Guide
Singapore knows and loves briyani — so when guests first meet our chicken mandi, the question comes naturally: how are they different? Both are festive rice dishes built around spice and slow-cooked meat, but they come from different kitchens. Briyani is layered and rich, cooked with ghee and bold masala. Mandi, born in the Arabian Peninsula, is gentler and smokier — rice steamed over the meat’s own juices until every grain carries its flavour.
The magic of mandi is in the cooking: the meat is traditionally slow-roasted until it falls from the bone, then laid over rice that has absorbed its drippings. The result is lighter than briyani, deeply aromatic, and made for sharing — one platter, many hands, no pretension.
At LAYALI our chicken mandi arrives on a generous platter with fragrant rice, perfect for the middle of the table on a family night out. Add a meze spread to start and künefe to finish, and you have the full Kampong Gelam experience — generous and made to be shared.
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Everything we write about, we cook daily — 10:00am to 1:00am at 257 Beach Road, Kampong Gelam. Charcoal-fired, family-owned, five minutes from Bugis MRT.