When someone mentions Chapati in Singapore, I’m guessing that at least 90% of people will tell you to head to Azmi Restaurant. In fact, I can only think of one other place that could probably contend with Azmi’s fame – the old Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. But since that place closed years ago, Azmi Restaurant remains one of the most popular institutions for Chapati in Singapore.
To be very honest, I’d only visited once and that was very very long ago. But I’d always heard stories and seen pictures of people who visited Azmi Restaurant and continued to rave about the food there. In particular, the Chapati and Keema.
So, we headed down not just once but twice to finally have a proper taste of this legend.
The most popular (and what they’re really famous for to be honest) is their Chapati and the classic accompaniment of Keema. I guess there’s something in the simple nature of the meal that still appeals to people. Truth be told it can be quite a rarity these days unless you know where to find a place that makes their Chapati fresh. A place like Azmi Restaurant.
The Chapatis are very affordable at $1 per piece. It’s very worth it because the Chapatis are very filling! Just 1 or 2 would probably be more than enough to fill up an average appetite I reckon. That’s probably because the Chapatis are a little on the thick side…
You can probably see from those last few photos above how thick the Chapatis are. I don’t know if they’ve always been these thick but I don’t hear anyone complaining.
Most vegetable dishes are about $1.50-$2.00 so you can take your pick. They’ve got some really tasty one and we really enjoyed the Lady Fingers and Channa Masala. The Cucumber Achar comes complimetary on the side by the way which is a very nice touch.
You’ll probably have a tougher time deciding on your meat dishes I reckon. The Mutton Keema is always a good (and obvious choice) but let me recommend the Chicken Curry to you. It’s really tasty and the chicken is SUPER tender. Even the breast meat was amazing. You will also spot Fried Chicken and Chicken Masala (which was sold out when we visited). More adventurous diners may wanna try the Goat Brain and Goat Intestines 😀
BONUS ROUND! There’s no way I wasn’t going to just show y’all the Chapati lah right LOL! So I went back a few days later to try out some other dishes and seems like the Briyani is probably the only other main dish available on the menu at Azmi Restaurant.
There’s only the Mutton Briyani which is Briyani Rice served with Mutton Masala on the side. It’s not a Dum Briyani and you can even order the Mutton Masala on the side to enjoy your Briyani at $4.50 a pop. The Briyani rice is very heavily spiced which makes it tasty but this also means a very bold flavour even on its own. And prepare to find some ‘spice treasures’ in there too. The Mutton Masala was great. The mutton was super tender and very very tasty with no gaminess at all.
I could not resist trying the Goat Bone because I saw so many people eating it during our first visit. If you’re thinking of enjoying it like Tulang Merah, you’ll be sorely mistaken. There is little or no meat on the bones and there is no Som-Som within. The key enjoyment point of the Goat Bone is the jelly-like cartilage found around the joints. I know the photos don’t really do it justice but the soft bits were really good. But you’re in for a messy meal for sure because the best way to enjoy is to simply start gnawing on the bone joint 😛
I guess I can see why Azmi Restaurant is so popular. And there may be other place you can get a decent Chapati these days but I think the old-school charm of Azmi Restaurant is a big draw. Sitting in that spot by the corner of the road just having Chapati and watching the busy world pass by.
PS they seem to have opened a 2nd outlet of Azmi Restaurant at Clive Street along Dalhousie Lane. The OG location is still at Norris Road.
AZMI RESTAURANT
168 Serangoon Road
(within Thye Chong Restaurant)
www.azmirestaurant.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Azmichapati
Operating Hours:
10am til 9pm DAILY
This meal we visit ourselves (like macam anonymous ah) and pay own money one.
All information (including prices, availability of item on menu and Halal status of establishment) are accurate at the time of posting. All photos used in this site are property of The Halal Food Blog unless stated otherwise.
