Checking off yet another one of those spots that I had wanted to check out in the list — had came across Mrs. Hen previously at East Village; that outlet being a standalone eatery on its own, but they do actually have another location at Telok Ayer that is situated in the same coffeeshop where Uptown Nasi Lemak is at. With a focus on Ayam Geprek (Crispy Smashed Chicken), Mrs Hen serves up their Ayam Geprek with different choices of sambal — some options available on the menu include the Ayam Geprek Sambal Hijau (Green Chili) and Ayam Geprek Sambal Signature (Red Chili; also available in varying levels of spiciness); patrons who are looking for non-spicy options do also have the Ayam Geprek Salted Egg to go for. Aside for Ayam Geprek, Mrs Hen also offers Ikan Geprek, patrons also can go also for various forms of carbs such as that of the Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice) or Indomie at an extra cost should they opt for those instead of the standard Nasi (White Rice) served by default.

Of the various types of sambal served with their Ayam Geprek available, the Ayam Geprek Sambal Matah was the one that stood out the most to us when we skimmed through the menu here — listed as Balinese Lemongrass Chilli, the Sambal Matah is best described as a Raw Onion Sambal according to some online sources. Whilst we initially wanted to go for Indomie, we had to end up with the default Nasi option since they were already out of Indomie when we made our visit during weekday lunch hours. Going straight for the slab of crispy smashed chicken, we were already impressed with this one — it’s tender, juicy and crisp; fried to a golden brown batter, it it is nothing short on being especially delicious. Topped off with the Sambal Matah, the chili is especially zingy yet umami — a very refreshing flavour that cuts through the fried nature of the dish and takes most of the heaviness of the dish away. There is not only some crunch from the raw shallots, but it is subtly spicy — nothing too distinctively hot at the start, but it does build up fast; yet addictively so especially with other elements like lemongrass which sets it apart from the usual red or green sambal that other stalls serve up. Each order also does come served with a side of Acar (Indonesian pickles)— juicy, crunchy cubes of pickled vegetables that resets the taste buds with a zing if all gets a little too spicy to handle.

Given its price tag of $7.90 for the Ayam Geprek Sambal Tambah, Mrs Hen does seem like one of the more affordable options to dine at within the Central Business District — no doubt still more considerably higher-priced than other spots like Market Street Food Centre (i.e. CapitaSpring) or certain stalls at Amoy Street Food Centre, it does seem much of a reasonable choice to go for on a weekly basis. We liked how Mrs Hen does serve up a good variety of sambal with their Ayam Geprek — there are plenty of spots doing Sambal Signature and Sambal Hijau but items like Sambal Mangga (Mango Chili) is difficult to come by. Portions are also on the larger side — definitely filling for those who have slightly bigger appetites even. Crowd management at the coffeeshop may be a little haphazard now that most folks have started to return to office (expect people who find themselves queueing up at the wrong spot, coffeeshop staff moving tables around when patrons are dining since they are too close by the queues etc.), but I guess Mrs Hen is a spot I would consider dining at again when there is a table available; also a good alternative to Uptown Nasi Lemak when the queue for that is a little too long.