Usman Restaurant, Serangoon Road

Mmm...delicious. I was told to get three things when I came here (238 Serangoon Road, 6296-8949): seekh kebab, haleem, and Lahori-style chicken. I arrived with expectations on all three of them and they generally surprised me. For instance, I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary when it came to the seekh kebabs given how commonplace they are. But when these arrived, I immediately realized why it was that I was told to come here: the visibly obvious presence of chili seeds weaved into the meat, making it pleasantly spicy and fun to eat. Yum.

What surprised me even more was the haleem, or that gooey paste thing in the back. This chicken and lentil thing didn't look like much, so I wasn't expecting anything either. But when I tasted it, it immediately became my favorite thing here. Why? It was so rich and creamy...it was a bit like the stuffing inside a savory chicken pot pie, but with the buttery crust whipped right into it too. I downed that stuff in the blink of an eye.

I had some trouble getting the chicken though. When I first came here for lunch last week, they were only selling your everyday tandoori chicken: you know, the red kind, like in the photo above. But the spicy white Lahori version was not available until after 3 PM. I thus finally made it back today to try it. Its spiciness wasn't in terms of heat, but rather its range of spices. It reminded me a bit of Pollo Campero, albeit punchier and less salty. The cool thing is that these guys are open until 2:30 AM too, so I'm definitely coming back for a late night snack.