Street Hainan Chicken Rice Shop @ Pandan Perdana

I remember reading a post on Street Hainanese Chicken Rice Shop by choiyen.com and being attracted by the photos of the yellow-skinned poached kampung chicken which is one of my favourite things to eat.  What was even more tempting was the colour of the soup I noticed from photos that I googled.

So, one day, when I happened to tekan-tekan my phone, I was pleasantly surprised to see this shop on ShopeeFood...good, good, they have a branch near me in Pandan Perdana.  From ShopeeFood, I gather that they've branches in PJ, Selayang and Kepong besides the one in Pandan Perdana.

Of course I must do a taste test first, so I ordered the Set A (Lucky Box) + Drink @ RM12.80 as my first introduction to their chicken rice.  As the name implies, it's some kind of a surprise box where you don't get to choose the contents but leave it in the hands of the shop to give you what they wish.  It's far from a surprise anyway coz what else can you get if not roast chicken, char siew (barbeque pork) or siu yuk (roast pork).  What would be a surprise would be the cut of the randomly selected chicken part if you ask me! :D

So, my lucky box came with roast chicken and siu yuk.  Not so lucky though was that I got roast chicken breast (which was alright with me as they were not too dry).  The siu yuk had crunchy skin (no complaints on that) but flavour-wise, it was just passable. 

I enjoyed the consistency and taste of the rice which had a good dose of chicken broth flavour.  I was thrilled to see the plentiful yin sai (coriander) in the rice box too.  

The free drink that came with the rice box was a Watercress & Honey Date Tea which was really good...and very refreshing too.  The ingredients of watercress, honey dates and jujubes (or red dates) are the very same ingredients we'd use if we were making a soup.  If it wasn't cold, you might think you're drinking a soup coz I definitely tasted the flavours of watercress and red dates but, of course, the drink had a sweeter profile with natural sweetness coming from the honey dates.  The drink is RM5.50 if ordered separately, so the price of the rice box including the drink I'd consider it good value.

Armed with a favourable taste test, I dropped by with my family to Street Hainan (or Hainanese) Chicken Rice Shop @ Pandan Perdana for a dine-in.  We couldn't find it at first as we were expecting a restaurant on its own (just like the Kepong branch that choiyen dined in) but it turned out to be just a stall inside a coffee shop by the name of Restoran Hou Wan Loi.

From the stall's name, it's obvious that their speciality is Hainanese chicken rice, so I placed an order for Poached Kampung Chicken Rice.  The kampung chicken (or choy yin kai) was tender and had good flavours....the most successful meat option here in my opinion.  

I requested for chicken thigh but noted that the layer of meat was rather thin.  I'm fine with the kampung chicken being lean with a less fatty skin.  The soy sauce accompanying the poached kampung chicken wasn't too salty and I detected a very faint hint of Chinese wine in the sauce.

The accompanying fresh chilli and ginger paste tasted good as well.  The blended chilli dip was fairly spicy, zingy and appetising while the ginger paste was nice, lightly oily and not too spiced.

We also ordered a plate of Roast Pork (or Siu Yuk) Rice since that's my husband favourite roasted meat.  But unlike the crunchy skin siu yuk that I got via delivery, the dine-in siu yuk that day (unfortunately) wasn't as that was the first thing my husband commented.  I did tell him that the one piece I had was crunchy but looks like the rest weren't.

So, this obviously didn't meet his standard in terms of flavour or crispiness (he did notice that the slab of siu yuk hanging at the stall wasn't sizeable)...and that's usually a tell-tale sign that perhaps it's not so popular/saleable as we were there just after 9am when they opened!  There was no drizzling of soy sauce over the siu yuk as the chilli + soy dip (which tasted a lot saltier than the soy that accompanied the poached chicken) came separately.

Since I didn't get char siew in my lucky box, I wanted to try that and ordered a serving of BBQ Pork (or Char Siew) Rice too.

The char siew had a fair ratio of lean-to-fat, so it was certainly tender with a well caramelised, sweet aftertaste.  Those who like their char siew sweet would enjoy this.  The char siew was a much better tasting meat than the siu yuk for sure.

The one unique differentiation I found with this roasted meat stall was definitely the rice itself!  There was no doubt that the rice had a good dose of chicken flavour but the texture of the rice was quite different from the usual ones I've had.  The nicely separated grains had more of a bite and a surprisingly sticky texture (which I didn't realise when I ate it the first time).  If you were to ask me to guess, I'd probably say there was some glutinous rice in the mix.  So, those who like their rice al dente (like their pasta) would appreciate and enjoy this texture more.  Those who don't would probably find the texture a bit on the firm side.  I'm not overly excited about the texture though I don't mind it as long as the rice has enough flavour.

The soup turned out very ordinary (just like any soups at chicken rice stalls that deserve no mention), certainly a far cry from the tempting soup photos I saw online (from their other branches).  

I was also happy to see that they were not kedekut (stingy) with the serving of chopped coriander topping on their meats.  I was disappointed to be told that the fat, crunchy beansprouts I saw in choiyen's blog weren't available...and neither were their handmade pork meatballs.  I don't know the individual prices of the rice meals we had but the 3 plates cost RM27.50 in total (a very decent pricing of about RM9 a plate although my husband commented that the portion was rather little).

My Personal Opinion

After trying all types of meat at this chicken rice stall, the well-flavoured and tender poached kampung chicken is the best tasting thing here followed by the sweetish caramelised char siew.  The siu yuk, on the other hand, needs work.

Having said that, although the kampung chicken was decent and the char siew satisfying, it isn't wow enough for me to recommend that you come from afar just to eat this (if you happen to be in the vicinity or if you live in the area, then perhaps).

Personally, I doubt I'll be patronising on a regular basis just because I've other better alternatives near me when it comes to poached chicken and char siew that I find more enjoyable...and a few comes to mind immediately (some even in my own neighbourhood). ^_~

Street Hainan Chicken Rice Shop

(Stall inside Restoran Hou Wan Loi)

40 Jalan Perdana 4/8

Pandan Perdana

55300 Kuala Lumpur