Singapore is known for its abundance of Hainanese chicken rice stalls. This begs the question, which one is the best? If you ask any Singaporean on the street most will say it’s Tian Tian Chicken Rice as it has also been rated on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list of must try hawker stalls in Singapore
I’ve always wanted to try Tian Tian Chicken Rice and finally got my chance when I visited Maxwell Food Centre. Luckily there wasn’t a long queue because I came by early. I ordered one medium sized chicken rice($6) and beansprouts($4). When I collected my plate of chicken rice, the smell of pandan wafted through my nose and the chicken was glistening on top of the rice.
It’s no understatement to say that this was the best chicken rice I’ve ever tried! The rice was fluffy and had a strong pandan taste. It tasted better when eaten with the fragrant sauce that was poured onto the rice. In addition, while I’m not a fan of breast meat, I was very surprised at how tender it was. Usually breast meat will taste dry and tough, but amazingly this breast meat was not only juicy, but also smooth and tender as well. It was indeed a tasty plate of chicken rice. I also appreciated that the plate of chicken rice also had cucumbers at the side. The cucumbers served to balance the delicious but oily chicken rice.
I also loved the bean sprouts that came with the order. There were slices of cuttlefish on top of the bean sprouts, which is not commonly found elsewhere. The bean sprouts tasted fresh and crunchy, and the cuttlefish was soft and chewy. Both of them were a perfect match for the rice as they combined to form a flavorful punch when eaten together.
The only critique I can give is the price and the fact that you’ll have to wait a long time during lunch hour as there’ll be a long queue. The prices of the items seemed to have increased from before, as I paid $10 for the whole meal. Apart from those points, Tian Tian Chicken Rice is the best chicken rice you can eat in Singapore and it’s definitely worth the wait!
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
1 Kadayanallur St, #01-10/11, Singapore 069184
Opening hours: 10am-7.30pm Tues-Sun; Closed Mon
