JM Beriani @ Tesco Shah Alam

Last weekend was a busy whirlwind of shopping for the house since there were sales all over town. Had to take a crash course on shower systems and hopefully I got the right combination of items for my dream rainbath shower. Although we were really busy, we did manage to catch two good places over the weekend. One which I can't blog about as the pictures just did not turn out well so hopefully later visits will yield better results. The other place we stumbled upon when we did quick grocery shopping at Tescos Shah Alam.

Being totally unfamiliar with Shah Alam and Subang Jaya eating places, when we were at Tesco Shah Alam, we decided to practise the philosophy of "where the crowd is, the food must be good" theory. Sometimes this theory works really well and sometimes not (especially during peak lunch hours since it could be just bad kitchen planning instead). Since it was almost 4pm when we ate a very late lunch/tea and this JM Beriani place was still packed, we reckon it must be good. Well, the verdict is the food is excellent albeit a bit pricy but then eating nasi beriani is never a cheap affair.

For the uninitiated, nasi beriani/briyani is rice cooked with spices and ghee. The rice grains are fried with the spices and ghee to infuse the flavour. It's then cooked and served with various curries of your choice. There is a variation of the rice known as nasi beriani/briyani gam which is a Johor specialty. The word "gam" indicates a slightly gummy quality to the food served. To make the "gam" variety, the meats and rice is cooked seperately first and just before it's cooked completely, it is steamed together in a banana leaf and muslin cloth. This steeps the rice with the spices from the curry making it sticky and full of flavours.

Both of us had nasi beriani, Splashie Boy's was chicken(RM8.50+) while I had the mutton variety(RM9+). We love the fragrant rice which they used basmati rice grains that came piping hot. The curries which accompanied the rice was very good too and the meats were tender. Sorry for the not so great picture as they usually serve everything in one plate unless you specifically ask for it in seperate plates. They also give you plates of refreshing fresh pineapple to accompany the rice. Besides nasi beriani/briyani, they also serve Mee Bandung, Taufu Bakar, Rojak and etc. The taufu bakar (grilled tofu pouches) must be good too as it was ordered by almost everyone at the restaurant.

I understand this is not their only outlet as they also have a shop around Subang Jaya. We kinda figured out the JM stands for Jamilah and Mustapha, the names of the owners. Besides the normal variety of nasi beriani/briyani, they also serve the "gam" variety. The Nasi Beriani/Briyani Gam Chicken is served on Wednesdays while the Mutton variety is served on Saturdays. Update: I found a review done by the Sun paper on their restaurant in Subang Jaya. Check their history and also pictures of their other signature dishes.

JM Beriani
Lot No. 4
Tesco Shah Alam

Tel No: 03 - 5510 2637

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Nasi Briyani + Malaysian Food