Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (天天海南雞飯), Clementi Central

Did not realise that Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice has an outlet at Clementi (450 Clementi Avenue 3) until recently. They're located in the same coffeeshop as Golden Rooster. This was thigh meat for two with eggs, liver and tau kwa. Not bad tasting for the most of it.

Except for their rice which has texture I'm not fan of that their lime-y chilli and fragrant dark soy sauce couldn't save. There's easily a handful of other stalls/shops out there I'd pick over Tian Tian just because of the rice. But I suppose I wouldn't mind eating it if I felt like chicken rice and was in the vicinity.

Chicken rice from Jumboree

Jumboree (#01-02, 26 Tai Seng Street) is a food court by the Jumbo Group. They're at the spot previously occupied by B.E.D.. The zi char stall is run by Jumbo with the rest of stalls formed by tenants of various brandings. Everything can be ordered from QRs on each table and a notification is sent when the order is ready for collection.

This chicken rice was from Bao Zai Chicken Rice (宝仔鸡饭). Pretty good tasting. Comparable to the one nearby at Food Republic. Adequate oiliness in the grains without being excessive and good enough flavour to eat without chilli. Chicken's tender. Chilli was bright, sweet and lime-y. There was pandan in the soup. My only gripe was that the plate was a little pricey for the portion. This was $7 and I could easily down another.

Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice (三龍街海南雞飯), Verdun Road

I've been wanting to try Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice since they time they were just a coffeeshop stall. I know right? The owner has retired, Putien has bought the business over and basically relocated and revamped it into an air conditioned chicken rice restaurant (12 Verdun Road). Now I'm here. No idea if the taste is the same as before,

I like it. Chicken's tender, smooth and has some jelly beneath the skin. Bird's chilled. Rice was adequately flavoured that it's good with or without chilli for me. Speaking of the chilli, this concoction was garlicky without the lime and sugar which most places tend to use for theirs. Nice. Good dark soya sauce used here too.

Chicken liver's not bad.

Eggs be eggs.

I was expecting not to be impressed with the tau pok but it turned out to be pretty good. For some reasons, I kinda liked that hardy/chewy exterior.

Roast (fried actually) chicken was also not bad. If I had to gripe, it'll be their chopping skills for the chook.

Sing Swee Kee (新瑞记), Seah Street

Sing Swee Kee (34-35 Seah Street, tel : +65 6337 7180) is part of the legacy of an old chicken rice institution, Swee Kee, that I'm not familiar with. It's kinda related to Swee Kee along the same road that was previously known as Sin Swee Kee.

Like that shop formerly known as Sin Swee Kee and other chicken rice shops like Boon Tong Kee or Chin Chin & YY Kafei Dian in the vicinity, they serve both chicken rice and zi char.

Their luo han guo longan drink was diluted. Note to self: never get it again.

They have an option for half poached and fried for their half chicken. Decent tasting chooks. I prefer the poached one over the roast/fried one.

There's chicken rice balls too. Something I haven't had since Good Year. Wow, it's been a decade since.

Not bad tasting. The balls were packed densely and well flavoured. This one falls into the category where it's good with or without the chilli. Chilli's not bad by the way. 

This dish was called Hainanese vegetable (海南杂菜). Which was essentially chap chye. Their rendition had fried pork lard and was flavoured with large dried shrimps. Taste was pretty good but I found the cabbage too crunchy. I like my chap chye tender.

Egg and tau kwa. The latter had chewy skin.

This was their chicken collagen broth with fish maw (胶原蛋白鱼漂上汤). The chicken meat inside was stringy and didn't feel like part of the soup. Fish maw's okay. The soup though, was nice.

Kopi c was not bad. Not bad meaning that I enjoyed it and will have no qualms ordering it again if I come back. Decently brewed Hainanese coffee here that wasn't excessively sweet or milky.

Cinta Hainanese Chicken Rice, Sg Hawker @ Changi Terminal 1

Pleasantly surprised by the quality the of the chicken rice from SG Hawker at the transit area of Changi T1. The chicken was tender, chilled and even had a layer of jelly beneath the skin. Not to mention a solid lime-y chilli to go with the rice. 

Pin Sheng Chicken Rice (品勝滑雞飯), Bukit Merah Central Food Centre

Finally got to try Pin Sheng Chicken Rice (#02-51 Bukit Merah Central Food Centre, 163 Bukit Merah Central). If you didn't know what the fuss was about with this stall, word was that the proprietor used to be the head chef at Boon Tong Kee.

All drumsticks today. Meat's exceptional. Smooth and easily slurped off the bone. Reminded me of the chicken from Margaret Drive Chicken Rice. That one that used to be call Sin Kee. 

Tried their char siew and they turned out not bad. They don't look the nicest and it's definitely not the well caramelised and glazed variety that many prefer. This one was unassumingly tender with a light smoky sweet sauce.

Rice was darker than most. Portion feels a little small. Not bad tasting. Fantastic with their lime-y garlicky chilli sauce.

Will come back.

Chicken rice from Food Republic @ Breadtalk IHQ

That's the cheapest $5.50 plate. Not bad tasting. Portion was a little small. The chilli was a little more sweet than it was lime-y.

Revisiting Oriental Kopi @ Bugis Junction

We've been wanting to come back to the local branch of Oriental Kopi. As far as we could tell, there wasn't much difference from their Malaysian counterparts.

Think I like their iced kopi better than the hot one. I get the impression that those iced ones seem to be more robust.

Wanted to have a go with their delicious chicken rice and the lime-y chilli here. Couldn't discern any difference between the one in Malaysia and this one so...as far as I was able to tell, they're both kinda equally good.

Dry mee siam's not bad. It has the same texture as their other bee hoon.

The other thing we wanted to try was their rojak. Underneath the blanket of crushed peanuts were cucumber, turnip, guava and pineapple. I'm not a fan of a couple of things. The rojak sauce wasn't great. And then there's the crunchy you tiao which were like biscuits rather than fried dough fritters.

Water Gate Chicken Rice (水門雞飯), Soy Street, Mongkok

Little did we expect to eat Thai chicken rice in Hong Kong (G/F, 21C Soy Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong, tel : +852 2809 2918). What got us intrigued was likely a combination of them being featured on social media and that we noticed their queue out at the actual shop a couple of times we passed by. 

Not bad tasting. No qualms eating again. It's not exactly the same as the Singapore version but the flavour profile wasn't very different too. Got the combi plate with both poached and fried chicken. The bunch of stuff at 5 o'clock are called giblets on the menu and it consisted of some chicken blood curd, gizzards and intestines. Gizzards were hard and chewy.

Both sauces on the side were nice.

Tried the wagyu boat noodle out of curiosity. According to them it's A5.

Could tell that it was nice fatty beef but I don't think I tasted the A5 in it. Their egg noodle option for the bowl was mee pok rather than the mee kia we were imagining. Broth was sweet, savoury and peppery - not bad tasting but also nowhere in the leagues of what we consider great boat noodle broth.

Decent cha yen.

Xin Man Tang HK Roasted (新满堂港式烧腊), Circuit Road

Xin Man Tang's located at the same coffeeshop as NKS Indian Muslim Food (18B Circuit Road) from a few months back. They're basically a roast meats, chicken rice and wanton noodle stall. Pretty decent tasting greasy plate of chicken rice (I got 鸡尾) here with a lime-y garlicky chilli. The char siew was pretty darn good with the fatty bits and sweet char on the surface.

Dong Dong Hainanese Chicken Rice (東東海南雞飯), People's Park Food Centre

Came across Dong Dong Hainanese Chicken Rice (#01-1110 People’s Park Food Centre, 32 New Market Road) in a recent trip to People's Park. They're apparently a small chain run by the group with brands like Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo and Steamed Society/Gourmet under their umbrella. 

There's a pretty distinctive sesame oil flavour in their saucing for the chicken. Bird was slurp off the bone tender. Rice was a little light on the salt which meant that it's easier pairing with their garlicky lime-y chilli. I thought the pandan-y cabbage/chicken soup was pleasant. Don't mind coming back. 

Chicken rice from Shun Feng Roasted Delights (顺沣港式烧腊)

That's chicken rice with char siew. 😬 Not bad tasting per se and nice lime-y garlicky chilli. The one I prefer and think is better in this vicinity is still Fu Xiang Chicken Rice.

Another chicken rice from Xiang Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice, Porridge and Noodle (香記海南雞飯, 粥, 面)

Been a while since the last time I ate at Xiang Ji. Ended up ordering almost the same thing. Except that this time I got poached chicken thigh instead of the "roasted" one. Here's a picture of a local happy meal. 😬

Back at Ming Kee Chicken Rice (明记鸡饭)

Been a long time since I last had chicken rice at Ming Kee (Kim San Leng Coffee Shop, #01-522, 511 Bishan Steet 13). Taste was like I remembered it. Great flavouring in the rice, tender chilled chicken, a nice burn from their chilli and fragrant dark soy sauce. But otherwise I'm getting the distinct impression that the single serving portion was noticeably smaller than in the past. Pretty sure of it. Seems like they've also done away with the plastic utensils.

Recently at 无名海南鸡饭 (Wu Ming Hainanese Chicken Rice)

We were back at Wu Ming Hainanese Chicken Rice recently. A few things definitely have changed. For a start, the chap who previously peppered his sentences with '他妈的' did not today. 😂 Or rather, he didn't utter a single word the whole time we were there. Rice no longer has the pandan flavour I remembered from the last time and appears to be a little dryer. The chilli that I remembered being at an off balance sweetness was garlicky this time round. The latter two ended up being a fortuitous pairing on hindsight. Today's soup was a pretty good chicken and corn soup. Good because I finished it and I usually aren't into soup with corn.