Welcome to Chinatown. Looking for Chicken Rice places?

New year, old favourites at Chinatown Complex Food Center! Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken 瑪莉亞處女雞⁣ remains one of my favourite soy sauce chicken stalls in Chinatown, and I personally rate it slightly higher than a certain former Michelin Bib Gourmand stall within the same hawker centre. 🐔 The meat under the glistening soya-sauce glazed skin is firmer than those from other stalls but it remains juicy & tender, and a subtle rose wine aroma permeates through each bite. The only gripe I have is that the rice can be served warmer, though I can look past it because of how good the chicken was.

Highly recommend trying their braised tofu at $1.60 apiece before they are sold out for the day! Soaked in the same braising sauce as the chicken, the silky soft tofu melts in the mouth like a pudding!

Cuisine Better Days Hainanese Chicken Rice is run by Natalie, an almost one-woman show who takes the orders, chops the chicken, and serves the diners in her chicken rice restaurant. There are several key components that make up a delicious plate of chicken rice and many boxes are ticked here. The rice is infused with the aromatics and spices, chilli sauce is made in-house and packs a fiery punch, garlic sauce helps to cut through the richness, and the poached kampung chicken has a firm and tender bite, which is actually my preferred kind of chicken for chicken rice.

The pioneer chicken rice stall in the hawker centre revived after a new owner taking over and continue to serve the signature chicken rice.

The Hainanese style of chicken remain juicy and soft like in the past.

I’ve only ever had @liaofanhawkerchan at one of their restaurant outlets before, and while I thought the soya sauce chicken was decent enough, it sure as hell didn’t deserve a Michelin star. This time, while wandering through Chinatown Complex, I noticed that the OG, original stall had a queue of three as opposed to the usual queue of fifty three. Well, it was a no brainer then, it was time to inspect how and why Liao Fan earned that coveted Michelin star.⠀
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At six dollars & fifty cents flat for this plate of soya sauce chicken drumstick with an additional soya sauce wing, it certainly is an economical meal in a Singapore suffering from eight percent GST (not success). Not only is it an economical meal, it’s an excellent meal too. Compared to the more upscale outlets islandwide, the original Liao Fan’s chicken was superior in every way. ⠀
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The skin was noticeably smoother and a darker shade of brown, and it could qualify as a work of art. The meat was markedly moister and softer, with even the breast part of the wing being suitably slippery. And the flavours, oh boy. The meat & skin were supremely savoury and sweet from the honey glaze brushed onto the skin post simmering, and were far more alluring with unmistakable aromas of hua tiao chiew (Shaoxing rice wine). All the flavours that the chicken from the outlet had were multiplied by a factor of five at the original stall, and topped off with that stupendously sapid soy sauce poured over the chicken? Yes, oh yes, this is one of the best birds this side of Chinatown.⠀
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So, did Liao Fan ever deserve their Michelin star? Based solely off the chicken alone, I’m gonna be generous and say that yeah, Liao Fan/Hawker Chan deserved that Michelin star before they decided to chase the bag.

Have always been pretty intrigued by the signboard of Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master 元朗油鸡博士 — situated in the yellow zone of Chinatown Complex Market, Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master is located at quite a prominent location in the hawker centre just across from Shang Hai Chee Cheong Fan. What had really attracted us to the stall is its rather odd depiction of live chickens on the field in a photo on the left; the right side of the signboard features a whole Kampung Chicken that is poached and laying on the plate — something which our satirical self just couldn’t get past the irony of. Whilst Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master could pass off as any other chicken rice stall around the island otherwise, it is noted on the photo of the chickens on the field that a text is being laid over stating “Hong Kong” — not sure if they are indicating the style of the chicken rice / noodles they are serving here, or if they are referring to the source of the chickens that they used. Nonetheless, while the namesake of the stall suggests that they serve Hong Kong-style Soy Sauce Chicken, the stall also serves up what they seem to be Kampong Chicken as well. Patrons will be able to opt between different chicken parts (depending on availability) — think specific parts like thigh, drumstick or wing, as well as to have their choice of chicken to come with either rice or noodles.

Having been intrigued by their Kampong Chicken being hung in the display cabinet, we thought that it would be good to give their Kampong Chicken Thigh Rice a go despite the stall seemingly specialising in Soy Sauce Chicken. All items served at Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master are served on disposable styrofoam plates — the rice dishes also comes with soup in a plastic bowl as well. On first look, the Kampong Chicken here does somewhat differ from the usual poached chicken that one would get when they visit a stall serving Hainanese-style chicken rice. The skin of the chicken is noticeably more yellow than the white chicken rice that most would be familiar with. It is also noted that the Kampong Chicken Thigh Rice at Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master also comes with leafy greens rather than slices of cucumber as well.

Digging into the Kampong Chicken Thigh Rice, we went straight for the Kampong Chicken Thigh and what got us pretty impressed here was the texture of the chicken — despite the pieces that we were served up with being pretty bony, the meat was juicy and tender; the skin of the poached chicken being all smooth, moist and gelatinous. We also felt that the skin of the Kampong Chicken Thigh was a little more saltish that what would expect from the white chicken rice served at a typical Hainanese chicken rice stall; quite briny and brings it closer to say salt-baked chicken with a more controlled level of saltiness that was pretty interesting — the flesh also falling off the bone cleanly. Whilst we found the fluffy flavoured rice below to be a wee bit on the dry side for our liking, the rice does carry quite a profound savouriness that was quite good to have on its own. The leafy greens were definitely a better inclusion than slices of cucumbers in our opinion; more akin to poached vegetables than provided a soft crunch for a more wholesome feel. Pairing up everything with the chili, the chili was pretty different from what we expect it to be — somewhat closer to being that sort of savoury, smoky and umami mix than one would expect to have with Hong Kong-style Chee Cheong Fun or Din Tai Fung-style Egg Fried Rice that carried a light fiery kick that would suit those whom are tolerable to lower levels of spiciness; something which we found so intriguing that we wiped out the portion that we took by having it even with the rice. Even the soup impressed us here; one that was pretty clear that we found to be clean yet flavourful.

Having read up a little more about Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master while we were enjoying the Kampong Chicken Thigh Rice that we had ordered, we found out that the stall is helmed by a chef from Hong Kong whom have worked in Hong Kong and Indonesia before; the latter of which he worked at in hotels and resorts. The chef does seem pretty no-nonsense on first impression when we made our order; that being said, he did come around to ask if his food is good and if whether we liked it subsequently when he had breaks in between — pretty friendly as long as he has the time it seems. The Soy Sauce Chicken / Noodle at Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master is priced pretty reasonably at $5.50; that being said the Kampong Chicken Rice / Noodle offerings are priced higher than usual — the Kampong Chicken Thigh Rice being the cheapest at $7.00, while the Kampong Chicken Drumstick Rice being the priciest at $8.50. Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master’s offerings does somewhat subtly remind us of what we have had previously at 厨皇香港贵妃鸡 Chu Huang Hong Kong Royal Chicken; the items at the latter are also priced lower in comparison. That being said, Yuan Lang Soy Sauce Chicken Master does make for a decent option from the usual if one disregards the price points set especially for the Kampong Chicken dishes — something a little different from the other stalls serving up soy sauce chicken within the same hawker centre.

So I cannot understand why there is such a long queue at the past Michelin stall but no queues here. IMHO, this stall has the better chicken albeit kampung chicken.

Ordered the salt baked kampung chicken drumstick noodles for $8.50. But worth every cent. Noodles were al dente and springy, chicken was tender and juicy. Comes with sweet Kai Lan instead of Chye Sim. Yums!

Will try their soya sauce chicken next time.

Seriously wonder how this is made. Lovely savoury crunch contrasted with the soft toufu inside. 👍🏻 The ah char was very refreshing too.

Combination platter of the meat options here. Couldn’t choose the part that we wanted but we were given a Soy Sauce Chicken drumstick which was flavoursome, Royal Chicken breast which is tender and the fatty Char Siew that would have been perfect if it was freshly roasted!

Been meaning to try this stall where Hawker Chan purportedly learnt how to cook his Michelin soya sauce chicken. But business is apparently good because several times they were closed when I came just after lunch.

Ordered half a “virgin chicken”, a serving of braised pork belly and a plate of chicken rice. Now we are know that we no longer have fresh boiler chicken from Malaysia, only kampung chicken. Yet Maria’s soya chicken is thrill be best I have tasted since the ban on exports to Singapore.

The rice which came drizzled with soya sauce, was fragrant and fluffy. It goes well with the piquant chilli sauce. The braised pork was just normal and a tad on the greasy side.

Can’t wait to come back and try again once fresh chicken import resumes, with noodles.

With over 40 years experience serving across Hong Kong and Singapore, Chef Hawker Randy is well regarded for his braised dishes.
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The fresh chicken has a delightful bouncy springy chew, the chicken meat being clean-tasting and sweet, the slippery skin being savoury salty herbal in flavour.
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The rice is pretty normal, fluffy and soft, but the gravy lends an addictive grainy salty herbal savoury flavour. Also appreciate the crunchy fresh kai-lan / Chinese broccoli with its vegetal bitter sweet notes.
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Chicken Rice
Fragrant Soya Sauce Chicken
@ Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith Street #02-85
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/07/best-of-singapore-hawkers-chicken-rice.html

Located at the 1st floor of People’s Park Centre you can find this Hong Kong restaurant hidden there.

Here they served 2 types of chicken here, which is the Hong Kong royal chicken and rose wine soy sauce chicken.

The royal chicken looks like the kampong chicken we know, and my first visit chosen this.

I like the meat which was very juicy taste, although still find some redness within the meat at the bone parts.

The combo meal comes with a vegetable dish which you can choose, together with a bowl of soup and plate of rice.

Pretty mild and slightly fruity and sweet, on top of being a normal ckn rice chili

Their rice isn't good, but it's alright to get by