Meet Up Part 2

Hey all in the Blogger World!!

I'M COMING BACK TO SINGAPORE AND SO IS KIERAN FOR A REUNION OF SORTS.

I arrive on the 28th, so were all going to be heading out to Bishan, my personal favourite chicken rice hangout. We'll be meeting there at about 9PM, and having alot of beers and chicken rice. i've set myself a goal 5+ plates within an hour, and any monetary support would be appreciated, whether it be for the beer or Chicken Rice. Maybe even the possibility of sponsorship from the Chicken Rice shop themselves ;).

Look forward to seeing anyone and everyone there.

James

$2 chicken rice at toa payoh (Pirom)

I keep on telling james and kieran to update this blog but noooooo their too damn busy.

Anyway, i blame the fact that we're doing our HSCs right now and i should be studying math, ahh well.

Ok, so what we've been doing for the last week was that i went to the national library at Toa Payoh and then walk over to that place where they sell the tasty goren pisang. 80 cents per peice by the way for that. Anyway, we spotted the cheapest chicken rice we've seen so far, for $2 and in the news recently of chicken prices going up, thats a pretty damn plate of chicken rice.

So what do we get? Well, its not terrible, but neither is it great. For $2 its hard to complain. The rice is generally average, with a score of 2.5. Its neither clumpy or over cooked but is lacking in a bit of a taste factor, missing that umaminess that is in some great chicken rice.

The chicken itself was ok also, although twice we had it was kinda dry, so im gonna give it a 2.

The chilli was decent, nothing special, but thats it, besides a cucumber and a very, very average broth, its basic, tastyish enough, but best of all, damn cheap.

So, 2.5 + 2 + 1 = 5.5 heads


So its er... ok i dunno stall name but you cant really miss it. Just look for the banner, its on the left when you embark off the bus stop opposite the construction site.


Ok im not done though, one thing that i feel this store also does pretty well was their chicken laksa. It was tasty, but not too heavy with a mild chilli factor and a fairly tasty sambal to go along with it. Amount of steamed chicken was generous as was the tasty bean curd which i love how it sucks up all that yummy laksa gravy.

Anyway, if your not hankering for chicken rice but you still wanna eat something, get the chicken laksa, $3. I think its worth it and if i could rate it i would give it a 7.5. But thats for another blog isnt it?

My reviews of Parkway parade (Pirom)

*flexes fingers*

Ok, forget English homework which is waaaaaay too hard for me, i have no idea what im looking for... Anyway, i apologize for such a late update considering this was supposed to be done atleast a week ago, school work and becos im lazy, dont judge me. :p

Ok dokey, im using pictures as a guide by the way because i lost that sheet that i wrote down the scores on... Yes, silly me and what not, but i think i can remember the high and low points of each.
Ok, let me upload the photos before i start....

*Uploads pictures and like 10 hours later*

Right, so first up i believe we have


Yep, so its stall 01-144. Ok, erm, i would write more but i really do not remember much from these guys. I think it was pretty much a really average plate of chicken rice, with everything getting a very average score, nothing special, nothing terrible. Their chili i think wasn't bad, it was kinda tasty but that was about the only thing i could recall from this stall. All in all i give them a 6 out of 10, 2 for chicken and rice and a 1.5 for condiments. I THINK (sorry but i really cant remember, but i believe i wrote down that these guys had good rice texture as in mouth feel but the flavour wasnt there. The chicken very maa maa hoo hoo (as J sometimes says).
Not a terrible score, but really there could be room for improvement in all sectors.




Next i think we have Leong Kee Chicken rice. If memory serves me right (Iron chef fans anyone?) this time from what we can see in the photo, they had some decent chicken giving it a 2.5. The rice i think had slightly more flavour then the previous stall but i believe i felt the grains were a bit mushed up from cooking that was slightly careless. The chili here was agreed by all that it was much too spicy and killed the taste of everything, good thing there was sugar cane juice on hand :D I'm in fact tempted to deduct marks for such a bad chili, but i dont think i can... So, all in all, a 2.5 chicken, a 2 rice and a 0.5 condiment.


So, a very very very average place, nothing of interest really...

Qi Le F&B, Ok, this was the most expensive out of the lot being $0.50 (ZOMG) more expensive then the rest. However, it did come with soup and fried garlic bits on the chicken. However, i think this was also the most... industrial chicken rice of all. When i went to the stall they were doing their thing with like 10,000 chickens. Quality overall? I felt this got a 2 for rice and chicken. Condiments was forgettable ill give them a 1 for giving out condiments in the first place. The soup really didnt do much justice considering it tasted more of peanuts then anything else (it was chicken peanut soup that was "free" of charge, gotta love the marketing)
Just like the stall above, overall experience was really mediocre.
A lot too work on, but i think these guys are a chain since they have other branches elsewhere.


Ok, these guys over at Tong Fong Fatt i felt kinda cheated. What do you mean Pirom?! you ask, well, the chicken here came out unnaturally TOO tender amounting too what perhaps might be some use of a little artifical help. If it wasn't the only other way to make chicken tender as pointed out by Tiantianchi on the Makansutra forums, "To make chicken tender and succulent is not so difficult. Blanched in boiling water several time not overcooking them, dump in ice cold water to seal in the juice, but killing the taste. This should explains why your MSG laden sauce is reddish in color. " This is pretty much what happened here, the chicken was heavily overloaded with their concoction of soy sauce and what not. I normally wouldn't mind sauce in whatever form, but too overload it on the chicken means that they've probably done something bad with the bird and are trying to cover it up. The rice i think was pretty forgettable. Chili i think was meh also. Anyway, for the chicken i gave them a 1.5 for kind of cheating, a 2 for rice and a 1 for condiment since... well it was there. So, 4.5 out of 10.
This is not a chicken rice for those that i think are more of the purist types. Unlike James who would go for the "If its tasty its good" i feel one must shine through the harder things as seen in the chicken. By all means though, if you like your chicken REALLY tender and with LOTS of sauce, go for it. Me, I'll stick to Alexandria hawker village thank you.


Ok, so lucky last is Lee Heng. Scott who replaced kirean got this and made the mistake of not asking for breast meat. HOWEVER, the problem is the bony bits that we were given should have in fact tasted better then breast meat. This was not the case (and no it wasnt because of the lack in sauce). Overall, i felt this was on par with the previous stall. The chicken was ultimately bland at the end of the day. However, their saving grace was the rice which i thought had good texture and a decent flavour (not as tasty as the other stall mentioned though). Their chili however was quite interesting as i detected traces of lime juice in each which i felt gave it a very nice citrus tang to the whole composition. So, the verdict is a 1 for chicken, 2.5 for rice and a 2 for chili (i really felt this chili set it above the rest, there wasn't ginger but i felt it wasn't needed here for the chili was really quite excellent) So a 5.5 for everything.
Personally what i would have done is ordered chicken and rice from other stalls and combine their chili with theirs.

So, guys, please work on your chicken and get the flavour going into your rice and you'll have a decent plate.



(Our other reviewer, James in the near aftermath)



(After the battle, note the bloody remains of the chicken and rice)



So that concludes my intake of the Parkway Parade meet. Overall, a fun experince even if non of the places were all that incredible. I would however go back there cos we found this guy selling out Green Lantern comics (who would in ANY situation kick the heejeebies out of Jack Bower from 24). Anyway, i hope you enjoy, and if the stalls are reading this, please take our criticism as suggestions more then anything else, at the end of the day its personal taste and this is what i felt of your plates. Thanks, and stay tune for other updates. (probably in like 10000 years)

Big Day Out (James)

We set out on Saturday the 25th with the intention of trying a whole host of different Chicken Rice stalls and trying and reviewing them all for you to see. When we got there the levels of Chicken Rice available was overwhelming. Not just steamed Chicken Rice either, that was just what we managed to get through. There was numerous other roasted stalls which we may have to try some other time. All in all there were 5 different places all competitively priced at the seemingly standard price of $2.50, at least in the case of the stalls i'll be reviewing.


View Larger Map

I purchased two chicken rice plates from New Leong Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice and Tong Fong Fatt Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice. Overall i had a good experience, but then again who cant have a good experience when it comes to Chicken Rice, and lots of it. as i said before there were FIVE different places.... FIVE. how many times have you been to a hawker and looked around and said to yourself "oh look there are five different places you can get Chicken Rice from. Oh how do i choose, which one should i go to?" well that is the kind of question that outings like ours try to achieve the answer to. We did all the hard work and stretched the limits of our taste to bring you the best of the best from Parkway Parade (although we did find time for a waffle afterwards and personally for me two sweet talks... Hey like pirom said it was a hot day).

Anyway, the reason your all here, the reviews:

New Leong Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice - Overall a good experience from this place. The rice was quite nice and the Chicken was served on a different plate so I could douse the rice with sauce. Some may say that ruins the taste but personally i just like it as i've said before. The rice was quite nice but tended to be a bit cloggy and stuck together. For me that just made it a little less of an experience but you know what? there were another FOUR stalls which we got rice from so I could just mix and match as I choose. The Chicken on the other hand was very nice and wasn't too tender but also wasn't to tough. It had a nice mix. I'd like to add a picture but i accidentally, in my haste to eat the chicken rice forgot to take the picture. No problem though. The food was served on two different plates like I said before with some vegtables on the side. I dont know if that helps you at all but oh well. On the other end of the meal we got some chili with the chicken. Now i've had hot chili before, but this was HOT chili. It kind of ruined the taste a little but in moderation it seemed to go okay. Overall i wasn't entirely impressed with the chili with only one of the stalls chili impressing me. Overall i'd give this stall a reasonably high 6.5/10



Tong Fong Fatt Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice -


This was the last Chicken Rice place we reviewed so it would be easy enough for our tastes to be tainted due to the overwhelming amount we had already eaten. That didn't prove to be a significant problem for this place though. Personally I liked the meal i was given. The rice again was a bit soggy but overall not to bad and i was able to add the sauce. The Chicken was a little too tender but it had a nice taste to it overall. The chili also made a nice addition to the meal. It was different to the others and a little sweeter. There was an overall nice taste to this place and as a result i'm inclined to rank them higher then the previous stall but only by half a head. This was just based on the overall taste of the Chicken Rice as a whole: 7/10



The following is a picture of Scott and Pirom after enjoying a nice couple of serves of Chicken Rice and preparing themselves for the waffle ahead of them




Note: If anyone can recommend a place which has a wide variety of different stalls for us to try submit the name in the comments by all means so we can go out there and provide you with quality reviews, I hope. Thanks for reading and keep viewing for more updates from Pirom and potentially our first guest review from Scott.

Epic... (Pirom)

So I see no one turned up to join us for the 'Meet the chicken rice crew', i have to say i was slightly dissapointed... But anyway, it turned out to be Scott, James and I who did go to Park Way Parade on a rather hot saturday afternoon. Kirean who was supposed to come is sick, so yeah, i guess Scott took his place for today.

James said there were 5 chicken rice stalls at the Parkway parade food court/market, and we all got a chicken rice from each stall; no skin, no bones. Only Scott who is a noob got chicken rice with bones and skin on. (more on this later). All chicken rice cost $2.50 except from one stall ($3 which wasn't that great, more on it later) and came with rice, some times veg and soup.

So this is the line up:

Leong Kee Chicken rice

Stall 01-144 (i think its called Xu Ji Chicken rice, red colour sign)

Lee Heng

Tong Fong Fatt

Qi Le F&B

Overall the experience was interesting and good fun. Its nice to be able to taste and compare chicken rice with all of them together on one table, a congregation of chicken rice. Let me point out now, the chicken rice all here weren't fantastic, some had some good points but were then often let down by their bad sides. Some were just plain crap. The judgement was written on the spot and we did calibirate points carefully, retasting each and comparing one with each other.

Meet the Chicken Rice Crew

This coming weekend the Chicken Rice Crew (Pirom, Kieran and James) will be doing a mass review to make up for the fact that we've been on exams recently and have not been able to do any reviews. On the weekend I went out to Parkway Parade and there was a nice Hawker there with lots of chicken rice places. This will involve a sampling of each independant stall and a review following. I only got to try two of the chicken rice places on the weekend but i'll save the review for when we are all able to do a review. It's going to be a chicken rice crawl if you will. You'll be able to meet the Chicken Rice Crew and in turn be able to join us for some healthy and wholesome chicken rice. The date and time is TBA (although it will likely be this coming weekend) as well as a map detailing location. Stay tuned and subscribe to the RSS feed so you'll be able to see when we update with new information.

Update: We've decided that anyone who comes along will be able to give a brief review with their head ranking which will be posted for the world to see

Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice Alexendria Village Hawker Centre (Pirom)

Thanks to Ieat over at http://ieatishootipost.blogspot.com/index.html for this one. I was over here last week and after wanting to eat that Claypot laksa over at Alexendria Hawker centre i decided to get the chicken rice too. I have to say, i was a bit skeptical with the high 4.6/5 rating from Ieat (too each his own taste i guess) and with that 'C' health rating i was even put back slightly a bit further. But you know what they say, the dirtier it is, the better it will be right?

So, i got my plate, no skin no bone as usual (too keep standards for ratings) which was given to me shortly. The rice i have to say was disappointing; it was soggy and clumpy, with broken grains all over the place. I'm hoping this was a bad day because the rest of it was fantastic. It just such a pity on the damn rice though.

Now, on to the saving grace, the chicken. Oh man i have to say, this has to be the best chicken from any chicken rice stall i've ever have. It was juicy, succulent, moist, tender, and all those perfect things that a piece of steamed chicken need be. It tasted mildly of soy sauce and a bit of sesame oil in it, nothing to over power the chicken as some hawker places do to cover up for some very indecent and steamed badly chicken. This without a doubt beats down every other place i've had so far, a damn fine plate of steamed chicken giving that umami taste, mmmmmm. For me i think this is a near perfect chicken you can get with the perfect chicken perhaps being in heaven or some other dimension.

For this i award my highest rating of a 3.75 heads. Now, i dont have a 3.75 heads so ill round it up and give it a 4 head. (im feeling nice) I really do hope that they can keep up the quality of the chicken every time.

For the rice, the oh so dissapointing rice i have to give only a 1.5 heads, it really sucked that time, i too hope this one a day mistake and they improve upon it.

The condiments were fine, with the chili being nice, not too over powering. They however didnt give me ginger which kinda peeved me a bit, but the chicken being so good i give them a 1.5 for the condiments.

SO, some maths, 4 (chicken) + 1.5 (rice) + 1.5 (condiments) = 7/10



The question is now whether this is better then Pow Sing which i gave a 7.5. Well the thing is, if your a big chicken fan and dont bother about the rice, come here instead. If you want the full experience (and pay slightly more but with air con) then its Pow Sing to go to. Personally i would prefer coming here also because of the bloody tasty Clay pot laksa which i give a 8/10 heads for in tastiness.

Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice
Blk 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1
Alexandra Village Hawker Centre
Stall 01-15
10am to 8pm
Closed on Sundays and Public Hols

5 Star chicken rice, River Valley (pirom)

I did't realise that Ji Fung were related to these guys... anyway, mind you i went at 2 in the morning so i didnt expect much. for $3.50, i felt the chicken was just moist enough with some taste in it... i wasnt impress although i was *ahem* under some alchol influence... The rice was passable also, but what i do like were the condiments, ginger and all. For some reason though, the soy sauce was unnaturally thick which scared me, it tasted fine but wow... it was sludge like.

overall i give these guys a 5.5 out of 10. Its not terrible, but like, it was just... chicken rice i guess. At 2 in the morning...

Xiang Ji Chicken Rice (Holland Village)

Hey everyone, I know our hundreds of fans have been dying to get a review from Kieran so here it is:

Just down in Holland Village Hawker lies a little chicken rice place. It sits on the corner of the center and from what I've seen, primary makes roasted chicken rice. This place is what could be seen as my local. I come here most Saturdays lunch times during exams as a little treat. You may be saying "Kieran... just because you go there a lot doesn't make it good chicken rice" and I will agree with you which is why I will be tough marker with this place:

Just to be harsh to begin with I will start from the bad points and work my way up to some of the better factors of this stall.

(Just a note: I am attempting to mark harshly to allow room for excellent chicken rice. I will be following Pirom's scale)

- CONSISTENCY: consistency always seems to be the failing factor in most chicken rice restaurants. Holland Village chicken rice tends to be no exception sadly. For me it has been consistent when I've gone by myself but for some reason they always let me down when I bring friends there. Every time I decide to bring James and Pirom they let themselves down. Despite the consistency factor there are many other factors to look forward to on a 'good day'. -1 points

- CHICKEN: Chicken for the most part is tender and succulent. There have been very few times that I have visited and received bad chicken. The chicken is served in a rather generous quantity, specially considering the quality. Now I would like to point out that if you catch this place on a 'good day' the chicken you will get is top of the line... one could say the best way to describe it when it's good would be AWESOME. 3/4 for chicken (assuming it is always a good day)

- RICE: The good old rice. The rice at Xiang Ji is generally very good. It is tasteful and fluffy. I have visited very few times when the rice is not nice. Never too dry the rice is perfect to eat alone or with extras such as chili. And thats all I have to say about that. 3/4

- CONDIMENTS: Ah where would we be without condiments. I don't really have much to say about these. The Chili is pretty spicy not too chunky and doesn't distract you from your chicken rice which is how I prefer it. The Dark Sauce is perfect and they also offer ginger. I believe when I brought Pirom to visit he commented that the ginger was not great... BUT POINTS FOR TRYING! 1/2

Time for maths:
Consistency : -1
Chicken : 3
Rice : 3
Condiments: 1



That gives us the nice rounded number of 6/10 for Xiang Ji Chicken Rice Holland Village. Now remember; I attempted to mark harshly with this ( Sorry guys that know me there ) but 6/10 is pretty damn good in my books. Please go and try it if you're in the area and if it's not good.... try it again the next day.

Oh, almost forgot, visit at lunch times as per normal with most chicken rice stalls.

Here we go with my slogan: And remember you can't spell chicken rice... with out chicken and rice.... ? at least i tried...

Thanks for reading.

Ji Fung Hainanese Restaurant (Serangoon Gardens)

Before going to Pow Sing for dinner as we were waiting for everyone else, James and i decided to have an early snack and saw Ji Fung open and selling chicken rice. It advertised 100% Kumpong chicken which is always good as this type of chicken, although smaller usually taste better. Upon further investigation, we found there was no price which seemed a bit dodgy, but nevermind, we decided to try it anyway.

So i decided to test their chicken out, and lo and behold, here is a chicken which taste above the rest. Moist and tender, the chicken here had a slight sweetness to it which i felt was not from any soy sauce but was perhaps truly from the kumpong chicken that it was. There really isn't much else to say except i really did feel this is a much better chicken then the others, Pow Sing, Ming Kee and definitely Boon Tong Kee. I give these guys a 3.5 heads for chicken, pretty damn good i reckon.

A pity the rice didn't match up as well, like i said it tasted a bit like Pow Sing's chicken rice (across the road...) and was a bit clumpy with quite a few broken grains, although perhaps not affecting total dish quality at the most, it really shows upon the care taken by the cooks. 2 heads for rice.

Condiments however were a mixed batch for me. I felt the ginger (yay) was good with some seasoning in it, possibly a bit of light soy. It also had a nice subtle garlic tone to it which i enjoyed. The chili here however i felt was way to spicy and something that tasted alot like Boon Tong Kee's. Possibly the same infact...

Anyway, a decent chicken, a shoddy rice, but good ginger. The Bill came up to 4.90 for one plate with a lime juice. A tad more expensive, but i guess its justifiable for the kumpong chicken used which is slightly more expensive. The portions here i thought were decent, just that compared to the cheap Ming Kee...


The directions for this place, erm, i forgot to take a card. However, its not hard to spot. When you get off at the bus stop in that strange round about, its basically on the left of Country Mania, and you'll see the sign.

Ji Fung Hainanese Restaurant


6.5 out of 10

Pow Sing Restaurent, Serangoon Gardens (Pirom)

(James in the background)


Here in the heart of Searangoon Gardens lies a pretty decent chicken rice. This is possibly what i would say as the model chicken rice, the minimum of what a good chicken rice should be. Everything here was good, it wasn't a fantastic incredible experience of getting a full four heads, but it was decent, a bare minimum really.

Unlike the rather inconsistent Ming Kee, the rice here was excellent. From what James has told me (whom has been here more then once), the rice was the same. As you can see from the photo, the rice was fluffy, warm, and fragrant from the stock. It definitely gave me that yummy satisfied carbo feeling that chicken rice can give you.

The chicken here was good, moist and tender. We ordered a whole chicken as there was 6 of us and eat part was well done. The soy sauce that was poured on complimented it well, not being overly salty or sweet. The wing meat was good and the thigh meat succulent. Although James and Kirean both being noobs and prefer breast meat which is why we average chicken rice places on breast meat, it was still moist and tender, while not having that watery taste that some places have. The only problem here was the grease factor. I understand that sesame oil was poured over it to give it a nice silky sheen and of course helps with the flavour, but it was way to greasy to be totally pleasant. The chicken here might have had a 3.5 heads but due to this, i give it a 3 heads for chicken.

On to the rice, like i said, hot, fluffy and fragrant. Its hard to go beyond a rice like this, i could say the only fault was a few grains were still broken up and that the stock although good, was nothing out of the normal. In fact, it pretty much tasted the same as the chicken rice across the road... 3 heads for the rice.

The condiments, and what do i see? Oh is that ginger? YAY! Yes, one of the few places that don't stinge on the condiments and boy do i like ginger. Although the ginger here wasn't fantastic its a nice thought. The chili however i feel was pretty good. It gave the correct tang of heat to lift the chicken rice up a bit and had a slight sweet flavour to it balancing i thought, the heat well. The dark soy sauce seemed a little sweeter then usual, but not a big problem. This gets a 1.5/2 for condiments.

Although we are only rating chicken rice, we ordered a fried tofu dish that came with some mayonnaise which i thought was quite tasty. Crispy on the outside and soft and melting on the inside like egg tofu is. Mmmm. The kai land with oyster sauce was also decent, crispy fresh veg which wasn't overly salty nor greasy.

Pow Sing Restaurant (Nonya Food) 63/65 Serangoon Garden Way
Singapore 555961
Telephone: 6282 7972, 6286 4813
Open Daily: Lunch 11am to 3pm, Dinner 5pm to 10pm
www.powsing.com.sg

7.5/10 heads

Pow Sing Restaurant (James)

Located at Serangoon Gardens on serangoon garden way, Pow Sing Restaurant is hard to miss at night with its brightly illuminated sign, it detracts from most other things in Serangoon Gardens. if not that then the potentially large lines outside on a Saturday night. i don't know why, but that was the case last time i was there. 5 minute wait for the table! that wasnt me complaining, I think any place that has a wait has to be good or filled with models or something along those lines.

Although definitely one of the most expensive places we've reviewed (first occassion: $6 each for chicken rice for two. Second Occasion: $10 each for 6 with a whole chicken) it definitely offers something different to the local hawker. One such thing is service. Don't get me wrong, i'm not some lazy ang mo, i love getting my own food, but it is after all a restaurant. One example of excellent service tonight was when the chicken rice man saw me struggling to get the sauces from the chicken plate. now I must remind you that this was a whole chicken, and quite heavy. Anyway, in light of this he bought me over a bowl of the sauce. I wish all chicken rice places offered this blend of sesame and soya sauce (or so Pirom says) as an extra for your meal, but thats just me. and that in my books was quality service.

Now down the the real business of chicken rice. As the pictures show there is a wide variety of sauces on display. Personally this is not a significant factor for me. as long as you get some chilli, and as an added bonus some of the special sauce, I'm happy. As one of the only people involved with this blog i can testify to the fact it is consistent. I've now been their twice and on both occassions not only has the chicken been very nice and succulent, but the rice is very nice. not too soggy and not to puffed up, just at a level which leaves you satisfied and wanting another plate of rice alone, as Kieran and I found. Pirom would have felt the same but we had alot for lunch. Didn't stop me though.

Ultimately it's hard to find much to complain about with regards to Pow Sing. The rice is steaming hot and the chicken is very nice indeed. Even the condiments were nice, well the chilli. Service was nice as well, with a friendly staff. The only real drawback is the price, which can be a bit steep for an 18 year old in Singapore who is presented with chicken rice almost every day, at least during the holidays as sad as that may be, and I'm ashamed to say it. Although it's not really fair to talk this up given it's an actual restaurant. Overall I'd give Pow Sing 8.5 Heads. Some may say this is harsh but I'm just waiting for that perfect chicken rice to come along which scores the 10 so for the time being I'm leaving it as this. and I'm also sorry about not having my head up yet, I still need my heads delivered, as wierd as that may sound.
(Thanks Pirom)

Anyway, for now goodnight and happy chicken rice eating. BTW we really need a slogan cause the one I just said was shocking.

(Bugis St) Ming Kee Chicken Rice - Porridge (Pirom)

At the hot spot time of roughly 8pm or the dinner rush where restaurants and food places can shine their skill on preparing and sending out food that is good and consistent, i have to say, it was a decent plate of chicken rice.

For $2.50, the amount of chicken and rice combined gave a pretty solid meal. Ming Kee I feel today pulled it off pretty well with their version of chicken rice.

Now, this is my third visit and this has been the best. The first visit I got soggy rice but good chicken which would have given it 6 heads out of 10. The second visit gave adequate rice but lower then average chicken which was watery and tasteless giving it a 5.5 heads out of 10.

Today, i was rewarded with good chicken and rice.

So the chicken, moist and tasting of chicken, it was cooked well although it was a little too cold, as in almost refrigeration cold. From what i can tell, the chicken doesn't have to be warm, but should be actually room temperature. The rice today was tasty, warm, fragrant of chicken stock and not soggy. What should be a standard rendition of chicken rice.

Now, since this is my first chicken rice review, I must point out my standards.

1.) The chicken HAS to be moist, NOT watery and TASTE of chicken. Overcooked chicken gets an immediate failure of 3 heads. The chicken should also NOT be doused in soy sauce or such other sauces that would either wise be a bit of a cheap in the taste factor. There is a total score of 4 heads in this department.

2.) The rice has to give you that carbo rush, of what can be called the umami factor. This can be obtain from a tasty rice flavored well with what should be chicken stock. The rice should be shiny, loose and warm enough to heat up the chicken to a gentle point. 4 heads can be earned here also, like the chicken.

3.) "Condiments are like friends, highly thought off but easily forgotten" This quote is very important to the enjoyment of chicken rice. It is important to note, that dark soy sauce and a chili sauce should accompany any chicken rice. I in my view also feel that ginger should be an accompaniment and not having ginger deducts half a head in not providing what I feel are the correct things that should go with it.

Chili should be spicy too the point that it should not burn ones tongue to the point where eating is painful. It should be tangy, and helps 'lift' the flavour of the chicken giving it that 'pop', accentuating the chicken itself. Over powered chili is a big no-no whether its too sour, too spicy or sometimes too salty. Texture is a minor concern also, as i feel chili with no chunks in it gets watery, and watery chicken rice is no good.

Dark soy sauce should be fairly standard, assuming most comes out of the bottle.

Ginger can be shredded plain (bad) or mixed with a sesame oil and/or vinegar. This again should provide the playing support of the chili except one slightly more gentle then that of chili.

If anyone can do basic math, they can tell that condiments holds the power of 2 heads, and thus amounting 4 + 4 + 2 = 10 heads.

Ming Kee's chicken today receives a 7.5/10 heads which in my books is pretty good actually. Put it this way, Boon Tong Kee gets 5 heads although thats for another review.

3/4 heads for Chicken being most, but cold and too much sauce doused on it.
1.5/4 heads for rice, pretty good but only a minor umami factor to it

1.5/2 heads for condiments as ginger was not provided but i felt the chili was good today and dark soy was present.


*UPDATE, MING KEE HAS LOST A HEAD AND A HALF.

After another visit today, where the rice was much too soggy and wet, i've decided that this is the last time Ming Kee can operate on a 3 head for rice. A place needs to earn its reputation through consistency and after so many times, i feel that they do not live up to this standard. The rice as such gets drop by 1 and a half heads.*

Consistency is a key factor to remember in any chicken rice place. To improve is much better then being good and then going down hill. Lets hope Ming Kee can keep up the good work.
These guys have gotta work on their cutlery its a bit erm, finicky...

(Bugis St) Ming Kee Chicken Rice - Porridge (James)

Located on Bishan Street 13 and more specifically : Google Maps
Blk 511 Bishan Street 13
#01-522 Kim San Leng Food Centre
Singapore 570511
(Thanks Pirom)

This place servers up good chicken rice for $2.50. As usual i ask for the chicken rice without skin because it just generally tastes better for me. In one of Piroms aspects they have good chilli which isn't too overpowering as some of them tend to be, and also not too chunky and has a nice flavour. The above picture shows an image of the chicken rice with chilli on it because, well basically I forgot to take the picture before adding the chilli. One of my favourite aspects of this rice is the sauce they put on the top of it. It adds a nice flavour to the rice and ultimately compliments the flavour of the chicken.

Appearance is also a winner with garnishing which compliment not only the looks but the flavour with a sprinkling of Spring Onion which gives the chicken rice a slightly different taste but does not jeopardise it.

One thing which was pointed out by Kieran through the Skype call I'm currently on they tend to have inconsistency which can be a bit compromising to the taste so if you go on a day which isn't good don't hesitant to go back. There is also a nice atmosphere to the place which makes it more enjoyable. It feels a bit random to go there the first time but returning is a much enjoyable experience. As you may be able to see the Neon in the sign gives the place a very night time atmosphere which, at night, seems to make the place come alive.

Overall this chicken rice is a big winner in my book due to it flavour, price and nice appearance. The only place to give you more sauce is Toa Payoh Kopitiam but we'll save that for another day. I personally give Ming Kee an 8.5/10 (Heads to come later) and is one of my favourite chicken rice places that i have found in Singapore and will be returning there regularly, so if you see me there say hi and tell me what you think of my review. Maybe even buy me a plate :). Stay tuned for additional reviews from Pirom and Kieran and additional ratings from them including out heads.

Welcome

Hey Guys,

Kieran here just saying hello and to let you know what I think makes a good chicken rice. Basically a plate of chicken rice is made up of three different things:

1. The Chicken
The chicken needs to be tender and not watery (nothing worse than 24 hour chicken).
2. The Rice
The rice cant be clumpy or soggy. If it is, its just not nice. It has to actually taste like chicken rice, not white rice. Anything else is just bad.
3. The Chili
Last but not least is the quality of the chili. Chili has always been a big thing for me and what I like to see as my specially when it comes to judging chicken rice. The chili has to be not so overpowering that you cant taste the chicken rice, but still have enough power to say "HEY. thats nice chili".

You'll find that my ratings will be a little extreme when it comes to judging good chicken rice. As Pirom has already mentioned, he will most likely judge the hardest where as I will be more black and white.

Thanks and happy reading!