very watery.
But sad news, it's not really a Potato Curry. It's more of a curry with potatoes.
Meaning, they have cooked the potatoes separately and then just added them to the curry probably just before they bring the serving out to you. In fact, you can see the potato at the bottom left of the bowl above still has a dry spot there...

Definitely not a dish worth the price tag.

Oh well, guess you can't win them all.

Old Town Teh Tarik ($2.20)

So I know I'm supposed to be going for the White Coffee which is what they are famous for... but I'm not really the kopi kind of guy lah.. So I decided to have the teh tarik.

And then after I received it, I immediately regretted it. The teh tarik was nothing impressive. Not really full-flavoured and really lacking any milk/sugar taste overall.
Maybe I really should stick to the coffee next time.

PS you can get the iced teh tarik for an extra $0.30.

Adam's Verdict:
Omega Soft Boiled Eggs on Toast 4/5 -- Old Town Nasi Lemak with Sambal Sotong 1.5/5
Old Town Teh Tarik 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Omega Soft Boiled Eggs on Toast 4/5 -- Old Town French Toast 2/5 -- Curry Potato Paratha 2.5/5

Well there are definitely some items worth having at OTWC.
More items to come next time!

Old Town White Coffee

White Sands
No 1 Pasir Ris Central #01-15

Tel: 6584 4404
www.oldtown.my

Operating Hours:
8.00am til 10.30pm Daily