Rise and rise of chicken rice: More F&B groups, celebrities and influencers selling the dish
SINGAPORE – Chicken rice is enjoying a renaissance of sorts with food and beverage groups, celebrities and influencers opening chicken rice stalls and restaurants.
Influencer Simon Khung, better known as Simonboy, teamed up with local actor Peter Yu and a foodcourt operator to open their first chicken rice stall in Yishun in June. The stall drew criticism online, but that has not deterred the trio from opening their second outlet in July.
Rapper Sheik Haikel has also jumped onto the chicken rice scene, realising his teenage dream of opening a Hainanese chicken rice restaurant.
F&B giants BreadTalk Group and the Putien restaurant chain have also opened eateries with chicken rice as the star dish, but with different concepts.
Find out which chicken rice is worth the calories and why the local hawker favourite has become a food trend.
Singabola Chicken Rice: Overcoming initial backlash
Where: 01-02/03 Makan Singapura, Keat Hong Community Club, 2 Choa Chu Kang Loop; Lepak One Corner @ Canberra, 1001 Yishun Industrial Park A
Open: 10am to 9pm
When influencer Simon Khung, popularly known by his online moniker Simonboy, teamed up with local actor Peter Yu and food and beverage entrepreneur Winson Ng to start a chicken rice stall, he did not expect to encounter backlash from a wave of disgruntled customers.
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The three business partners opened their first outlet at Lepak One Corner @ Canberra in Yishun Industrial Park A on June 2 to much fanfare, with celebrity guests such as director Jack Neo gracing the opening.
But the initial excitement of Mr Khung’s first foray into the food and beverage industry was quickly marred by comments he received online.
Detractors commented on how Mr Khung does not know how to cook. He was unfazed at first.
The 36-year-old says: “I cannot cook, but it does not mean I cannot run an F&B business.”
Both Mr Khung and Yu, 56, tasted the chicken rice and gave feedback to the head cook before the stall opened.
The three partners took less than two months from coming up with the idea to opening the first stall. They also planned from the start to open two stalls.
Their second outlet, which opened in July, occupies a corner stall at Makan Singapura, a Muslim-owned foodcourt co-owned and operated by Mr Ng, 31. The foodcourt is at Keat Hong Community Club in Choa Chu Kang.
Mr Khung, a full-time content creator who has a clothing line and a video production house, recalls the first month of the stall’s opening when he got scolded on social media.
Some said the rice and chicken were not served hot and the staff were rude.
The Yishun outlet has a Google rating of two stars.
Mr Khung recalls: “I am used to haters and trolls. But when paying customers and true supporters visit our stall and feel disappointed, I feel bad for letting them down.”
Labour was the main issue.
As all three partners cannot cook, they relied on the first head cook they had hired to manage the stall. But his poor attitude and refusal to adhere to standard operating procedures gave rise to complaints from customers. They eventually asked him to leave and have since hired an experienced head cook from Malaysia.
The trio also scrapped their signature item of a fried chicken rice ball filled with chicken. Priced at $6.50, it was laborious and time-consuming to prepare, yet drew flak from customers who felt it was overpriced.
Prices of a regular plate of steamed or roasted chicken rice start at $4.50.
It has been a tough learning journey for Mr Khung, who found his foray into the F&B industry eye-opening. The partners spent $30,000 in total to open both outlets, and hope to break even by the end of 2024 and open a third outlet in 2025.
Mr Khung says: “We are not looking to be the best chicken rice in Singapore. What we want is to serve standard chicken rice to cater to people in the neighbourhood. It is a matter of convenience for those living or working around each of our outlets.”
What to eat: Go for either the half Steamed Chicken ($16) or half Roasted Chicken ($16) with rice ($1 a plate).
The rice is decently cooked with a chewy texture and you can taste the individual grains. While not the tastiest, it has a reasonable level of flavour from shallots, garlic, old ginger, lemongrass and pandan leaves.
The Steamed Chicken – which is actually poached – is juicy, while the deep-fried Roasted Chicken is tasty from the use of spices such as star anise, cinnamon and cloves.
Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice: Preserving a legacy
Where: 12 Verdun Road
Open: 8 to 3am daily
Tel: 8218-2848
Sam Leong Hainanese Chicken Rice was a hidden gem which operated mostly under the radar from 1992 to 2023.
Located in a coffee shop at 6 Verdun Road, the stall was named after the road it faced – Sam Leong Road. Tucked in a corner, it attracted a following of long-time patrons.
Among them was Putien’s founder and chairman Fong Chi Chung, 56, who has been a customer for some 20 years, dining there almost weekly.
The chefs at his Putien outlet in Kitchener Road had recommended he try the chicken rice there.
Mr Fong says: “I found the version of chicken rice there not cloying and I could eat it frequently. The stall had a healthier style of cooking. The rice was neither greasy nor heavily seasoned.”
Its late stall owner Heng Air Tow wanted to retire as his leg was hurting, and, as his son did not wish to take over the business, he requested that Mr Fong do so.
Mr Fong agreed because he admired the chicken rice seller for devoting 30 years to perfecting his Hainanese chicken rice.
As the two men had struck up a friendship over the years, Mr Fong felt compelled to help Mr Heng preserve his Hainanese chicken rice legacy out of sentimental reasons too.
He took over the stall on Oct 1, 2022, and insisted Mr Heng accept a goodwill gesture of $100,000 even though Mr Heng initially declined to accept any money. Mr Heng also agreed to stay on for six months to train Mr Fong’s staff.
A brand manager at Putien, Mr Ben Yeaw, was deployed to apprentice with Mr Heng and learn his recipes and work processes.
The 48-year-old recalls: “Uncle Heng cooked from experience and memory without formal recipes. On my first day of training at his stall, I took a weighing scale to measure all the ingredients that he used.”
Mr Yeaw says Mr Heng was serious and disciplined, and had exacting standards when it came to preparing chicken rice.
Mr Heng guided his apprentice earnestly and shared his knowledge on chicken rice, including the brands and suppliers he used, before he died at age 84 in January 2023.
Mr Yeaw says: “I felt we have to do justice to the effort that Uncle Heng put into his chicken rice.”
As the coffee shop at 6 Verdun Road is due to undergo renovations, Mr Fong found a new location at Verdun House, opposite the coffee shop, also at the intersection of Sam Leong Road and Verdun Road. Despite the rental being high – $30,000 a month – he decided it was worth it to set up an eatery specialising in chicken rice to preserve Mr Heng’s legacy.
After taking over the business, Mr Fong saw the potential for the brand to go global in the future, with the new venue as a flagship outlet.
The business was rebranded as Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice and launched as a fast casual restaurant with an orange-and-white palette on Jan 13.
The air-conditioned eatery can accommodate up to 74 diners, with 28 seats indoors and 46 seats outdoors. The eatery, which is targeted at younger diners, is equipped with two self-ordering kiosks, but also allows customers to place orders at the counter.
A basic plate of roasted chicken rice or poached chicken rice starts at $3.50. Mr Fong says the average spending of customers hovers at around $8.
Mr Fong wants the eatery to focus on Hainanese chicken rice. Apart from accompanying side dishes such as chicken gizzard and beansprouts, the shop is unlikely to expand its menu with zi char items, unlike other chicken rice chains.
The restaurant still uses the same halal-certified chicken supplier which Mr Heng used to order his chickens from, and is in the process of applying for halal certification.
It took three months to set up the kitchen and refine cooking processes using automation to keep the food quality and standards consistent.
With automation, it takes between three days to a week to train employees who have no prior culinary experience to cook the chickens and rice.
Mr Fong reckons that the current outlet’s rendition of Hainanese chicken rice is 85 per cent similar to Mr Heng’s original version.
“For now, we are focusing on this outlet and I hope that one day, tourists will come to Singapore to eat Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice and that we can take the brand global,” he adds.
What to eat: Priced at $3.50, a plate of Poached Chicken Rice comes with a heap of mildly seasoned rice. The poached chicken, while decent, could be more skilfully chopped. The side dish of chicken gizzard ($1.20) is clean-tasting and poached to the perfect doneness.
The complimentary ginger sauce has a substantial amount of blended ginger in it and is tasty. But the garlic chilli lacks the lip-smacking tang of lime juice. The restaurant can consider using non-disposable tableware and utensils for customers dining in.
Today Kampung Chicken Rice Restaurant: Ode to tradition
Where: 71 Seng Poh Road, 01-49
Open: 7.30am to 10pm daily. Chicken rice is available from 10.30am to 9.15pm
Opened on June 26, BreadTalk Group’s latest concept, Today Kampung Chicken Rice Restaurant, heralds its next phase of expansion into the heartlands to operate coffee shops showcasing local favourites. This is a different strategy for the F&B giant, which operates 12 Food Republic food courts and nine Food Junction food courts in malls as well as other related business such as bakeries.
The all-day-dining eatery, styled after an old-school kopitiam, was previously a coffee shop which had operated for some 50 years and once housed the much-lauded Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice.
The spruced-up space, which can accommodate 90 diners, is not air-conditioned, but has a wall of plants shielding diners from traffic and the sun.
The eatery is an ode to heritage hawker cuisine, as well as the historical significance of Tiong Bahru, which is Singapore’s first public housing estate.
Assistant general manager at BreadTalk Group (Food Atrium Division), Mr Loh Zhi Qin, 39, says: “We wanted to retain the nostalgic vibes of the space and return it to its roots, not turn it into another modern cafe.”
Having chicken rice as the star dish was a natural choice as it is arguably Singapore’s national dish, he adds.
The BreadTalk Group also has 19 years of experience operating Sergeant Chicken Rice stalls at its foodcourts since 2005. Head chef Tan Cheng Chuan, 57, who has been involved in the operations of Sergeant Chicken Rice stalls, came up with the menu for Today Kampung Chicken Rice Restaurant.
Mr Loh says the group wanted a different type of chicken rice for the new eatery. As chef Tan had recipes using kampung chicken on the back-burner, the time was right to launch Hainanese kampung chicken rice as the signature item of the new eatery.
Mr Loh hesitates to call it a premium or elevated chicken rice, saying: “The goal is to let customers have the best version of chicken rice that is of a better quality and tastier.”
It took eight months of planning for the food as well as the design of the space, including visiting three chicken farms in Malaysia to source for the poultry and testing eight types of rice.
Much attention is paid to all the components which make up the dish, including the rice, broth, ginger sauce, dark soya sauce and garlic chilli.
For instance, the garlic chilli, which is prepared daily, calls for the use of honey pineapple for its natural sweetness and tang.
No effort was spared either to create the nostalgic vibes of the space.
To evoke the past, the eatery retained the emerald-green folding doors of the old coffee shop. As the mosaic floor tiles were too broken to be salvaged, tiles of a similar design were chosen.
Mr Loh and his colleagues also visited Melaka and Penang to look at the designs of old kopitiams there and sift through vintage goods at second-hand shops for items such as a retro clock, radio and telephone to decorate the new restaurant.
Even the marble-topped wooden cabinet at the drinks station is styled after one they came across at an old kopitiam in Malaysia, while tables and chairs in the eatery are deliberately mismatched.
Mr Loh says: “We wanted to replicate the old-school kopitiams where the furniture didn’t necessarily match as they were replaced over the years.”
Vibes aside, he says the emphasis is on the quality of the food.
Prices start at $6.50 for a plate of Hainanese Kampung Chicken Rice with chicken breast or chicken wing and breast meat. A quarter chicken costs $12, half a chicken costs $20, while a whole chicken costs $38.
For now, the focus is to ensure consistency in quality at this outlet. There are no immediate plans to open new outlets with a similar concept, though there are plans in the future.
Mr Loh says it is likely that the group will tailor new concepts to the neighbourhoods that they will be in.
What to eat: If you are dining solo, go for the quarter Hainanese Kampung Chicken ($12) and a plate of rice ($1.30). The skin is smooth and taut, and the chicken meat is succulent and tender, although the seasoning has too much oyster sauce.
The rice is mild in flavour and not greasy, with the slightest hint of lemongrass and pandan leaves. The complimentary chicken broth is overpoweringly herbal with the addition of danggui (Chinese angelica). Order the kampung chicken liver ($1), which has a texture similar to foie gras.
Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice: Realising a teenage dream
Where: 783 North Bridge Road
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 5pm to 9.30pm daily
Local rapper Sheikh Haikel was 16 when someone took him to eat chicken rice at a famous chicken rice eatery, which did not serve pork at that time.
The memory of how that chicken rice tasted has stayed with the 48-year-old Muslim, sparking his dream to open a Muslim-friendly chicken rice shop that would serve the dish at a standard on par with those from established Hainanese chicken rice chains.
He was further motivated to fulfil his dream for the sake of his wife, former actress and host-turned-entrepreneur, Anna Belle Francis, 46. She had not tasted authentic Hainanese chicken rice since she converted to Islam at 21 and married him.
Opening the restaurant on July 7, soon after celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary on June 24, has made the realisation of his dream all the sweeter.
The couple have three children – two sons aged 10 and 20, and a daughter aged 21.
Haikel says: “I wanted a restaurant where I could take my family to dine at and enjoy authentic Hainanese chicken rice.”
Since the restaurant opened, he has been dining there almost daily or at least tasting the food to make sure it is up to par.
The air-conditioned contemporary-meets-vintage themed outlet, which occupies the first storey of a shophouse unit in North Bridge Road, can seat 50 diners.
The couple are co-owners of the restaurant, along with five business partners. About $300,000 went into setting up the restaurant.
Haikel says: “Our restaurant is about creating food for the community, where non-Muslims and Muslims can dine together.”
The aim is to appeal to all diners, not just Muslim ones, he says.
He finds it particularly heart-warming when he encounters Muslim converts who take their Chinese families to dine at his restaurant. “I love seeing the look of surprise on the Chinese diners’ faces and hearing their comments on how the chicken rice tastes like the ones they are used to,” he says.
The rice is served in ceramic bowls and diners are given chopsticks to dine with. But for diners not used to chopsticks and bowls, they can request plates, forks and spoons.
Prices start at $8+ for Hai Ge Ji Chicken Rice with breast meat. Half of the Steamed or Roasted Chicken costs $24+, while a whole bird costs $42+.
Haikel, who is not new to the food and beverage business, also runs Wakuwaku Yakiniku in Bali Lane, which he opened in 2019.
To ensure the authenticity of the food at his new concept, he engaged local Chinese chefs, including an experienced Hainanese chef in his 70s, to develop the recipes.
Although he does not cook, Haikel worked closely with the chefs to taste the food and design the menu. He came up with the idea for an appetiser of Crispy Chicken Skin ($6+), which is served with a belacan mayonnaise dip.
The challenge was sourcing for halal-certified ingredients to create an authentic taste of Hainanese chicken rice for the restaurant, which is in the process of applying for halal certification.
While getting premium halal-certified chickens was not an issue, it was more difficult to get a suitable brand of halal-certified fish sauce similar in taste to the non-halal ones used for blending with light soya sauce for the dressing that goes with the chicken.
They plan to expand to up to five outlets within the next five years, with three in Singapore and possibly two in the region.
Francis says: “Everybody has an opinion on how chicken rice should be. It is a dish that has been part of everyone’s childhood. It is challenging to take it to a level which they have not experienced before.”
What to eat: Go for Hai Ge Ji Single Chicken Rice Set (Thigh/Drumstick, $13.80+), served with a choice of vegetables and soup. The chicken meat is smooth, tender and tasty, but the soya sauce dressing is a little on the sweet side. Opt for beansprouts, which are stir-fried with small crispy croutons of salted fish.
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