Shiok

So far, Shiok is my favorite go-to place for Hainanese Chicken Rice :) I've tried Wee Nam Kee (Manila) and Sing Hainanese Chicken House in an attempt to find the elusive taste of Chicken Rice; only to find it at Shiok!

Shiok interiors are pleasant; with old-school photos and cute what-have-you posters on its sunny white and yellow walls. We were the only ones at the resto for lunch on a slow Saturday, and so service was generally quick.

Featuring Singaporean as well as other Asian dishes; Shiok also has Malaysian, Indian food you can choose from. Of course I went for the Hainanese Chicken and opted for Fried Fish with Eggplant (recommended by the server).

Both dishes did not disappoint. The Chicken Rice was flavorful, the Chicken soft to the bite with the right blend of sauces. I hated that I was able to finish off all the rice! (Diet alert). The fish dish was equally satisfactory; although it was cooked in its own sauce, the fried fish was not soggy to the bite. The sweet blend of this dish complemented the Hainanese Chicken really well, too.

Hainanese Chicken Rice, P245 (Quarter Chicken)

Fried Fish with Eggplant, P180

Definitely a good place for great Asian food, I'm looking forward to dining here again to sample their other specialties :)

Wee Nam Kee

On a free Saturday afternoon, grabbed the opportunity to try the much-talked-about Hainanese Chicken Rice at Wee Nam Kee. We were the only customers at that time, so service was pretty much a breeze.

Interiors were simple, but more clean than the original Singapore counterpart (although that adds to the original charm). We wanted to see if the Chicken Rice would bring to mind the authentic Singapore taste, so we just ordered one Soy and one Roasted.

Hoisin, Ginger, and Chili

Soy Chicken

Roast Chicken

And the Chicken Rice wasn't bad at all :) Chicken was very flavorful and the rice was cooked perfectly in chicken stock. Choosing between the 2 kinds of chicken, I liked the Roast Chicken better... it had more flavor and the crunchy skin complemented the tender chicken meat. So far, I've enjoyed this Chicken Rice experience; compared to Sing Hainanese Chicken House or Orchard Road.

Wouldn't mind another visit to Wee Nam Kee, so I can try their other food options. Well, maybe on another free afternoon :)

Sing Hainanese Chicken House

One of the newest restos in Shangri-La, Sing Hainanese Chicken Rice has a simple, clean facade. It was lunch time on a Friday and as expected, alot of people were dining out. It was good we were pretty early and was able to grab a table immediately.

The menu is also simple, with only a few other choices apart from Hainanese Chicken or Roast Chicken Rice. Makes it real easy to decide on what to get :) Of course, it was imperative that we try their signature dish, and so we ordered both the Hainanese and the Roast Chicken.

Inside, a smorgasbord of sauces - chili, ginger, soy sauce, hoisin, 'gravy' - for the two chicken choices lines up the counter just outside their cooking area.

Drinks came first, and the Pandan Gulaman Juice was a nice refreshing start, enough to excite me for the meal ahead. Clean utensils and sauces came next, along with free soup (which tasted better than most free soups do). By then I was already getting hungry :)

And after a bit, the Hainanese and Roast Chicken were served! But take note.. they serve the Chicken cold; and as they explained, that's how Hainanese chicken is really served (though I don't remember a time when we were served cold chicken in SG). If you're used to a hot meal, make sure to remind them to heat up the chicken before serving. They'd gladly do it for you. Requested mine to be heated up too.

Hainanese Chicken

When the meals were served, we thought the Chicken topping size was a bit small (we should've ordered the Single order!). Surprisingly though, we were real full when we finished off our plates. So we did make the right choice :) The meat was cooked just right, tender to the bite. Though the rice was cooked in chicken stock, I was still looking for a bit more flavor, though. Comparing the Hainanese and Roast chicken, I have to say Roast chicken's better. Apart from the added flavor, their unique 'gravy' goes really well with the tender meat. Will note that for my next visit.

Roast Chicken

Although still a bit bland for my taste (not lacking in flavor mind you, but I was looking for a bit more zest), Sing Hainanese can be a good alternative to SG's Hainanese Chicken rice. Of course, dining in Singapore will still be your best Hainanese experience.

Orchard Road

Orchard Road was unfortunately disappointing. The first time I saw this new resto in Megamall, I instantly wanted to try it out, since I have been looking for good, authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice in Manila. I was psyched, and so looking forward to Chicken Rice (I even broke my no-rice diet for this), but I was sadly unsatisfied.

The resto is relatively new, in fact, it’s currently on dry run. It may then be assumed that my unfavorable experience is due to the lack of, maybe, experience and service; however, it wasn’t the service, but the food itself.

The anticipated Hainanese Chicken Rice was anything but. It was just white chicken with ginger and hoisin sauce on the side, plus plain rice. Sad. The other dishes we tried also lacked flavor. I didn't even like the Chicken Satay's peanut sauce (it actually tasted more curry-ish that peanut). Sometimes, we wave off quality for quantity; but in this case, quantity didn’t even make the cut.

I liked their Tea Tarik (Tea with Milk) though. And the Poh Pia (Veggie Lumpia) was OK too. Other than that, Orchard Road seems to need some more work.

Hainanese Chicken Rice - P150

Teriyaki Chicken Rice - P145

Sweet Sour Pork Rice - P150

Poh Pia (Veggie Lumpia) - P45

Satay Chicken (4 sticks) - P110

Teh Tarik - P50

Iced Kachang (version of HaloHalo) - P85


Orchard Road still has a lot of catching up to do in my book. Just hope they get to still improve on their dishes during this dry run.