A sudden craving for Biryani (Biriyani, Briyani or Beriani, however you spell it) brought me to Anjappar at Bangsar, a restaurant originating from Chennai that specializes in Chettinad cuisine. Chettinad cuisine is known for heavy use of spices, making it one of the most aromatic in India. And apparently, Anjappar also serves the best Mutton Biryani around according to my Indian colleagues. Well, they should know best.
Unlike our local version of Nasi Briyani that comes in individual claypots, the Biryani here is served traditionally in small steel pots. Cooling red onion Raita (Indian yogury salad) and spicy chicken curry gravy are the usual accompaniments.
Pour the pot’s contents onto the banana leaf provided to reveal the meat and a hard boiled egg. Priced at RM14 each, the portion of mutton in the Mutton Briyani was disappointingly small and consisted mostly bones. But nevertheless, the rice was appetizingly fragrant while the mutton was tender and delicious. I wolfed down everything in just minutes.
The Chicken Biriyani is surprisingly more expensive than the mutton version @ RM16, and the main reason for the price justification is that free range chicken is used. It is a lot spicier compared to the Mutton Biriyani.
Mango Lassi @ RM7, such a wonderful and refreshing drink.
Since our mission was to enjoy mutton, we were somewhat dissatisfied with the amount we had. So, we poked around the menu and ordered Mutton Sukka Varuval, a dish of dry fried mutton cubes with curry leaves, cashew nuts and loads of spices. But first, I need to clarify that it comes in only a small plate (about a palm’s size) and what you see in the pic above is actually a magnified one. That aside, the heavy dose of spices used made it taste really rich and goes excellently well with rice or plain biriyani.
Half Chicken Tandoori here actually means two pieces only, halfed into four portions.
While the drumstick is more succulent, the breast meat portion has a stronger seasoning of tandoori masala, which sort of made up for the dryness. I will admit that I haven’t tasted a lot of Chicken Tandoori, but this would surely go into my book as one of the better ones so far.
Other restaurants usually stinge and even charge you for papadums but you could get it FOC here, just ask for it. The papadums here are freshly prepared to order, paper thin and much crispier compared to the usual ones you see in Nasi Kandar restaurants. And the best thing about them is, they don’t stick to your teeth!
It won’t cost a bomb to have a meal at Anjappar but do keep in mind the food portions are smaller compared to other cuisines because the spices used are usually imported and pricey.
Anjappar Authentic Chettinad Restaurant6, Jalan Maarof,
Bangsar Baru,
59100, Kuala Lumpur.
GPS Coordinates: N3 07.931 E101 40.335
Tel: 03-2282-1508
Heavy spices…. I think me parents will protest if I want some Chettinad cuisine. But of course, the lover of spices in me won’t. :D The spread looks really good
Anjappar brickfields: i had a very bad experience….the counter staff was very rude and he is going to face the consequences……………
bila rindu nak makan roti canai di dubai,,,,anjappar restaurant tempat di tuju,,,,mutton masala,,chicken lolipop,,fish curry….
Heavy spices means that there’s a tendency to chew on 1. Especially those star anise….numb the tongue….
yummm i always like mutton varuval.
there is another chettinad restaurant i frequent, vishal catering somewhere near brickfields.
Wow, looks yummy, nice photography though! =]
There’s another restaurant along Lebuh Ampang, KL that serves Chettinad cuisine. It’s called Betel Leaf. A lil pricey but the quality is there. Check it out if you’re around that area.
you made me hungry again! vkeong
Lol, the Mutton Briyani is only RM14, and somemore at bangsar, of course the mutton portion will be small :p
in my hometown, there’s a restaurant named Chennai, and the mutton briyani cost RM19 , but then the portion of rice to mutton is mutton 45% , rice 65% so well worth la
Briyani is awesome.. I should go check it out one day since I’m near there
First let me accept my ignorance, i really haven’t eaten a lot of Indian food in KL, mostly because as an a person coming from India, I find the food too spicy (really). Secondly I am a big fan of Biriyani, and I have tasted that staff in all the major Indian cities where the biriyani culture matters, cities like Hyderabad, Lucknow or Calcutta. No Biriyani I have ever sampled looks like what you have posted in here. they are quite white with specks of yellow and brown scattered everywhere, really fragrant, but not in a hot way. I am yet to find the proper kind in here, Generally if you are in around 500 metres of where it is cooked, you will know, your nose will lead you there. The food in here looks quite reddish and spicy hot. I am quite doubtful if we get the real thing here in Malaysia at all.
So you must be from India…
You truly seem to be ignorant. This is chettinad cuisine.. This is how the the authentic chettinad biryani is.
I & my 5 family members had a terrible time at Anjappar Bangsar K.Lumpur branch on 25/3@7.20pm with bad service from d cashier cum server.Imagine he can ask us to place the order fast because he need to attend other customers.They should have extra staff not forcing customers to make orders fast..we ordered lime juice & cancelled it but he still send it to our table & said we didn’t cancel it..We ordered 1 Mango lassi & 1 mango juice but he send 2 mango lassi to our table,wen we asked him,he keep on insisting that we ordered 2 mango lassi..We went there to celebrate birthday but end up with full of frustration with this guy.We are not going to such a place again in our life.Very dissapointed with the service.
I think the management should take some actions to avoid all this nonsense in the future.We came all the way from Kajang but went back home with lots of Bad feelings..We have been to this place back in 2010 & 2011,that time it was good with very tasty food but not this time..
We had a similar experience like Gerald. Cashier cum server should really go back to india and should learn how to treat people . He is so stupid. Manager should bring nice person instead of that cashier . We went back home with same bad feelings what gerald had. Foodwise no comments to say. Food is nice.
i have just come back from this restaurant. I almost finished my dishes, suddenly I notice there is a string of hair in the rice….ewww…I already telan everything feeling like want to vomit. Looks like their string moustache probably. I didnt want to complaint cus its pointless talking to the waiter whose language i barely could understand.
forgot to add, its the one in Bangsar I went to
If you want to try the authentic hyderabadi biryani, you should go to ‘Hyderabad Recipes’ near PWTC, adjacent to The Mall..the portions are quite small, as that of Anjappar, but it tastes almost like Hyderabadi biryani, Chicken Biryani, if not mistaken, cost around 14RM