Zhen Xiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (臻香海南鸡饭), BK Eating House @ Jurong Gateway Road

Came across Zhen Xiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (BK Eating House, 134 Jurong Gateway Road, #01-309) by chance while looking for lunch. What decided for me were actually those slabs of pork belly char siew hanging with the chicken in the stall. This turned out to be a pretty good find. Got the poached thigh. Chook was competently smooth and tender, well sauced with a pleasant sesame oil flavour. That and a light but adequately flavoured rice with a lime-y garlicky chilli which had a pleasant heat. That char siew though - was well caramelized, fatty and savoury sweet. Nice.

BBQ drumstick rice from Golden Rooster

Not bad drumstick rice from Golden Rooster. Even though it didn't taste like it was fresh off the...whatever it was they use for their bbq chicken. Portion felt a little small though. Will stick to the half chicken the next time.

Lee Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice (利興海南雞飯), Marine Parade Central Food Centre

Pleasantly surprised at Lee Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice (Marine Parade Central Food Centre, 84 Marine Parade Central). This was an order with poached thigh (白尾) with a side of roast pork - a competent plate featuring sufficiently flavoured rice with smooth tender bird and a nice lime-y garlicky chilli that packed a bit of heat. Soup on the side's sweet from the cabbage and carrots; not bad. What we didn't expect was the smoky roast pork. Arguably tender and yet with sufficient bite and a sandwiched fat layer that was unexpectedly soft.

Looking forward to coming back.

One week later......

Roast thigh (烧尾) with a side of char siew and egg. One can imagine the carcinogenic sweetness on the burnt ends of the char siew. Nice.

Tai Weng Hainanese Chicken Rice (大榮海南鸡饭), Smith Street Food Centre

Half chicken and some livers/hearts from Tai Weng Hainanese Chicken Rice (Yellow Zone, #02-039 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street).

Roast chicken was competent. This one had a different sauce though - it wasn't the usual dousing of sesame oil and light soya sauce. It was something darker. Wondering if they might be similar used in soya sauce chicken.

Serving of livers with some slivers of hearts.

Soup's pretty good; one can taste the chicken in the broth. The only thing I haven't quite decided on was the rice which was dry and grainy - something I don't normally gravitate to. That rice however was adequately flavoured if not salted sufficiently, and was pretty good with their prickly chilli. We'll see about coming back.

Sergeant Chicken Rice, Food Republic @ Breadtalk IHQ

Remember the chicken rice I had at the Food Republic @ Breadtalk IHQ previously? Just found out that they're Sergeant Chicken Rice. A branch of the very same one at Food Opera. Have been back a couple of time since.

They've a Duo Style Chicken Rice which includes both the 白 & 烧 going at $8.50. Eggs cost extra. Not bad but just kinda pricey for an additional serving of protein.

What came across as a better deal was the $7.90 Power Up Chicken Set. Only available at this branch if I'm not mistaken. Extra portion of meat and a choice of either greens or bean sprouts on the side.

Traditional Rui Ji Chicken Rice & Laksa Chicken Noodle (瑞记正宗鸡饭 叻沙鸡面), Hong Lim Food Centre

Don't know if this stall (#02-27 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) has any relation with any of the Swee Kee chicken rice brands around. They're just next door to The Noodle Memories.

Chicken rice was serviceable but not memorable. Rice was light on flavour and not moreish. Chilli's watery and had a pretty run of the mill taste. The soup changes daily apparently and it's Sichuan mustard green today.

Boon Chiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (文昌海南雞飯), Ubi

A decent rendition to be had at Boon Chiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (302 Ubi Ave 1) which featured succulent cuts of dark meat (白尾) and creamy livers with some bits of toasty fried garlic bits. Soup on the side's lotus root - flavourful but not thick. What's not impressive was the rice. Beady textures and pretty mild flavouring. This one falls under the category of don't mind having if I'm in the vicinity, but wouldn't travel here specially for them.

火山 Chicken Rice Wanton Mee, C&L Cafe @ UB. One

Another chicken rice stall has taken over Soon Soon (yes, that hot dog chicken rice stall) right next door to Aneka Ulam. This current one serves a pretty competent rendition and their soup's quite nice.

This was 烧鸡尾 with extra portions of meat.

That's 白鸡尾 + roast pork and egg. Did not expect the chicken jelly there.

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice, Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice has opened a restaurant in town called Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice (B2-36A Ngee Ann CIty, 391 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6900 4320). So they're no longer boneless? 🤔 Anyways, there's a slew of other stuff on the menu other than chicken rice. That seems to be how all these old chicken rice brands that expand end up.

Chicken's pretty decent. Quarter portion was bigger than I imagined.

Chook has jelly beneath the skin.

But it kinda feels a little different from eating them at Tiong Bahru Food Centre.

There's Hainanese crispy pork on menu too. I liked this even though I'm generally not a fan of crispy pork with the exception of the ones from the defunct Blk 38 Curry Rice. These were crispy, lardy and savoury. Loads of crunch and porcine flavour.

Even the curry that accompanied those crispy pork was delicious. 

The pickled mustard green were much more intense than those that I remember from their Tiong Bahru stall.

Bean sprouts quite nice. There're bits of salted fish in it.

Egg.

This outpost has chicken rice made using basmati and Niigata Koshihikari rice. Might come back and try those another time. 

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.