We tried Singapore’s worst-rated briyani stall

I have been visiting My Briyani House, Marine Cove for years. It’s at a nice location, both close to my home and near the beach at ECP, and the area has a fun vibe. There is indoor and outdoor seating so I can choose between the aircon and the sea breeze, depending on the day. Lovely ambience.

On the other hand, I’ve had some disappointing dining experiences here of late. So, I wasn’t entirely surprised to see that they had a 3-star online rating (on 20 Jun 2023). Of the approximately 350 ratings, 1-star was the most popular choice. There were also 5-star reviews, but not quite as many among the most recent ones.

What happened to this place? It used to be good and now is the worst-rated of the chain; My Briyani House in Sengkang is rated 3.6 stars while My Briyani House (The Woodleigh Mall) sits pretty at 4.0.

What I tried at My Briyani House, Marine Cove

I used to be a fan of the mee goreng here but my last few orders have turned me off what used to be my fave dish. I already knew it isn’t the best thing to order here, so I decided to try some of the other dishes reviewers had written about.

The first of these was the Vegetable Briyani, which doesn’t appear on the menu. I asked for it and was told that it is available… but that they didn’t have it on that day. Strange.

My next choice was the Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis (S$8.50). I was actually not looking forward to this dish— I ordered it the past 3 times I was here and was utterly disappointed. Still, I wanted to give it a try (I always give 4 chances). Unfortunately, the spell was not broken on this visit.

I found the whole thing to be especially bland. It lacked flavour and I was surprised as I hadn’t asked for it to be less spicy. While there was a considerable serving of rice to accompany the ikan bilis, egg, green veggies and cucumber, I find the S$8.50 price tag a bit much.

There was enough rice to feed one-and-a-half persons but only if said persons-and-a-half love terribly ordinary food. This was a 1-star dish.

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Our other order of the evening was the Mutton Biryani (S$10.50). It came with a mountain of rice, a half-boiled egg with sambal, 1 papadum, and a few strips of cucumber. I found the rice fluffy and it went well with the mutton curry, which had a nice kick to it. The curry also had a good consistency— not too thick, not too thin. The letdown was the papadum as it was soft, which is a terrible sin where papadums are concerned.

My dining partners and I did find ourselves liking this dish, a first for the day. Its downside is the price— I cannot imagine that anyone would pay S$10.50 for this dish here. Mind you, I have had more expensive versions of mutton briyani before. While not cheap, they made up for the cost by being memorable for their flavour and premium ingredients.

Here, the dish was simply mediocre and I believe seemed better simply because the Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis was so disappointing. Would I return for the mutton briyani? Yes, only if I had a strong craving for it and did not want to venture too far.

Final thoughts

It’s hard to disagree with the 3-star online rating for My Briyani House. Had the Mutton Briyani been even a tad disappointing, I would have rated it 2.5 stars. The Nasi Goreng and the Mee Goreng I have ordered on recent visits were flops and only pull this restaurant down further.

I have eaten at My Briyani House several times but only because it is open 24 hours, and my cravings usually hit in the middle of the night. I thought, perhaps, that it was me being picky but the 3-star rating validates my own assessment of My Briyani House. 

Expected damage: S$8.50 – $$10.50 per pax

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