Problem
Where is it? Who runs it?
Answers
The chicken rice vendor was awarded a Michelin star in 2016 and since then he has expanded his business in Asia and had a successful pop-up in London which had huge queues and sold out of food.
Chicken rice is one of the signature dishes of Singapore. You'll find it in every hawker centre. Cheap and filling, usually sold with soup, yes a bowl of soup. Chicken soup?
Check how much chicken you are getting. You might be disappointed. You might want to order another different dish, or two portions, or share with somebody else who is less keen on chicken than you are.
Consider the price you are paying. Tell the vendor you are hungry. You may find that by the time you have eaten the rice and soup and ordered a large juice from another stall, you are quite full.
What does the Michelin star chicken rice have which is different? The price in London was £6. The secret is not just the soy sauce, which other places offer, but apparently using smaller chickens so that the juice penetrates through and steeping them in juice all morning so that by lunchtime they are succulent.
Now flights from London to Singapore take about 12 hours. So you cannot expect Mr Chan to be in London for one meal and in Asia overseeing the cooking the next moment. (His name can be spelled Chan Hong Men, surnames first in Asia, like in British public schools. (Aside - for the benefit of my American readers, public schools in England are what Americans call private schools, what Americans can public schools we call council schools of state schools.)
If Mr Chan expands to more than one restaurant in Singapore, or across Asia, what guarantee is there that you will get the same quality? I am not bothered. I reckon it's like the McDonalds or KFC. The person who starts the business has a system which all the restaurants follow.
In most hawker centres when you order chicken rice, check the pictures. You can see that you don't get a solid piece of chicken, but strips or semi-circles arranged in a fan.
The cucumber is just two circles. Not a lot of vegetable. If you are a meat and two veg person, and want your 7 (yes seven) portions of veg a day, you might be better off ordering a second vegetarian dish. That way you can be sure of getting vegetables.
You might see a higher priced meal, usually another 'set' short for set meal, with more ingredients or larger portions.
Mr Chan is Malaysian, but Malaysian Chinese. You can tell he is Chinese by the name, consisting of three short syllables, surname first. Remember the late, great Lee Kuan Yew.
Malaysia has its own cuisine of halal meat, sometimes potato, and often shellfish in the rice. Often more spicy. The Malays are more happy-go-lucky. The Chinese in Malaysia are busy business people.
So, you can get chicken rice anywhere. But if you are happy to pay a bit more, try the Michelin rated chicken rice.
Several other places in Singapore received Michelin stars in 2017.
SINGAPORE
Hawker Chan, 8 Smith Street, Singapore 058972
tel +65 6272 2000
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Hawker Chan
157 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000
Australia
tel: +61 3 9650 8808
hawkerchan.com.au
How do you know he is Chinese? All the lucky eights in the phone number.
It's amazing what detailed and relevant information you can get from the web nowadays. Google will tell you if the place is open now, so without knowing the time zone you can phone and make an enquiry or booking from another country.
I even got the waiting times. Plus, of course, a complete range of customers opinions from the delighted to the disgruntled.
Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/michelin-starred-hawker-chan-draws-long-queues-with-new-outlet-in-melbourne
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294265-d
https://guide.michelin.sg/en/2017-MICHELIN-guide-Singapore-full-results-restaurants
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on food in Singapore, Changi aiport and destinations worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts
Where is it? Who runs it?
Answers
The chicken rice vendor was awarded a Michelin star in 2016 and since then he has expanded his business in Asia and had a successful pop-up in London which had huge queues and sold out of food.
Chicken rice is one of the signature dishes of Singapore. You'll find it in every hawker centre. Cheap and filling, usually sold with soup, yes a bowl of soup. Chicken soup?
Check how much chicken you are getting. You might be disappointed. You might want to order another different dish, or two portions, or share with somebody else who is less keen on chicken than you are.
Consider the price you are paying. Tell the vendor you are hungry. You may find that by the time you have eaten the rice and soup and ordered a large juice from another stall, you are quite full.
What does the Michelin star chicken rice have which is different? The price in London was £6. The secret is not just the soy sauce, which other places offer, but apparently using smaller chickens so that the juice penetrates through and steeping them in juice all morning so that by lunchtime they are succulent.
Now flights from London to Singapore take about 12 hours. So you cannot expect Mr Chan to be in London for one meal and in Asia overseeing the cooking the next moment. (His name can be spelled Chan Hong Men, surnames first in Asia, like in British public schools. (Aside - for the benefit of my American readers, public schools in England are what Americans call private schools, what Americans can public schools we call council schools of state schools.)
If Mr Chan expands to more than one restaurant in Singapore, or across Asia, what guarantee is there that you will get the same quality? I am not bothered. I reckon it's like the McDonalds or KFC. The person who starts the business has a system which all the restaurants follow.
In most hawker centres when you order chicken rice, check the pictures. You can see that you don't get a solid piece of chicken, but strips or semi-circles arranged in a fan.
The cucumber is just two circles. Not a lot of vegetable. If you are a meat and two veg person, and want your 7 (yes seven) portions of veg a day, you might be better off ordering a second vegetarian dish. That way you can be sure of getting vegetables.
You might see a higher priced meal, usually another 'set' short for set meal, with more ingredients or larger portions.
Mr Chan is Malaysian, but Malaysian Chinese. You can tell he is Chinese by the name, consisting of three short syllables, surname first. Remember the late, great Lee Kuan Yew.
Malaysia has its own cuisine of halal meat, sometimes potato, and often shellfish in the rice. Often more spicy. The Malays are more happy-go-lucky. The Chinese in Malaysia are busy business people.
So, you can get chicken rice anywhere. But if you are happy to pay a bit more, try the Michelin rated chicken rice.
Several other places in Singapore received Michelin stars in 2017.
SINGAPORE
Hawker Chan, 8 Smith Street, Singapore 058972
tel +65 6272 2000
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Hawker Chan
157 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000
Australia
tel: +61 3 9650 8808
hawkerchan.com.au
How do you know he is Chinese? All the lucky eights in the phone number.
It's amazing what detailed and relevant information you can get from the web nowadays. Google will tell you if the place is open now, so without knowing the time zone you can phone and make an enquiry or booking from another country.
I even got the waiting times. Plus, of course, a complete range of customers opinions from the delighted to the disgruntled.
Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/michelin-starred-hawker-chan-draws-long-queues-with-new-outlet-in-melbourne
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294265-d
https://guide.michelin.sg/en/2017-MICHELIN-guide-Singapore-full-results-restaurants
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on food in Singapore, Changi aiport and destinations worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts
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