House Of Briyani

You must have read about this. Syed Mutalib, a former Singapore soccer legend who opened his nasi briyani restaurant at Owen Road near where the legendary coach Uncle Choo Seng Quee once owned a sports shop.

Adorn on the walls at strategic location are photos of Singapore soccer legends in the glory days of the Malaysia Cup which gave Singapore the original Kallang Roar.

This was the legendary team members who brought back the Malaysia Cup after 12 long years. In this team in 1977 were:

(Standing L-R) Hasli Ibrahim, S. Rajagopal, Eric Paine, Quah Kim Song, Mohamed Noh, Syed Mutalib, Samad Allapitchay, Edmund Wee, Robert Sim, Nasir Jalil.

(Squatting L-R) M. Kumar, Gulam Mohamed, Zainal Abideen, Dollah Kassim, Lim Teng Sai, Lim Tang Boon.

We have Andy Yeo, Robert Sim, Ho Kwang Hock, Lim Teng Sai and Quah Kim Song seated and we were already merrily chatting away.

Syed Mutalib, the boss was asking what we wanted and.

There were different types of curry and meat or fish, etc. The briyani here is exotic. Here you can see some of our soccer legends scanning the horizon for their pick of briyani. I was recommended to try the mutton briyani.

S. Rajagopal came later. 

Here was Syed Mutalib helming the the stall like a boss just like the good old days where he helped marshalled Singapore's defence.

A no nonsense defender, Syed have many frequent encounters with the Malaysia Cups' top strikers including the fearsome and legendary Mokhtar Dahari. Here, he has just autographed the book presented to me.

With the signatures of the rest of the legends present too.

I like briyani for the Basmati rice alone and here the rice quality is good. I cannot say that I have tried every briyani in Singapore but boy have I tried some! There are two that I really liked which are Amin's Taj at South Bridge Road which have probably the best fish briyani and Nazeer's at Blk 17 Beach Road that has great curry chicken and generally great curry.

The mutton dum briyani here is very good. Like the other two briyani I have mentioned, it is not oily and the mutton is very tender and blended so well with the gravy, basmati rice and the achar is good. As I was talking to a lot of people I was a little distracted but anyway, it would be difficult to try the other types. There will be another opportunity to try them some day in future.

We all had our food and were busy tucking away as the chats and friendly banter got all over recalling the great moments. Aside from the great soccer dished out, the superb memories of our National Stadium and the Kallang Roar, magical moments in certain matches, the characters, Uncle Choo, the stars, the personalities, the funny side of things that you never heard or knew, the passion, the $10 training allowances and $100 victories - I have the privilege to learn.  

This is  a chapter in our history that all Singaporeans must learn and come to know. Soccer and the Kallang Roar united an entire nation. Workers and students forgot their misery and trooped down to the National Stadium each time there was a Malaysia Cup match and all were united and in unison, shouting and cheering.

Youngsters like I was at the time were hooked with playing soccer and we spent every weekend playing soccer inspired by the stars of the time. Many of us were very fit and many youths were kept out of the streets and elsewhere where they may end up with an unsavoury life. 

In the soccer team were Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians - something truly representative of Singapore. 

It was time for us to part ways. I got some updates on what the guys are doing these days. I asked Kim Song about today's soccer where frequently we see strikers diving or what they called "simulating". Slow motion replay with today's latest camera and technology have shown up some who are recalcitrant.

So in your days, do you dive? Kim Song replied matter of factly: "You see, everyone knew I was fast. If I ran at full speed into the penalty box and if a defender tried to stop me and touched me that would sent me flying." 

Yes, true and of course. As we left, there were more friendly banter outside and then we went our separate ways. Take care our soccer heroes. Till we meet again. I need to try other briyani too.