Hawker or Restaurant for Hainanese Chicken Rice in Singapore: A Taste Test

Hainanese chicken rice is one of Singapore’s most iconic and beloved dishes. Tender, juicy poached chicken is served with fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock with garlic, ginger, and pandan leaves, giving it a rich and aromatic flavor. Accompanying the dish are a spicy chili sauce, dark soy sauce, and, at some places, a ginger sauce, along with a simple yet flavorful chicken broth to cleanse the palate.

There are numerous places serving Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore, ranging from humble hawker stalls and busy food courts to full-service restaurants. Although we’ve visited Singapore many times, we never made a deliberate effort to seek out the best Hainanese chicken rice, usually trying it at random food courts and restaurants near where our activities took us for convenience.

This time, I wanted to have a taste of real-deal Hainanese chicken rice. After some research, Maxwell Food Center stood out as the most famous hawker spot for chicken rice, while Chatterbox was frequently mentioned among the top restaurants to try this dish. Here’s our comparison after trying both places.

Maxwell Hawker Center is a bustling and lively food center near Chinatown Singapore. As you enter, the vibrant energy of the place hits you immediately, with rows of food stalls offering a variety of local specialties.

Among these stalls, 4-5 stalls are dedicated to the iconic Hainanese chicken rice. The most famous one is Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice after being featured by celebrity chefs and food critics. However, there is usually a line at this stall. From my research, a lot people mentioned that Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice, just a few stalls away from Tian Tian, is just as good without the long line.

After touring the center to browse the food offerings, we found our seats and bought two Hainanese chicken rice sets from Ah Tai. Each set cost 8 Singapore dollars (SGD) and included rice, poached chicken, vegetables with oyster sauce and a small bowl of soup. One plate had almost boneless chicken slices while the other plate had boned-in chopped drumstick.

In terms of food quality, we thought Ah Tai chicken rice was delicious and all elements were done right, although the meat portion was slightly on the small side. It was rich and flavorful but not overly oily or greasy, and we didn’t feel overwhelmed after eating. I think on my next trip, I will give Tian Tian a try for comparison, but perhaps at their new location inside Lucky Plaza.

As for the dining experience and atmosphere, it was quintessentially hawker-style: casual, unpretentious, and full of life. You place your order at the stall, then bring your food to your table, which you might end up sharing with strangers. During our visit, we shared our table with some friendly locals. The center is entirely indoor, but there’s no air conditioning, so it can get quite hot, especially during peak hours.

My only gripe about the experience was the use of plastic. Our chicken rice was served on a styrofoam plate, and the soup came in a plastic bowl. While the food wasn’t sizzling hot, I’m generally not comfortable with food served on styrofoam. As it isn’t something I do on a daily basis, I took the risk to enjoy this authentic hawker experience, though I still felt a bit guilty thinking about the environment. I did notice that some people received their food on regular plates, so it’s possible that when stalls run out of plates, the food would be put on single use plastic.

Chatterbox, located inside Hilton Orchard Hotel, is a chic restaurant with full service and nice interior. Their menu prominently features Hainanese chicken rice, which they described in the menu as “legendary” and “iconic,” having been served for over 50 years. Well, this set high expectations as we placed our order for their chicken rice with half a chicken portion.

The food came out quite quickly with a generous portion of boneless chicken, quite larger than we anticipated. Accompanying it were a bowl of chicken rice, a bowl of soup and three types of sauces: dark soy sauce, chili sauce and ginger sauce. This order cost 42 SGD before tax and service charges, which is much more expensive than at a hawker center. We found it amusing that despite serving half a chicken, the dish only came with one bowl of rice, though extra rice and soup could be ordered separately.

In terms of taste, the chicken at Chatterbox, while still tender, was firmer and plumper than what we had at Ah Tai. This texture might be preferred by some but might not appeal to others. The most notable difference was that the chicken lacked the aroma of sesame oil and didn’t have that luscious mouthfeel we had enjoyed earlier.

Overall, Chatterbox’s Hainanese chicken rice seemed to aim for a lighter, subtler taste, but in doing so, we felt that too much flavor was sacrificed. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t something I would enthusiastically recommend either, especially given the price. If you find yourself dining at Chatterbox, I would suggest trying their lobster laksa instead, which we found to be much more flavorful.

As for the dining experience, the restaurant itself had a beautiful decor, but it was quite loud during our dinner. The food arrived promptly, but the service lacked a bit of warmth. That said, we appreciated that the server proactively offered to divide the lobster laksa in two small bowls for us to enjoy as starters.

In short, we found the Hainanese chicken rice at Ah Tai in Maxwell Hawker Center much more delicious and memorable than at Chatterbox, an upscale restaurant in the heart of Orchard. I normally prefer restaurants over street food setting, but the chicken rice at Ah Tai offered a much richer and more satisfying meal at a fraction of the cost. While Chatterbox provided a more comfortable dining environment, the flavor of their chicken rice was not as robust and no superior preparation or cooking technique was demonstrated through the food.

We look forward to trying more Hainanese chicken rice establishments in Singapore on future visits and will update this post with new experience.