Kampong Boy - Hurstville - Sydney, Australia

Kampong Boy

A Malaysian restaurant in the south of Sydney is a rare find as there aren't many around the area. Three years ago, when I found out that there was a Malaysian restaurant in Hurstville, I really wanted to go and try out the food. However, this has been delayed for years as we never found the opportunity to go. That was until I had a major craving for Hainan chicken rice a few weeks back. You would think I would be over eating chicken rice after consuming it numerous times in Singapore and once in Vietnam, but this hasn't been the case. If something is delicious, I can eat it very often.

Kampong Boy, a Malaysian restaurant located on the quieter end of Forest Road in Hurstville has been open for a number of years. The food must be decent for it to be open till now. I didn't set my expectations high as there isn't much to compare it against in the area.

On a Thursday night, there is a steady flow of customers, though not near full capacity as there are many tables unoccupied. The modern interior looks to have been recently renovated with wooden tables and traditional Malaysian style decorations around the dining room. There is a see through glass partition at the front of the restaurant where they do the grilling.

The menu offers a number of authentic Malaysian dishes such as Bak Kut Teh, Nasi Lemak, Hainan chicken rice etc. The menu looks to have been updated in recent times as it's different to what I've seen online and accordingly the prices have slightly increased too. We decide to stick with the safer options, items which we have tried before at other places.

The 'Nasi Goreng (($12.80)' is the Malaysian version of the fried rice topped with a fried egg. It contains sambal which gives it a spicy kick and unusual ingredients such as anchovies, which are not in the usual fried rice. It was cooked well and wasn't oily like the other dishes that followed.

The 'Fried Kway Teo ($13.80)' was made up of a combination of flat noodles, bean sprouts, prawns, fish cakes, egg and chives, which was unfortunately a letdown. It lacked the wok hei, tasted dry due to the lack of sauce and overall lacked flavour.

The dish that I anticipated and wanted to eat most was the 'Hainan Chicken Rice ($12.80)'. On the plate, everything was nicely presented and it was served with a chilli and dark soy dipping sauce. Even though they gave my favourite part of the chicken, the drumstick, it didn't make a difference as it was plain and dry. Unfortunately, the chicken rice was gluggy and soft. I probably wouldn't order this here again as it wasn't very good.

The 'Chicken Curry ($15.80)' was surprisingly a winner. It was spicy, well cooked and packed with a whole lot of flavour. As you can see from the layer of oil on top, it's extremely oily but what lies beneath is delicious. A very simple curry with chicken and potatoes but it sure won me over.

'Roti ($3.00)' is made fresh in house but I wasn't watching so whether it was made fresh on the day is not guaranteed. Crispy and flaky like how a roti should be but it was once again very oily and together with the oily curry, it didn't go very well together.

'Satay Sticks - 12 Sticks - Beef and Chicken ($16.00)' is grilled perfectly leaving a nice charcoal caramelised exterior, but leaning more towards the sweeter side in terms of taste. Together with a rich peanut sauce, it was delicious, but they could have been more generous with pieces of cucumber and red onion on the side.

Overall, half of what we ate was decent but half of the dishes weren't very good. I'm thankful that there is a Malaysian restaurant in the area that serves authentic food at reasonable prices but unfortunately my craving for Hainanese chicken rice wasn't satisfied. I would come again to try some other dishes but the food was mediocre on the day we went.

Where?
370 Forest Rd
Hurstville NSW 2220
Australia

Phone no: 02 8094 8409

Opening Hours
Tuesday to Friday
Lunch: 11:30am to 2:30pm
Dinner: 5:30pm  to 9:30pm
Saturday to Sunday
Lunch: 11:30am to 4:30pm
Dinner: 5:30pm to 9:30pm

Website
NA

Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice - Chinatown - Singapore, Singapore

Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice

This will be a much shorter post compared to 'Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice' as I've used up a lot of what I was going to say about Hainanese chicken rice in that post.

Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice is very much similar to Tian Tian in terms of store appearance, food offerings and location. It has the same dark blue lit sign, serves Hainanese chicken rice and is located in Maxwell Food Centre. The only difference is there is no queue. Every tourist seems to have one thought in mind and that is to go to Tian Tian. Local Singaporeans seem to have a favourite and they tend to go to the same one as well. For this reason, it's not very busy.

On that particular day, I didn't feel like lining up, but felt like eating chicken rice. The queue for Tian Tian was going out through the door and this would have easily been a hour wait. There are a few places that offer chicken rice in Maxwell Road  Food Centre and the one that stuck out was Heng Heng. The chickens on display looked large, plump and juicy. It was literally calling my name.

This simple dish has become a staple in the Singaporean diet. I wouldn't mind eating it every week either if I had the chance to. As I had the chance to eat it again in Singapore, I immediately jumped at that opportunity, given the limited days we had there. To most, Hainanese chicken rice is served with steamed chicken. However, there is also the roast chicken option. I've never tried the roast version in Singapore so I thought I would give it a try.

This time I requested for the drumstick part and yay, they had it. 'Drumstick Roast Chicken Rice (SGD 3.50)' is nicely chopped and the meat is wonderfully succulent and tender. The Hainanese roast chicken is different to the usual supermarket roast chickens. It's less salty and is pleasing to eat as the layer of fat between the skin and meat has been cooked off. The generous mound of rice is cooked with an aromatic and fragrant taste.

Here they also provide the complimentary house chicken soup. The chicken soup isn't just your mediocre and diluted soup, but it's intense and rich in flavour.

Three sauces are on offer including the mandatory chilli sauce, ginger sauce and dark soya sauce. The make or fail of the chicken rice dish is the chilli sauce. The one here is good but it's not as good as Tian Tian as it seems to be lacking something but I don't know what. Although it's spicy, zesty and goes well with the roast chicken.

At SGD 3.00, it's a steal and you're getting the real deal. Couldn't find any faults and I will be sure to visit again next time. I was too quick to order and didn't notice the set meal that was available for SGD 4.50. If you like vegetables, this may be an option.

Overall the chicken rice at Heng Heng is delicious and do give it a visit if you're in Singapore. It's hard to compare the chicken to Tian Tian, as I had roast instead of the steamed. I'm such a human of habit as I tend to visit the same places over and over again, so that will be one of my goals next time, to try out more places. I hear Maxwell Hainanese Chicken Rice is pretty good as well.

A 'Coconut' to cool myself down in the heat. Unfortunately, it has matured and isn't sweet. Though, it contains heaps of juice.

Where?
Stall 44, Maxwell Road Hawker Centre
1 Kadayanallur Street
Singapore 069184
Singapore

Opening Hours
NA

Website
NA

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant - Marina Square - Singapore, Singapore

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant

Singaporeans love their chicken rice and it has become to be known as their national dish. A humble and simple dish that is packed with flavour and is the ultimate comfort food. I am a big fan of chicken rice myself and it's a must have every time I go to Singapore, being reasonably cheap and absolutely delicious. It is readily available in many locations such as restaurants, hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts.

The most famous chicken rice restaurant in Singapore is probably 'Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice', with the most visited branch located at Maxwell Food Centre. Many have pronounced it as one of the best chicken rice stalls in Singapore and I have to agree with them. I've been there a few times having joined the extremely long queue to get a taste of their famous dish but this time around I didn't have the chance to. The line seems to be getting longer and longer, year by year. The post will be coming soon once I find my photos, I promise!

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice is an established chicken rice stall with 4 outlets in Singapore. We visit the branch at Marina Square for dinner and it is very quiet as most workers have gone home for the day. During lunch, the place is usually a full house with a queue. They don't only sell chicken but have a range of local favourites available too.

You take a seat at a table, then the waiter comes and takes your order. Simple!

The side condiments are placed on every table including dark soy sauce, light soya sauce, green chillies, chilli sauce and ginger. The chilli sauce was good but not great. It failed in comparison to the one at Tian Tian as it lacked that potency. The condiments make a big difference to the overall taste of chicken rice as they work to complement each other.

The two most popular items are the steamed chicken and roast chicken.

The 'Chicken Rice Vegetable Set ($7.00)' is good value. The set consists of a bowl of steam rice, plate of chicken, plate of vegetables and soup.

The rice was fragrant and had a nice flavour to it. It was cooked well in that it wasn't oily, soggy or mushy. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you order chicken rice, you usually get the breast meat as the drumstick part of the chicken is more expensive and you have to specifically state that you want the drumstick area. Unfortunately, I ordered without looking at the menu properly and ended up with breast meat, which I've never liked as it is tough and dry. Luckily, the plate of chicken I got was nicely cooked and drizzled with a light soy dressing. The bones were still intact and yay for the chicken wing! The silky, smooth chicken was fresh, juicy and relatively tender thankfully.

As for the soup and vegetables, it was just that, soup and vegetables. It provided a good balance to the meal overall.

The chicken rice here is decent but not the best. For those who want to escape the heat and do some shopping, then this is the place to go as it is located within Marina Square Shopping Mall. The restaurant is fully air-conditioned so you won't sweat buckets. For those who prefer a view of the esplanade, then there is a branch just outside of the mall at Makansutra Gluttons Bay, along with a number of other great dining options.

I couldn't help myself and got a cupcake to have as a night time snack. Twelve Cupcakes specialises in hand made cupcakes that are baked daily maintaining the freshness guarantee.

'Salted Caramel Cupcake' is a caramel cupcake with a caramel infused buttercream. The cupcake was moist and not overly sweet, catered towards the Asian palate. Yummy. Ain't the packaging so pretty? Not the most environmentally friendly but it does its job.

Where?
6 Raffles Boulevard
#04-102B
The Gallerie
Singapore

Phone no: +65 6333 9830

Opening Hours
Monday - Sunday
10:00am - 12:00am

Website - Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant
http://www.wnk.com.sg

Website - Twelve Cupcakes
http://www.twelvecupcakes.com/

Alice's Makan - Sydney - Sydney, Australia.

Alice’s Makan

Alice’s Makan’s original restaurant was located in Thornleigh before it closed down not too long ago and unfortunately I wasn't able to make it there on time. I’ve read many positive reviews on the restaurant and was disappointed I didn’t get to try out her Malaysian influenced cuisine before it shut down.  Alice’s food is inspired from her beginnings in Klang, Malaysia. 

 

Alice’s Makan has recently opened in the HSBC food court, taking over Lee’s Malaysian. I really like the colourful menu on the board and the pictures of food sure do look appealing. Apart from Malaysian dishes, Alice’s Makan, is also known for their signature handmade Kuih and you know how much I love my desserts so I had to get one to try.

The usual Malaysia favourites such as the char kway teow, har mee, nasi lemak, fried radish cake and the infamous Hainan chicken rice are available here.

The ‘Hainan Chicken Rice ($10.50)’ is one of the most popular dishes there and I chose to go with the leg part of the chicken. Poached chicken with ginger infused rice and drizzled with garlic and soy sauce. It looked great on the plate but was a disappointment for me. This may have been because I ordered it at the end of the day. 

I really liked the chicken flavour of the rice and it wasn’t gluggy which I particularly enjoyed.

The boiled chicken was flavoursome but there was just something about the cooking technique that they use that doesn’t produce the real Hainan. The skin was still very fatty and thick. Good chicken rice usually has a very thin layer of skin and very minimal fat as it has been rendered in the cooking process.  There was a lot of oil at the bottom of the chicken too and I’m not sure if this was from the chicken or the garlic oil. The soy sauce they used to dress the chicken was sweet soy and this went well with the chicken.
 
One of the most critical components for me is the accompanying chill sauce. I found the sauce to be bland and it lacked that chilli kick. It may have been the addition of too much vinegar as it appeared to be diluted. 

The soup was again very oily as well. They must have been a bit heavy handed with garlic oil as you could see a visible layer of oil on top of the soup. Good chicken flavour but the oil scared me off.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy my chicken rice and the portion was small which left me feeling hungry afterwards.

I also got a Kuih to take away. Kuih are bite sized Malaysian sweets and savouries with varying colours and flavours. Selected Kuih is sold at the counter and the one they had on the day was ‘Bengka Ubi Kayu ($5.00)’ for a mini box of 4 which is a baked tapioca cake with a blend of coconut.

This was similar to a cassava cake and tasted like my mum’s version.

Exorbitantly priced considering how small it is. Nice and not overly sweet but I don’t think it’s worth the price.  I’m a big fan of the ‘Talam’ and ‘Serimuku’ as they both contain pandan so I will still buy it regardless if they had. Can’t believe I only paid 80 cents in Kuala Lumpur!

 

I will return to try out their other menu items as I just can’t base my review on a single dish I had but won't go out of my way to eat here. The ‘Roti Canai and Chicken Curry ($10.00)’ is a special they have on at the moment with a free soft drink and perhaps that may be my next dish of choice.
 
Where?
580 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Phone no: 02  9262 7771

Opening Hours
Monday – Friday
9:30am-7:00pm

Website
www.alicemakan.com.au