Thai Style Kampung Chicken Rice (Thomson)

There had been a time not too long ago that Thai-style chicken rice was as something that is trendy and starting to get quite commonplace in Singapore; there have been some that came early into the scene such as that of the now-defunct WK Thai Chicken Rice that had once operated at Victory8 at Jalan Legundi, though one cannot dispute that the most well-known one of the lot had to be that of the franchised Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice chain that had sprouted up all over the island. While that hype over Thai-style chicken rice had since died down, there are still some new entrants into the local F&B scene that can be found dishing up Thai-style chicken rice. Chicken Says Goodbye Thailand Chicken Rice (check out their logo 😉) is a fairly new addition to the local F&B scene — this is actually a coffeeshop stall situated within the coffeeshop named Wah & Steven’s Corner that is located at the intersection of Jalan Todak and Upper Thomson Road. Being a stall mostly focused on their chicken rice offerings, the menu at Chicken Says Goodbye Thailand Chicken Rice is rather simple — it comprises of Thai-style Kampung Chicken coming either in ala-carte or with rice; different chicken parts opted for the rice would see a difference in price here. Apart from the Thai-style Kampung Chicken, there also seems to be fried chicken cutlet available here though this is not indicated on the menu — side dishes that are available at Chicken Says Goodbye Thailand Chicken Rice includes Thai Style Crispy Fried Chicken Wings, as well as Thai Style Crispy Laab Meatball.

Considering how most Singaporeans would have been pretty exposed to Thai-style Chicken Rice at this stage, it can be mostly agreed that there is not too much of a difference between the two except some very minor components such as how the chicken is prepared and the type of chili it is being paired with. Interestingly, we were being served with two different types of chili with our order of the Thai Style Kampung Chicken Rice during our visit to Thai Style Kampung Chicken Rice. Apart from that, the Thai Style Kampung Chicken Rice looks no different from the typical plate of Hainanese Chicken Rice that we are more familiar with — the only other difference likely being in the soup that they serve along with it. Digging into the Thai Style Kampung Chicken Rice, the chicken comes tender and moist; while can feel the fibrous texture of the flesh, but there was never a moment that it felt dry. It does seem like the folks here did douse a little bit of light soy sauce over the chicken to give it a bit of a savoury note. The rice comes adequately moist; the type of very slight greasiness that we usually prefer our chicken rice to come with so that it is easier to eat — there is also very distinct notes of ginger that brings it sufficient flavour to enjoy this on its own. If anything, the addition of the light soy sauce that flowed down from the portion of poached chicken also helped to give the rice that extra kick of flavour.

The two types of chilli provided carrier quite a similar level of spicy kick and came in a rather paste-like consistency; something that should do fine for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness — the chili with the lighter shade provided a bright tang amidst the spiciness which is quite close to what Hainanese Chicken Rice specialty stores would offer, while the one with a darker hue came with earthier flavour running at the back of the tongue that seems to work better with the rice. The soup comes pretty free of grease and is fairly easy to drink; the soup coming with large chunks of radish as well as wolfberries as well. Prices of the Thai Style Kampung Chicken Rice here starts at $5 for the most basic offering that comes with whatever the default chicken part is, while the Thai Style Crispy Fried Chicken Wings starts from $1.40 per piece; the small portion of the Thai Style Crispy Laab Meatball is priced at $6. Overall, quite a decent eat notwithstanding the fact that it is likely not to wow most — and especially considering how Thai-style chicken rice comes close to Hainanese Chicken Rice; coupling the fact that there are multiple (and very established) chicken rice-centric establishments in the area though, it would be interesting to see how things would pan out for Chicken Says Goodbye Thailand Chicken Rice.