Yedena Chicken Rice Had been visiting quite a number of establishments serving up Myanmar cuisine all across the island that had opened fairly recently and there really seems to be quite a number that is sprouting up all across the island. The latest addition when it comes to such cuisine in Singapore is YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine that had recently set up shop in a shophouse located along Liang Seah Street where one would find a number of dining establishments serving up mainland Chinese cuisine. YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine takes over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of Hong Kong Dim Sum Shop 香港点心专门店 there; there has been quite a bit of works undertaken by YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine to make the space distinctively theirs. Whilst the entire space is decked in with simple dining furniture that involves the use of dining tables with wooden accents and plastic stools, the interior can be said to be rather warm and cosy considering the large use of wooden accents and mirrors that help to create an illusion of a larger space within the shop; one can also find a wallpaper depicting a scene of a river in Myanmar as well as some decorative ornaments around that gives it the Burmese flair. The menu at YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine is probably the easiest to understand amongst the various establishments serving up Myanmar cuisine in Singapore; the menu coming in both English and Chinese — the menu is being segmented into sections dedicated to Set, Rice, Noodles, Salad, Soup, Appetisers and Desserts. Beverages available at YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine includes juices, coffee, tea and some alcoholic beverages as well.
Skimming through the menu on the variety of items that YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine had to offer, one of the dishes that piqued our interest was the Yedena Chicken Rice; after all, the namesake of the item bore the name of the restaurant — probably an indication of the dish being a signature item here. YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine does not describe on the elements that come with the various dishes that they have to offer; that being said, we could deduce from the Chinese name of the dish that the rice does come infused with chicken fats. It can be observed from our order that the Yedena Chicken Rice also comes with a bowl of soup on the side, as well as chili and a side dish of black fungus. Digging in into the rice first, we found out what the Yedena Chicken Rice was all about — the rice is incredibly flavourful with an evident umami note here that was pretty much akin to the once-viral recipe of the rice cooker KFC Fried Chicken Rice. Despite the use of broken grains here for its rice, the rice is still incredibly moist, soft and fluffy. Considering how flavourful it was, was demolished the rice in no time. The Yedena Chicken Rice is also served with a drumstick with the flesh being all shredded up; this makes for pretty convenient eating considering how there is minimal effort to pull off the flesh from the bones here — there is still an element of crispness in some bits of the chicken skin, while the chicken flesh is still reasonably tender whilst at it.
During our visit to YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine, we had also given their Lemon Meatball Rice Noodles a go; based on how our order is served, Lemon Meatball Rice Noodles is a soup-based noodle dish that seems to come with red oil-infused broth, sesame seeds, spring onions, hand-formed rice meatballs and rice noodles (i.e. Mixian). There is quite a fair bit of likeness between the Lemon Meatball Rice Noodles from YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine and that of the Hot and Sour Noodles that one can typically find served up at establishments specialising in mainland Chinese cuisine; the only difference here being how the Lemon Meatball Rice Noodles doesn’t quite feature Sichuan chilli peppers and seemed to use typical slices of chili padi — therefore creating a hint of spiciness that isn’t quite as intense nor carried a numbing sensation like how it would be in the mainland Chinese-style Hot and Sour Noodles. The rice noodles were smooth and slurpy; coated with the red oil-infused soup for flavour, whilst the hand-formed pork meatballs provided a firm and bouncy bite without carrying any undesirable porky stench. We also tried the Myanmar Mooncake + Coffee, and switched up to the Milk Coffee for the Coffee that is to come with the order.
The Myanmar Mooncake turns out to be this rather flat pastry that has been warmed up before serving; the pastry itself sharing a resemblance to the baked Mooncakes that we are familiar with, while it comes with a layer of sugary icing that is filled within. The Milk Coffee does has some resemblance to that of 3-in-1 instant coffee mix; not quite our sort of thing. Just like how things are whenever we visit an establishment serving up Myanmar fare, we aren’t able to tell how authentic the food served at YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine is; that being said, it does seem that YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine specialises in a different type of cuisine than most other establishments serving up Myanmar food around the island. Whilst most seem to centre around the various Shan and Mandalay-style cuisines, YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine offers a glimpse into how Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine is like; a little bit similar to Korean cuisine being compared against Korean-Chinese cuisine. Prices at YDN 椰德纳 Myanmar-Chinese Cuisine are also pretty affordable — the dishes listed on the Set, Rice and Noodles section of the menu are priced from $5 to $8.80. We would definitely find ourselves craving and making a return for the Yedena Chicken Rice some day though; definitely a spot worth trying for those whom are adventurous to settle for something that is an uncommon find in around the island.
