Best Hainanese Chicken Rice in Singapore

One of Singapore's national dish, every hawker centre would have a chicken rice stall, some with quite a few! Termed Hainanese chicken rice, it was created by immigrants from Hainan Island, and sort of a derivative of the Wenchang chicken rice, which uses the specific breed of Wenchang chicken, known to sleep on trees, and of course, could fly a little.

There are 2 unique feature of Singapore's Hainanese chicken rice. First, the chicken is poached, some stalls do sell roast chicken too. The other is the rice, it is first cooked in chicken oil with garlic, ginger and shallots before cooking in a chicken broth to give it the unique chicken rice fragrance.

Some people would place importance on the chilli sauce provided too, and this can be the third unique feature. Actually the fourth could be the soy sauce that would also normally be given either together with the chicken on a separate plate from the rice, or poured onto the rice if chicken is placed on it. While this soy sauce usually comes with the chicken rice, chilli is given on a small dish, usually self served, diced ginger in chicken oil would also be provided as condiments.

Delicious and fragrant, it is the ultimate comfort food and everybody would not mind it.

Nan Xiang

Katong Mei Wei

Rong Ji

Da Po

Tian Tian

Da Ji

Teo Kee

Chiacken Rice

May 2021

Probably really the world's best chicken rice, definitely the most famous!

Probably the most famous Hainanese Chicken Rice stall in the world, from Michelin bib gourmand to the late Anthony Bourdain’s first experience of chicken rice in Singapore to challenging Gordon Ramsey (Tian Tian won). Not that it mattered to anyone but I also rated it as the top chicken rice operator back in the days and was thrilled that Anthony Bourdain chose to taste it here, thanks to some King’s recommendation.

Tian Tian @ Maxwell

Tian Tian @ Upper Changi Road

Priced reasonably despite its stature, $5 for a chicken drumstick rice is good value. Theie rice is fragrant, you can taste the garlic and shallots in the rice and the fragrance explode inside your mouth. I’m proud to say that it reminds me a little of my mom’s (a Hainanese herself, she isn’t really the best cook but does a decent chicken rice on festive occasions) version.

The chicken is delicious, very tender and smooth (something my mom can never achieve! LOL). The light sauce that comes with the chicken is also very tasty, add this to the rice and consume with the chicken, you'll get the best chicken rice in the world.

Bourdain’s famous quote that its “chicken rice is so fragrant and delicious that it can be eaten on its own” is something I absolutely agree with. Most good chicken rice stalls in Singapore serve nice and fragrant rice, I believe Tian Tian’s is a little bit ahead of the others.

Hainanese chicken rice is ubiquitous in Singapore, to have the reputation it has amongst the many competition is not easy. I have no doubt that Tian Tian is not the most popular or favoured chicken rice stall amongst most locals. There are a few other more popular operators of various sizes in town, critics would say it is only popular amongst tourists, but I believe their reputation is sound. This has been my favourite amongst all that I’ve tried throughout Singapore.

The queue for Tian Tian is quite crazy at times but they do have a good system to serve as quickly as possible, waiting time is not really that bad. Another restaurant style outlet is located at Upper Changi Road, this should be the HQ and where the bosses operate… but there is no doubt they started here at Maxwell.

I just realised that I can almost smell its fragrance just by posting these photos, and this is ALL he photos I have of Tian Tian! I believe it was more my subconscious saying these photos would say a thousand words. I'm like Pavlov's dog, the chicken rice has been reinforced in my mind! In reality, I think I just couldn't wait to tuck in on the chicken rice when they were in front of me, so I just rushed through the motion of taking that 2 or 3 photos and rushed to gulp down.

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

1 Kadayanallur Street, #01-10/11 Maxwell Food Centre, 9am – 7pm, Tue – Sat

12 Jalan Pari Burong, s488678, 11am – 9pm, Tue – Sun

https://www.facebook.com/Tian-Tian-Hainanese-Chicken-Rice-344208003809/

Naxiang

Roast Meat, Chicken Rice

Jun 2020

Best Char Siew + White Chicken Combo in town!

This is one of the few famous Roast meat and Chicken rice places around the Katong area since the late 60’s and 70’s. Used to be manned by the owner during lunch and the brother in the evenings, now the owner runs both sessions, passing it down to his son Jimmy.

I was drawn to this shop first by the char siew and siew yoke, and I always liked it. One day I decided to give the chicken a try and I never turned back! I went from char siew/siew yoke (“chonng forr” or angry in Cantonese) to first the trinity of char siew/siew yoke/steamed chicken to just char siew and chicken.

The duck on offer is nothing special here. The roast chicken is never my favourite but it is succulent and the skin crispy enough.

The steamed chicken, however, is quite exceptional. Juicy and tender; doused in a bit of their sauce, its texture and taste makes it one of the best chickens in town. Forget the big 4 chicken rice chains, this one is up there with them!

The roast meat or siew yoke, is crispy but the meat tends to be a little on the dry side, it is decent and when I’m greedy, I’d go for the triple. I avoid this mainly coz I don’t want to be too greedy as I age (I have a body to maintain, you know…), and it’s more economical, one got to save some money for old age, you know….

The char siew here is top bin. Tender and juicy, they get the right cut of meat, and they cut them just nice, thick enough to satisfy the clientele yet not too thick to cost his boss….. I always prefer thick cut char siews, it’s the only way to serve them! Taste wise, it is not as sweet as some other excellent char siews in town, but has a slight hint of garlic that gives it which special ommph that makes it slightly special from the others. They definitely use good part of the pig for their char siews.

Before I forget, the rice on offer here is good quality too. Fragrant and tasty, there is a bit of a raw element to it, one of those things that gets to you subtly. Reminds me slightly of mom’s chicken rice (the only thing she knows how to cook well…). I have been asked on many occasions if I wanted the chicken rice or white rice, that’s when it subconsciously hit me that I want their chicken rice; as the smell and taste of their chicken rice would float into my subconscious and I’d go for the chicken rice without much hesitation.

Char Siew orders are topped with their char siew sauce, which is sweet is nice, as a kid I used to love it. It is not as sweet as some I tried and is a good compliment sauce for the rice.

I believe Nan Xiang has the best Char Siew/Steamed chicken combo rice in town. They are good at both, can’t claim sole top for either, but this combo, I haven’t come across a better one than them.

NanXiang Chicken Rice

271 Tanjong Katong Road, s437054

Daily 8am – 2pm, 4pm - 730pm, closed every Tue

Chicken rice

Nov 2021

Run by an elderly couple in their 70s, they work bent over, toiling away, like some characters from a Steinbeck novel. The couple looked grouchy working away. I worried they might not remember my 4 orders but I got my chicken rice and aunty told me to return for the takeaways.

RongJi

I could smell the fragrance of the chicken rice as I carried it to my table. Gastric juice flowing, I tucked in to a delightful mixture of tastes and textures! The rice itself was not great, but it was doused in a good amount of dark soy sauce and sesame oil, which made it wonderful (the boss at home agreed, despite not being a chicken rice lover). It’s a taste you’d pine for hours later.

The chicken was very tender, and tastes wonderful too. Its texture silky sweet and smooth, so smooth it felt like it was slipping inside my mouth like people walking on an icy surface… it is cooked just right, the skill level to make such a nicely made chicken is Mo Salah high… the chicken here, with the rice, they work in perfect harmony, just like ebony and ivory.

I bought some of the pork porridge back, the porridge is very tasty, with the mixture of dark sauce and sesame seed, and quite a bit of youtiao (fritters dough). The YT mixes well with the pork balls, blending into the porridge to give alternate soft and meaty texture to every other mouthful.

Tried the fish porridge, which is a mixture of salmon and salmon belly, and youtiao... I’m still deciding if it is good, it is lovely but at the same time it feels weird having porridge with salmon, which has a heavy taste; the mixture of salmon meat and belly is definitely a delicious combo.

Both porridge and chicken are delightful in taste and texture, if only the couple was not so grouchy, or were they…? I tried to chat with them when I returned for my takeaways, they were both quite chatty, talking while toiling, answering without looking or annoyance. They actually start work at 1am in the morning to cook the chicken! And when I asked if it was only the 2 of them working, uncle said yes, and while passing me my takeaways, said with a smile “my cooking skills, nobody can learn…!” He was probably not entirely joking, the tender and juicy smooth chicken would really require a special skill set.

Not only not grouchy, quite humorous too. I left telling him I’d learn next week…. As I leave, I did not have the courage to turn around to see his expression when he heard that!

Rong Ji Chicken Rice ~ Porridge

271 Onan Road, Stall 13

7am – 2pm, closed on Wed.

Katong Mei Wei

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Jul 2023

Sweet sweet set meals

Very famous chicken rice stall, long Qs at peak hours, a place I bum into people i know often…

Each order of a chicken rice comes in a form of a set meal with a big bowl of soup and achar (pickled mix of cucumbers, onions, pineapples and chilli). It is very lightly pickled, if at all, and is more likely the main draw! Used to be self-served where you can take as much as you want, now it’s given in generous portions on a dish.

I used to choose to visit only on the weekends when they had peanut soup, I may be wrong but they only serve cabbage soup now. This soup was pretty good, but Mrs. Ziggy would say, MSG is the chef here. Nevertheless, I always finished it, sometimes the lot of cabbage too, and so did she…. Mar 2025 update: came on a Tuesday recently and they served peanut soup! Peanut soup was always nicer than the cabbage option, didn't feel like drinking Chef MSG made ones.

The rice was a bit Coldplay, yellow, and just as yummy… Low on the typical chicken rice fragrance, but quite tasty.

They serve boiled chicken (white), roast chicken, char siew and roast pork. Roast pork not the best, neither the char siew, but if you feel like it, the char siew is decent with a sweet sauce.

Both the chicken were served boneless, in a plate with some very sweet soy sauce too. Very sweet. Not a criticism as I filled my rice with quite a bit of that…

The white chicken was nice and juicy, well done. The roast chicken slightly less so, a bit on the dry side. One day I was here they were left with only roast chicken, one customer seemed to agree with me and left… 🤣🤣

White or roast chicken was always doused with abundant very fresh and nicely deep fried garlic.

White or roast chicken, with or without char siew and roast pork, having a meal here was always satisfying. I tend to think that Mei Wei’s attraction is more the achar and soup, but their chicken and rice are pretty good too. And if you’re lucky and catch the young boss here in the mood, you might be entertained by one of his wonderful dance routines! 😎🤣🤣

Katong Delicious (Mei Wei) Boneless Chicken Rice

865 Mountbatten Road, Katong Shopping Centre, s437844. 11am – 7pm, closed on Mon

430 Upper Changi Road, #01-07 East Village, s487048. Daily 11am – 9pm

https://www.katongmeiwei.com/about-us

https://web.facebook.com/KatongMeiWei/?_rdc=1&_rdr

Da Po

Hainanese Chicken Rice, Curry Chicken Noodle

Oct 2023

Fragrant rice and yummy curry

In my less adventurous days, this was the stall I go to whenever I was here, which was not often too… haha

Love the fragrance of fried onions in the chicken rice here, plus I could opt for their wonderful curry chicken noodle.

They serve both boiled chicken (white chicken) and roast chicken. The roast chicken here was suitably salted to taste and succulent enough but I much prefer the white chicken.

The white was tender, juicy and full of flavour from the soy sauce and oil base it was served with. Pour these onto the rice, which was fragrantly delicious, for extra taste and flavour and you’ll feel like Belinda Carlyle and this would be the heaven on earth.

Their curry chicken noodle also surpassed some local specialists (there are a few stalls that sells nothing but curry chicken noodles). Served with a very nice bean curd skin, bean sprouts, 2 pieces of wonderful and tender pig’s skin and fish cakes that were more forgettable, plus of course chicken, usually white.

It was laced with good curry seasoning spices, creamy and yummy. I have my own favourite curry noodle stall, and that is my last meal contender, so this is high on my favourites list when I place them just behind that one (see my section on curry chicken noodle for my favourite).

Run by a friendly couple, on a busy day they could sell out as early as 430pm (weekends), so just be mindful if you intend to come for dinner.

Da Po Hainanese Chicken Rice & Curry Chicken Noodle

505 Beach Road, B1-53 Golden Mile Food Centre, s199583

1030am – 630pm, closed on Mon

De Ji

Chicken Rice

May 2025

Magical fried chicken wings, the chicken rice is not bad too

Always with a long Q, Da Ji is a Hainanese chicken rice stall that offers fried chicken wings as a side. Judging by their orders, I should rewrite my first sentence. Da Ji is a fried chicken wing rice stall that offers Hainanese chicken rice as a side.

Sitting right in front of Da Ji once, we observed that 90+% of customers buy only chicken wing rice, their top combo would be fried chicken wings rice with 2 added chicken wings. The upsized meal.... $1.60 for the wings, $4 for the fried chicken wings rice which has two wings in it.

The first time I tried Da Ji, I only managed to notice everyone seemed to include wings, a very careless observation. Didn't really have to look too hard, most tables around you see families with plates of fried chicken wings rice with another plate of 5-6 wings added.

A lack of any intelligent observation led me to order white chicken rice plus a fried wing. The chicken rice was decent, good fragrance, though it needed some help from the savoury soy sauce that came with the chicken to bring out its flavour

The white chicken was smooth and tender. I keep thinking of Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk while performing "Smooth Criminal" as the chicken slipped into my mouth. Delicious.

Now for the finale, fried chicken wing. Freshly fried, with a smooth thin crunchy skin, delicious and tender underneath. One bite and I regret not getting more wings. So good my immediate thought was that this should be their focus, wondering if they offer fried chicken rice. Of course they do, all you have to do was be more observant Ziggy...

The fried wings here we're so good I'm motivated to sneak them up to world best...

Da Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice

75 Lorong 5 Toa Payoh, Lor 5 Toa Payoh Food Centre, s310075

630 – 1130pm, closed on Thu

https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/7531797/da-ji-hainanese-chicken-rice/?hl=en

Teo Kee

Hainanese Chicken Rice

May 2025

Brilliant chicken rice, with a very tasty Kampong chicken option

Saw this chicken rice stall and was attracted by its deep yellow coloured chicken. No doubt kampong chicken (a breed of smaller sized "village chicken") was used, I was motivated. They looked very good anyway.

They only sell kampong chicken by the half chicken, $15 per half, $28 for the whole; $4 for a plate of normal chicken rice. For some reason I was very motivated, stayed the course and asked for boxes to take home any remnants.

The moment I sat down and looked at my plate of half chicken, I was ready for a nice meal. There was a wonderful layer of gelatin under the skin of this chicken, this comes from slow boiling of the chicken, the chef here pays attention to producing good chickens. More about him here 👇.

Smooth and tender chicken, absolutely delicious and sweet. I could have easily finished the entire plate but decided to bring back some for later, to share with Mrs. Ziggy, hope she'd decline...

The normal chicken was just as tender and succulent, ordered a plate of chicken rice to try. This time the chicken pieces were on the rice in a single plate. Rice looked devoid of the savoury soy sauce and oil mix, contemplated going back to get some but thought I'd just give this plain chicken rice a try.

Turned out there were quite a lot of the sauce poured into the rice, making it delicious to eat. This time even the rice was smooth and succulent. After finishing it, the greed in me contemplated getting another plate...

Lovely delicious chicken rice, well worth a visit. There was an article from Sin Min Daily telling us that the chef here has a masters in science, and used the slow cooking method to yield these tender and gelatinous chicken. These are not revolutionary methods, there are a few around but definitely not common. Glad I know where one is!

Teo Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice

335 Smith Street, #02-180 (blue section), s050335

10am – 7pm, closed on Tue