Roast chicken rice + crunchy rice ball ($4.80 + $2.50)!
Hainanese chicken rice — roasted chicken with fragrant rice, achar, chilli sauce and clear broth, plus three crispy crunchy rice balls. $4.80 + $2.50.
Lunch at a chicken rice specialist — went for the roast chicken rice + crunchy rice ball combo. $7.30 total. The deep-fried rice ball side is the underrated upgrade. 😋
What was on the table ($4.80 + $2.50):
- Roast Chicken Rice ($4.80) — sliced roast chicken with that signature dark caramelised skin showing the soya glaze, served on a bed of fragrant chicken rice (the pale-yellow tinted rice cooked in chicken stock). A small pile of pickled achar (cucumber + carrot) at the corner.
- A small dish of dark soya + chilli sauce dipping combo on the side.
- A bowl of clear chicken broth with chopped scallions floating.
- Crunchy rice balls (3 pieces, $2.50) — golf-ball-sized deep-fried chicken rice balls on a separate plate. Brown crispy crust, soft warm rice inside.
The crunchy rice balls are the heritage Hainanese specialty — they take cooked chicken rice, ball it up, deep-fry until the outside goes shatter-crisp while the inside stays soft. Different way to experience the same fragrant rice — textural contrast between bite-of-roast-chicken-and-soft-rice and the bite-of-crispy-rice-ball-with-no-meat.
Three balls is the typical portion size — enough to share + supplement the main rice plate.
The roast chicken skin had proper crispness (sometimes roast chicken at chains gets steamed-soft from being held under lights, this one was freshly chopped).
Total: $7.30 for both.
Overall: 4.2 / 5. Roast chicken was the right tenderness with crispy skin, rice was fragrant, the crispy rice balls were the unique textural upgrade. Will keep ordering the rice ball side. 😍👍🏼
