Long-time readers of Eat the Strip know we have a soft spot for eateries tucked away at the back of grocery stores.

Who knows why, but these mom-and-pop operations usually serve delicious, homecooked and cheap food. They’re hubs for immigrant communities craving food from the motherland. They’re also an excellent opportunity for Ottawans from all walks of life to try authentic dishes you won’t usually find in chain restaurants or downtown.

Tucked away in the back of a Middle Eastern grocery store on Merivale Road, Amma’s Biryani is such a place. We’ve been going there for biryani for a few years now and we’re always happy to go back for more.

On this occasion, we decided to stick to the classics and ordered a chicken biryani and goat biryani, costing $13.49 and $16.99 respectively. While you can find cheaper biryani elsewhere, Amma’s sizeable portions and high-quality ingredients make the price worth it.

We’re greeted by co-owner Nissar, who tells me Amma’s biryani is shaped not just by cuisine of their native Baluchistan, but also during their family’s journeys through Pakistan and the Gulf states of Oman and Dubai.

You can taste this blend of cultures in their food.

Their aromatic biryani is slow-roasted and served with generous portions of bone-in meat. Unlike biryani commonly found in other parts of the Indian subcontinent, Amma’s biryani is less oily and more reliant on the subtle flavours of the fragrant spices, long-grained rice and bone-in meat.

In this case, less is certainly more.

The goat meat is always tender. The rice is flavoured perfectly, with a slight kick because we ask for the spicy variety due to my subcontinental origins. We’re left feeling happily full and almost always with leftovers.