Boon Tong Kee chicken rice dinner ($34.80)!
A sit-down Hainanese chicken rice dinner at Boon Tong Kee: steamed chicken, fried beancurd, three-egg spinach and fragrant rice. $34.80.
A sit-down chicken rice dinner with BB at Boon Tong Kee (ๆไธ่ฎฐ) in Boon Keng, the long-running Hainanese chicken rice name: $34.80 for the spread. ๐
What we had:
- Steamed chicken: poached white chicken, sliced
- Fried beancurd: golden, crisp-edged tofu cubes
- Three-egg spinach: greens in an egg gravy with century egg and salted egg
- Fragrant chicken rice, with chilli and ginger dips and soup
Boon Tong Kee has been doing this since the 1970s, and the chicken showed why. The steamed chicken was tender and silky, that smooth, gelatinous skin and moist meat from a careful poach-and-chill. The rice is what separates a good plate from a great one, and theirs came glossy and fragrant, cooked in chicken stock and fat so it is rich and savoury enough to enjoy on its own.
The two sides rounded the meal into a proper dinner. The fried beancurd was a favourite, crisp golden shell over a soft, custardy centre. The three-egg spinach brought silky greens in a savoury egg gravy studded with century egg and salted egg, comforting and moreish.
The dips matter at any chicken rice table: the tangy garlic-lime chilli and sharp ginger let you dress each bite. A relaxed, well-executed dinner that justified the sit-down price.
Overall: 4.6 / 5. ๐๐๐ผ Silky steamed chicken and fragrant rice, with that excellent fried beancurd and three-egg spinach. Would re-visit.
