Loy Kee chicken rice ($3.50 each)!
Heritage Hainanese chicken rice from Whampoa Loy Kee Chicken Rice: one roasted and one steamed chicken over fragrant rice, with chilli, ginger and soup. $3.50 each.
A lovely chicken rice lunch with BB at Loy Kee Chicken Rice in Whampoa, one of the heritage Hainanese chicken rice names: $3.50 each, and we got one roast and one steamed to compare. 😋
What we had ($7 total):
- Roasted chicken rice: char-skinned roast chicken over rice
- Steamed chicken rice: silky poached white chicken over rice
- Both with cucumber, chilli, ginger, dark soy and a bowl of soup
Loy Kee has been doing chicken rice in the Whampoa area for decades, and you can taste the consistency. We could not decide between roast and white, so we ordered both. The steamed (white) chicken was tender and silky, smooth-skinned and clean-tasting, the classic version. The roasted chicken was the other treat, with a savoury, slightly charred skin and a deeper flavour.
The rice is the real measure of a chicken rice stall, and Loy Kee’s came fragrant and glossy, cooked in chicken stock and fat so it is savoury enough to enjoy on its own. The trio of dips, that tangy garlic-lime chilli, sharp ginger paste and sweet dark soy, let you dress each bite, and a bowl of light soup rounds it off.
Two plates, two styles, both excellent, for $7 between us. Reliable, well-executed heritage chicken rice that is well worth a visit.
Overall: 4.7 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Silky steamed and savoury roast chicken on fragrant stock-cooked rice, with a punchy chilli. Would re-visit.
