General | by rebeccasaw
Chickened Out.
The best chicken rice in Klang Valley???
This is supposedly IT. According to voters of the friedchillies.com AFA 2009 at least.
As part of my gastronomic trail for the nominations of the AFA, we zoomed in on the chicken rice winner, since Abas was hankering for hainanese chicken rice after Sat night.
Famished, and having rounded the Atria area numerous times trying to find Jalan 22/23, Leonard, Abas and I proceeded to order immediately while waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive.
Service was quick, and the manager (yup… the same dude we saw on the video at the night of the awards in Pannaz) was most attentive and friendly.
We started off with the soup and I thought I was in for a good meal since the soup was one flavourful broth.
Sadly, things spiraled downwards from here.
Me thinks the wow factors for any chicken rice is most definitely the chilli, the rice and then the soy sauce. And of course, at the very least, tender chicken meat.
The Rice.
While their version of the rice was passable, it wasn’t good enough to score additional brownie points from me.
I do like my rice with some hint of ginger, preferably bentong ones and yes, while I can make do with this, it would help if the rice was fluffier and less wet.
The Chicken.
I went for the “original”of course, no frills please, thank you.. as that would allow the natural flavour to come forth and hence the best way for me to judge the taste.
Verdict?
BLAND, but luckily smooth and tender. I had the drumstick, but those who ordered the breast said it was dry and stringy. ..
Disappointment setting in, I mopped my piece of chicken with the soy sauce and dunked it into the chilli.
But alas, both were lackluster; and sure as hell couldn’t save my plate of “best” chicken rice in town.
The chilli was flat & lacked the sting to perk up my jaded tastebuds. The soy sauce that doused the chicken cuts was just as plain. No sesame oil, no garlic oil and no ginger.
However, the roasted version fared slightly better as there was some “taste” from the marinate on the skin.
The last person to arrive, Josh had to order the chicken chop as there wasn’t any chicken left. For RM13.50, it was a decent size and he proclaimed it better than the steamed chicken. But hey, this is deep fried and slatered with gravy, how could any decent cook go wrong with that??
Stir fried kai lan, crisp and crunchy. A tad salty though.
The beansprouts were alright, natural fresh sweetness and lightly salted from the salted fish added.
By the way, we were charged for these, RM1 per pax. Since there were 6 of us, we paid RM6 for these miserable crackers, peanuts and a wet towel each.
Even the “yee mai fu chok”(barley, beancurd sheets and gingko dessert) lacked the freshly boiled robust flavour.
Supposedly soft chewy and sweet gingko nuts was instead brittle and dry. The beancurd sheets are slightly “rubbery”, as opposed to the soft and melt in the mouth texture I’m accustomed to. Shaking my head in disbelief, this is the first and last visit.
Ah well, great company and good conversation saved the night.
Now, the question is … Where is the best chicken rice in Klang Valley?
Sean says:
eh … so how come it won ar?
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