KL Sedap 2014 Part 1: Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng

So before we set out to KL, we asked our readers for some suggestions on makan places in KL that they'd like us to visit and review. Boy oh boy did we get a great response and a nice long list of makan places to visit.

Yeah we probably won't be able to fit every single one in because some are really far away from the city centre where we will be based and well technically we're only there for a total of just about 2 weeks. So we will try our best!!

So one of the places suggested by a few readers was Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng.

At first, we thought that this chicken rice place was the one located just beside BB Plaza / Sungai Wang Plaza because we remember a chicken rice place from our past few visits. Well, apparently that's a different one and this one was a little further up the road.

Let us tell you that the Bukit Bintang stretch was under really heavy renovation when we visited. Guess they are re-doing the roads or something so it was quite a big turn we had to make on foot plus it was raining really heavily too!

Anyways we finally found the right place and we were ready for a nice hearty meal because the weather was cold and we were hungry!!

Half Roasted Chicken (RM33.00)

So we came all this way and no way were we gonna order just a small set.
We wanted to order half a Roasted Chicken and half a Steamed Chicken but they were all out of the latter so we settled on a whole chicken but it gets served in halves anyways.

You can also choose the Ayam Kampung version but it's a bit pricier at RM40.00 per half.
Rice is RM2 for a small and RM2.50 for a large one. Drumsticks/Boneless chicken is an extra RM1.
Bishop's Nose aka Tongkeng Ayam at RM0.50!!!

Quite a fair serving of chicken if we do say so.
But there was one problem... 5 of us all agreed on one thing about the chicken - it was tasteless.
It was pretty disappointing because we really thought this was gonna be the bomb.

Not sure maybe it was our bad luck to drop by on the wrong day?
The soy sauce was salty goodness in my opinion but then again a good roasted chicken should not have to rely on the soy sauce to give it flavour right? A good example is the Roasted Chicken at Tang Tea House in Singapore. Yeah the soy sauce is the bomb but the chicken on its own is power too.

But one thing is for sure. The chicken is really a big chicken so you're getting your money's worth in that respect. That picture above is a snap of the chicken breast part. Look at how thick it is!

The rice was also a bit of a let down. It was really grainy and actually it was close to being considered uncooked in some parts. Dry and a little bit hard to swallow on its own and also lacking the chicken flavour you'd expect in Chicken Rice.

The chilli seemed to be the saving grace here.
It was nice and spicy probably because they don't include too much garlic but more chillies instead (rightfully so) but still lacking in the flavour department. Yeah spicy... but not tasty.

But we guess that, in a way, the chilli was probably the best part of the chicken rice there.

Kailan Sos Tiram (RM14.00 Large)

There was a bit of the split decision on the veggies though.

We had the Kailan Sos Tiram (Oyster Sauce Kailan) which I personally thought was really good because the kailan was nice and cooked through as opposed to being too tough like some other places I'd been to before.

But a few others seemed to think some improvements were in order because it was a bit on the sweet side. I thought it was on the salty side which is probably why I liked it so much LOL. Well, anyways they also have a small serving for half the price in case you'd like a smaller size.

Wantan Goreng (RM6.00)

As a side, we decided to go for the Fried Wantons which seemed like nice and deep fried crispy goodness from the picture in the menu and I guess they were not that bad.

Nice and crispy fried goodies but a little lacking in the flavour department (as with most of the rest of the stuff we had there unfortunately).

They're packo full of minced chicken meat and good for dipping in the chicken rice chilli if you're looking to add a little kick into the wanton.

Other sides you might to choose from are the Kerabu Mangga (Thai Style Mango Salad) or maybe go for the Kerabu Kaki Ayam (Thai Style Chicken Feet Salad).

CHILD FRIENDLY FACTOR

Baby chairs are available upon request but a little crampy. Depending on the weather, might get a little stuffy too.

Overall Child Friendly Rating - 2.5/5

Adam's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 1.5/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 4/5 -- Wantan Goreng 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 0.5/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 1/5 -- Wantan Goreng 1.5/5

Azim's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 2/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 1/5

Razali's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 2/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 2.5/5

Fateha's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 2/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 1/5

They actually have quite an extensive menu with items like Chicken, Prawns and Squid cooked in various styles like Salted Egg (!!), Sambal, Sweet & Sour etc and also a variety of vegetable dishes to go for as well but when a place has the words 'Nasi Ayam' in the name, you'd expect Chicken Rice to be the specialty there that can't go wrong.

We eat a lot of Chicken Rice (have you read The Chicken Rice Chronicles by the way?) and we have to say this was pretty disappointing. Sure this might appeal to some peoples' taste for sure but this wasn't for us.

PS the staff were really unfriendly too. Maybe it really was a bad day for us to visit.

Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng

50 Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

www.cheemeng.com.my

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 10.00pm Daily

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 7: Evertop Family Restaurant

Oh yeah... The Evertop review is finally here...
But first, why not recap our past visits of The Chicken Rice Chronicles HERE.

So Evertop is such a famous name when it comes to Chicken Rice in Singapore I reckon. I know lots of people who tell me they love to go to Evertop with their friends and family because there's lot of food to choose from but the draw is definitely the Chicken Rice!

You all know I'm a fan of Mackenzie Rex Chicken Rice and  I hold that as the top level.
So how did I find the Evertop version?

Chicken Rice ($4.50)

Okay that picture is actually of half a chicken serving by the way. The normal serving is definitely gonna be lesser than that. But you get the picture right? Looks good and really super appetizing am I right or am I right?

The chicken was really tender and not tough at all. It was also nicely bathed in the soy sauce just the way I like it similar to the Chicken Rice at Tang Tea House but this one was not as salty though.

And I'm not sure if you noticed but they have a serving of pickled cucumber and carrots on the side which I found kind of weird. I normally only get that when I order something like Ngoh Hiang at Rex and this was the first time I was receiving it with Chicken Rice that's for sure. But don't worry they have the normal cucumber too.

I think this is where it started to go a little downhill for me.
I actually found the rice quite bland. I guess I was expecting more since everyone was telling me about how nice the Chicken Rice here was.

In fact, this is the same case as Tang Tea House where I found the rice to be totally out of sorts.

Just one look at the Chilli and you know it's packing quite a punch. None of that watery stuff here this is the pekat stuff!

And just like Tang Tea House, this was the spicy-spicy kind of Chicken Rice Chilli. No vinegar or lime juice or sugar or anything like that. Seems like just chillies and garlic (and maybe some ginger) and that's it. Nothing complex. Just plain heat.

And even though I compare this Chilli to Tang Tea House, this one was definitely spicier.
In fact, I'm gonna say this is the spiciest Chicken Rice Chilli I've tasted so far in this series!!

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken 3.5/5 -- Rice 1.5/5 -- Chilli 2/5 -- Overall 2.5/5

To be honest, I feel that the Chicken Rice at Evertop is very comparable to the chicken rice at Tang Tea House except that Tang Tea House edges out on top because their roasted chicken is better. But other than that, it's a pretty close fight.

Still looking for the chicken rice that will make us change our minds about Rex Chicken being #1!!

Evertop Family Restaurant

89/91 Joo Chiat Road
Tel: 89/91 Joo Chiat Road

https://www.facebook.com/evertop.joochiat?ref=ts&fref=ts

Operating Hours:
11.30am to 11.00pm Daily

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 6: Fitra Chicken Rice

Well we're already at the end of Ramadhan and we've run out of special posts for the month so we've decided to release the next installment of The Chicken Rice Chronicles!

"Chicken Rice Chronicles? What the heck is that?"
If you're not sure what we're talking about, you might wanna read THIS first...

And this time we are at another reader-recommended Chicken Rice joint in the East this time!

Chicken Rice (4.50)

Fitra is located in Century Square's Food Junction now (I heard it used to be in the now closed Food Culture) and they serve all kinds of goodies like noodles and the likes. But some of our readers pointed out that the Chicken Rice at Fitra was worth checking out.

And since it's nearby for us, we decided to drop by after some shopping!

Maybe I'm just being fussy but I feel that the guy who cut up my chicken was lazy.
You may not be able to see it in the picture but there was still some parts of the chicken which I guess I don't normally get when I have Chicken Rice at other places. I'm talking about small things like the excess gristle etc.

I guess overall the chicken was quite tender but not as tender as some other places. I am basing this on a Roasted Chicken standard of course. Wasn't too fantastic taste-wise either.

Found the rice a tad dry. You can see from that picture how dry it is.
Not too bad when you eat it all at one go withe the chicken and the chilli though. Add some soup if you must!

Despite all that, I think I was most disappointed with the chilli.
If the chilli is goof, I think I could have been more forgiving with the chicken and the rice.

It was watery and I wasn't really enjoying it very much.
I'm a bit fan of the type of chilli which has quite a bit of vinegar in it but even that could not redeem this one. It does have a bit of a spicy kick to it which might be why some people like it I guess.

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 1.5/5

Unfortunately this was not the best of the series so fare...
Why oh why do the nice Chicken Rice joints always seem to be so far away!!

Oh well, maybe we'll have more luck next time.

Fitra Chicken Rice

Food Junction @ Century Square
#03-20/29

Tel: 6781 3114

Operating Hours:
10.30am til 9.30pm Daily

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 5: Mackenzie Rex

Part 5 in our Chicken Rice Chronicles bring us to what is actually one of The Halal Food Blog Team's (well, some of us anyways) favourite makan places EVER and it just so happens that it's a Chicken Rice joint.

We actually wrote about Rex in a previous post but that was before we started our Chicken Rice Chronicles series. So we had to visit again to include it officially!

Roasted Chicken Rice ($4.50)

Mackenzie Rex has been around since the 60s and is one of the more popular name when it comes to Halal Oriental food including Tzi Char style dishes like Fried Baby Squid, You Char Kway with Sotong, Yam Ring, Sweet and Sour Fish etc.

But we are here to talk about the Chicken Rice which has been my favourite since my parents brought me there when I was 11 years old. Back then it was located where Rex Theatre stands but has since moved to Prinsep Street. They also have a branch at Changi Road.

Some people will say that they find the breast meat a bit too dry for their taste but I actually find it okay and to my liking. In fact, I know quite a few people who agree with me on this one.
I guess everyone has their own individual taste.

If you're the type that goes for the more juicy parts, you can always ask for the thigh or the drumstick. Just take note that drumstick will cost you a bit extra since it's a favourite part! And as with any respectable Chicken Rice place, they also have the Steamed or 'White' Chicken for you if you'd like.

I love the rice here. It's fragrant and it's tasty and it's the bomb.
Again, some people might argue it's a bit too hard or grainy but again to each his own I guess.
The rice is so tasty that my dear old Dad often buy extra packets of plain chicken rice and fry it up as fried rice at home which gives it an extra kick.

In my younger days when I had more of an appetite (and a bigger stomach), I'd almost order and extra bowl of rice at $0.50 whenever I had the Chicken Rice. POWER!!!

And here comes the one thing that almost all the people I have spoken to come to an agreement.

It's spicy. It's salty. It's got a tang to it. It's one of the best Chicken Rice chilli you will find around!
And trust me - it's got a spicy kick but you'll definitely keep scooping more and more and more.
Whether you put it in the small dish and go in doses or you put a generous amount to mix in with your rice, I think you'll agree with us in saying that this one of the best parts of Rex Chicken Rice.

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 2.5/5

Azlan's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 5/5

Yana's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 3.5/5

Well in my books, this is the #1 Chicken Rice around.
I know the list of places for us to visit remains a very a long one and I might very well come across a new place that is a really really good Chicken Rice joint but until then, Rex wins.

In fact, we even appeared on 987tv and told them all about our favourite Chicken Rice.
Check out the video here :)

Mackenzie Rex Restaurant

66 Prinsep Street
Tel: 63361702
www.macrex.com.sg/index.htm

Operating Hours: 10.30am til 10.00pm Daily
(Closed on Chinese New Year & Hari Raya Aidilfitri)

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 3: Aspirasi

Harlow harlow harlow!
Is everybody ready for some Chicken Rice Chronicles?!?!

Well if you have no idea what we are babbling about then please READ THIS before you go any further!

Well our 3rd installment of the Chicken Rice Chronicles brings us to a far side of the island.
I say far because we live in the East and this place is located all the way at Harbourfront!
But hey... anywhere for good food right?

Chicken Rice ($3.50)

Another fan-favourite with our readers - Aspirasi Chicken Rice at Seah Im Food Centre!
I'll be 100% honest with you - the name Aspirasi was not familiar to me at all until our beloved readers responded to our call for their fave Chicken Rice places around SG. This was one name that popped up!

The first thing I noted is the very distinctive coating on the chicken.
Deep fried and crispy perfection, I can see why so many people love the chicken here!

I'd never really had chicken rice where the chicken was coated and fried this way before.
I guess the expectation is to have either Roasted or Steamed Chicken when you have your Chicken Rice but it seems like this type of battered and crispy chicken is really popular nowadays!

Well anyways, the crispy coating was quite a delight but I guess I still prefer the Roasted version. It's a pity that Aspirasi only has one type of chicken which the specialize in. But perhaps it's true when they say 'A jack of all trades is a master of none' because they've really mastered the fried chicken here.

I didn't really fancy the rice very much though.
I found it quite dry and lacking any flavour that you'd expect in a plate of Chicken Rice.

It's quite a pity though because the chicken was really nice and would have been great to have some tasty rice to go along with it.

Thank goodness the chilli rocks!
Nice and tangy and a very nice compliment to the crispy fried chicken. And one of the best things is that they are not stingy with their chilli! There's a big tub of it at the front of the shop so help yourself!

And they may have only the fried chicken but you can get that in a few versions including Sambal, Sweet and Sour, Lemon, Black Pepper, Penyet, Nasi Goreng Ayam and also Tomato Sambal. Maybe next time we'll try one of those...

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 3/5

This was the first time I'd tried crispy fried chicken with my Chicken Rice and it was definitely a good first impression. Guess it'll take a little getting used to. But the chilli was the bomb! Pity about the rice though.

Aspirasi

Seah Im Food Centre
2 Seah Im Road

Tel: 9297 2025
www.facebook.com/aspirasifoodgalore

Operating Hours: 9am til 9pm Daily
Closed on Mondays

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 2: Afghanistan

So we are on to the 2nd makan place in our series for Chicken Rice.
I am of course referring to our series called The Chicken Rice Chronicles where we go around sampling the favourite Chicken Rice stalls of YOU - our readers.

You might want to read our intro post HERE before you go any further though.

Anyways on to the food!
Here's another name that was recommended by quite a number of our readers...

Chicken Rice ($3.50)

Afghanistan Family Restaurant is a name that many people (especially those living in Tampines) will be quite familiar with I reckon. It's been around for ages and is known for it's favourites like Murtabak and Briyani. But we're not here for the Murtabak or Briyani this time are we.

It recently underwent renovations but it's 100% back on track now and many of our readers felt that the Chicken Rice at Afghanistan deserved a mention on our list.

But will it be as nice as most people remember it to be?

When I first saw the serving of chicken, I thought to myself "No ways is this going to be enough".
But surprisingly enough, it was actually just nice in terms of the portion.

The chicken comes with some special sauce over the top. I'm not really 100% sure what it consists of but just from the taste, I'm guessing it's made up mostly of onions and garlic. I have to say it definitely makes a difference in the taste department because the chicken itself is unfortunately not exactly bursting with flavour.

The chicken meat was pretty tender though I have to say.

I have to say I was actually quite disappointed with the rice.

It was quite dry actually. It was a little on the hard side which I actually don't mind but because of how dry it is, you're definitely gonna have a sip of drink after every one or two mouthfuls.

Here is where the biggest disappointment came - the Chilli.

This was the type of Chicken Rice chilli which was mostly vinegar so you have a nice sour tang to it. Definitely some sugar to sweeten and even it out a bit. But nothing much at all in the spicy department.
Please don't get me wrong. I love the vinegary type of chilli. But somehow I guess I was expecting the chilli to be the star since the chicken and the rice were not doing so well in my books.

Let me try and place this taste for you.
I'm not sure how many of you will remember this but bear with me okay.

When I still in school in the early 90's (I'm talking about the times when Chicken Rice cost $1.50), I used to hit Bedok Library pretty often with some school buddies. And either before or after, we'd have lunch at a nearby makan place called Alfiah.

Alfiah was located along the same row as where the current Bedok Central NTUC stands (but it's long gone now) and pretty much everytime I'd have the Chicken Rice because it was cheap and we got full.

The Chicken Rice Chilli at Afghanistan tastes exactly like the chilli I used to have as a kid at Alfiah.
Vinegary and sweet. So if anyone of you remembers the Chicken Rice at Alfiah, well, this is the pretty much the same taste for the chilli that you'll get at Afghanistan.

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken 2.5/5 -- Rice 2/5 -- Chilli 2/5 -- Overall 2/5

I have a very strong feeling that the standards have dropped at Afghanistan. I've heard people saying that about their Murtabak and other stuff and perhaps it seems the Chicken Rice too now?

My darling wife and her family mentioned that some of the stall owners have changed over the many years and maybe even after the recent renovations. And they would know because they live just across the street and have been eating here for ages as I'm sure quite a number of our readers have too.

I'm not even sure if this is the same people selling the Chicken Rice that the readers have recommended.
But it's still a nice place to have some makan with family and/or friends. I guess that when I do visit again, I'll probably order something else.

Afghanistan Family Restaurant

201E Tampines Street 23
Chicken Rice Stall

Tel: 6783 7746

Operating Hours:
7.30am til 11.30pm Daily
(Opens at 3.00pm on Friday afternoons)

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 1: Tong Seng Coffeeshop

So begins our series called The Chicken Rice Chronicles.
And in case it wasn't obvious enough, it's about Chicken Rice :)

Unsure about the guidelines or want more information on the series? Well maybe you missed our intro post.
Read about it by clicking HERE.

Our first stall in the series has actually already closed down but there were so many people who called out its name in our FB post that we felt it would be unfair to leave it out. So even though it has closed down, we decided to include it anyways.

Roasted Chicken Rice ($3.50)

Tong Seng is a familiar name to many and it's no surprise that there were so many people who commented for Tong Seng to be included on the list for this series on Chicken Rice.

I ate at Tong Seng a lot of times over the years and even though I normally had Wanton Noodles, I did actually have other dishes too okay. But to be perfectly honest with you, it never once crossed my mind to try the Chicken Rice because, well, Tong Seng just wasn't a name that came to mind when someone mentioned "Let's go for Chicken Rice".

Well apparently, I'm one of only a few people because everyone else was raving about it.

As a general rule, I always order my Chicken Rice with the breast meat FYI.
I know most people don't really fancy it because they say it's tough, tasteless, dry and all kinds of other things but I love it.

In fact, if it's really that difficult to cook the breast meat well then maybe that's the best part to judge?

I have to say the chicken at Tong Seng was actually pretty tasty.
Meat was really tender and portion was quite big. More than enough to go with the serving of rice.
A little disappointed with the skin though.

I was actually most surprised with the rice. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be so tasty but it was actually quite nice. It was actually just the right consistency that I like.

Some people like slightly softer rice (like my Mum) and absolutely can't stand the slightly harder and grainy rice (like my Mum again) and this rice isn't exactly very soft if truth be told. But it definitely had a good strong chicken stock character to it.

And this is apparently the reason why so many people love Tong Seng Chicken Rice.
The chilli.

From the picture you're probably guessing that it looks a little watery - and it is.
But it does pack quite a strong chilli kick to it. Don't let it fool you... it's actually quite spicy!
It definitely has strong hints of garlic and ginger in there.

But it's not very strong on the vinegar though so if you're a fan of that (like me) then don't expect too much on in the tang department. But overall I can see why people like the chilli so much and we hope the fans enjoy the memory of this Chicken Rice.

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken 3.5/5 -- Rice 3/5 -- Chilli 3/5 -- Overall 3/5

Azlan's Verdict:
Chicken 3/5 -- Rice 3/5 -- Chilli 3/5 -- Overall 3/5

I'm actually  really glad I got to try the Chicken Rice at Tong Seng before they closed down so now I at least know exactly what everyone was talking about.

It's actually quite a decent plate of Chicken Rice (I've definitely had worse) and not a bad start to the series.

Tong Seng Coffeeshop
(Closed down on 15 October 2013)

The Chicken Rice Chronicles

So we had a poll on our Facebook page and it proved quite popular.
One thing was clear - we all love Chicken Rice but what was so surprising was how many recommendations we received on what people thought was the BEST Chicken Rice in Singapore.

And this is what the list looks like:

1. Tong Seng (Bugis) - READ HERE
2. Jefri Chicken Rice (Bedok Interchange)
3. S11 (Bukit Batok)
4. Mackenzie Rex (Prinsep Street) - READ HERE
5. Afghanistan (Tampines) - READ HERE
6. Evertop (Joo Chiat) - READ HERE
7. AR & H Family Chicken Rice aka Brickworks (Bukit Merah)
8. TFF (Bedok Corner)
9. Aspirasi (Seah Im) - READ HERE
10. 89.7 (Changi Village)
11. Mat Noh Chicken Rice (Peace Centre formerly at Lorong Limau)
12. Azman Chicken Rice (New Upper Changi Road)
13. Carona (Golden Shoe)
14. Golden Nur Nasi Briyani Special (Golden Shoe)
15. Adam Road Food Centre (Adam Road)
16. Fork and Spoon (Toa Payoh)
17. Nasi Ayang (Boon Keng)
18. Sedaap (Amoy Food Centre)
19. Jamil Seafood Restaurant (Tampines)
20. Scoops N Ladles (Sembawang)
21. As-Shifaa (Lucky Plaza) - READ HERE

23. Hawa Restaurant (New Upper Changi Road)
24. Fitra Chicken Rice (Century Square) - READ HERE
25. Tang Tea House (Simpang Bedok) - READ HERE

Quite a long list but we (and our bellies) are very determined to run through it all!
And it's probably going to take some time but I'm sure it'll be done... No matter how long it takes!

But how exactly can we be sure that all the stalls are reviewed fairly and consistently?
Well, I'm glad you asked.

The Chicken Rice stalls will be reviewed and scored based on the following 4 factors;
1. The Rice 2.The Chicken 3. The Chili and 4. Overall Rating

Seems fair right? And after we review each stall, we'll be sure to update the list accordingly.

So look out for the first installment soon and we'll work on it from there okay. Hope you enjoy going through the list with us as much as will enjoy eating at all the stalls. :)