Boon Tong Kee (balestier Road)

They serve the best chicken rice I've ever tasted. Every dish we've tried has been delicious. If you want to experience authentic flavors from the heart of Singapore, you absolutely have to visit this place!

I visited another well-known Hainanese chicken rice restaurant, and the food was absolutely amazing. The chicken was so tender it practically melted in my mouth. The pork knuckle had beautifully tender meat as well. I also enjoyed the frog legs, which were incredibly tasty. The vegetables with century egg, prawn toast, and fried tofu were all delicious too! However, I mostly filled up on the chicken rice. I will definitely be coming back to this place when I'm in Singapore!

When it comes to the chicken, you can choose between white or dark meat, or even a combination of both. It was incredibly good—juicy and packed with flavor! The moment it arrived at my table, I couldn't help but feel my mouth water. This was my first experience with Hainanese chicken in Singapore, but just by the aroma and appearance, I knew it would be outstanding. It looked much more translucent than the chicken back home in California, likely due to its freshness and being preservative-free. That said, I still give a slight edge to the chicken at Chatterbox. Now, let’s talk about the rice. This is where Boon Tong Kee really shines for me. The rice was infused with chicken flavor, hearty, and had a much stronger aroma. I absolutely loved it—it's the best rice I've ever had, hands down! Both restaurants are excellent; Boon Tong Kee has a more casual, hole-in-the-wall vibe with no one dressed up and older furniture, while Chatterbox is quite fancy. However, Boon Tong Kee takes the win for me, primarily due to its more reasonable prices.

This place is serious about chicken rice. The wait can be long but don't let that stop you from checking this place out. My party of five had waited about an hour in line on a Saturday night and needless to say our stomach was growling. Luckily we knew what we wanted and quickly placed our orders right after we were seated. The lime juice was perfectly tangy and refreshing on a hot summer night. We started off with the thick soup with dried scallop, crab meat, and sweet corn (slightly sweet and seafood flavors), the deep fried bean curd with Thai style sauce (super smooth tofu and evenly fried exterior), and fried long bean with beancurd cube, nuts and minced pork (loved the salty and nutty flavor). The signature boiled chicken was of course the main event and the most prized dish on our table. The boneless chicken was amazingly smooth and could have done without any sauce or dressing because that's how tasty it was by itself. We also had the braised Chinese cabbage and the vegetables in sambal sauce, which were as excellent. This was a great and satisfying meal for the entire table and I would be more than happy to return.

Before I traveled to Singapore, I did a little survey with my friends who had been there before to see which restaurant has the best Hainan Chicken. I got about 50/50 vote for Tian Tian and Boon Tong Kee. And I tried both Boon Tong Kee won by miles. Hainan Chicken Rice: I was blown away by the taste of their chicken. It 's super soft yet tender hard to explain , super moist, and with strong chicken smell meaning it doesn 't have a frozen smell sometimes you may experience if the chicken isn 't well prepared . You have to try it in person to understand how it felt. The rice, although it looks like regular steam rice, it has a strong chicken taste; not very moist but if you eat with the chicken it will be the best combination. 馬拉盞 Belacan Vege: another great dish. The chef cooked it very well; fresh vege and nice smell similar to shrimp paste. Very good to go with rice. Coffee Ribs: I heard it is a famous cooking method although it was the first time I tried. Very unique; it does have a strong coffee smell. Personally I like coffee a lot so this dish was another wonderful one. Crab Meat Fish Stomach Soup: pretty amazing again; a lot of crab meat and fish stomach, the soup itself can make you full. Well cooked. Definitely Boon Tong Kee is the restaurant I look forward to the most when I go Singapore again. It is a chain store with 4 5 restaurants; did a bit of map research and this location is probably the easiest accessible one for tourists staying in downtown. Right next to subway station, and Singapore Subway map is pretty self explanatory too. I can 't wait to go again!