Welcome to Raffles Place. Looking for Chicken Rice places?

It does seem that Cross Street Exchange is seemingly undergoing a change of tenants and some renovation works recently — the building had seen several tenants move out from its premises, and there are also some new ones that had recently found home within the building. Apart from Supergreen which had recently opened their latest outlet there (their very first outlet being located at the basement of Marina One, though they have expanded quite a fair bit within the Central Business District since then), there is also the new YUAN 原 they had also opened its doors at the ground floor of Cross Street Exchange recently. YUAN actually bears a pretty clean look for an establishment or its type — despite being a local coffee house that is comparable to that of the likes of Ya Kun Kaya Toast and Toast Box, the modern look with geometrical elements, pastel colours and a somewhat Balinese-style interior decor of its interior is likely to mislead folks into thinking that it is a cafe serving up specialty coffee instead. The menu at hahah does speak to the heart of locals though, considering how it seems the feature dishes with a very subtle twist of fusion elements that one would find inventive, yet hearty — think dishes that are split into categories such as Signature Rice Bowls and Local Favourites, Yuan also offers quite q good variety of dishes that one can share across the table in their Side Dishes section of their menu. Of course, the toasts and eggs selection is not to be forgotten here, as well as their range of beverages which include Nanyang-style Kopi and Teh, as well as both a sparkling and non-sparkling version of Calamansi Sour Plum, homemade drinks like Homemade Barley, and fruit juices.

We visited YUAN intending to have something that is fuss-free, and we were glad to have found that the Scallion Ginger Poached Chicken Thigh Rice is probably just what we were craving for on the day when we made our visit there. The Scallion Ginger Poached Chicken Thigh Rice is an item that is being listed on their Signature Rice Bowls section of the menu — one thing to note about the Scallion Ginger Poached Chicken Thigh Rice is how this is not something that one should expect to be a regular bowl of Hainanese-style chicken rice that we are all familiar with; this is especially so considering the format of which it is presented in, as well as how YUAN is all about serving up something familiar with a bit of a twist. Here, the poached chicken thigh comes with scallion and ginger relish over the top; all whilst sitting atop a bed of short-grain rice beneath — it also comes with stalks of greens for a balanced touch.

Digging into the bowl, this feels all familiar with the exception of the rice; rather than to serve the dish with flavoured rice, the approach taken here is to drench the rice with scallion oil that provides a savoury bite to the dish — there is ample scallion oil drizzled atop the rice for a good flavour without causing the entire bowl to become too salty. The poached chicken is considerably smooth, juicy and tender — quite palatable considering how this is not an establishment specialising in chicken rice after all, while the scallion and ginger realise over the top feels quite like a Chinese form of pesto that is zingy and savoury with a crunch from the fried shallots. Pairing it with the chicken rice chili on the side provided a bright and tangy note with a good kick of spiciness that would work fine even for those tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. Also tried the Toasted Hainan Bread with Kaya and Butter — crisp with a good proportion of cold butter and Kaya akin to that of those used at neighbourhood bakeries; even the Hor Ka Sai (Hot) deserves a mention for the balanced note of chocolate and Nanyang-style Kopi. Needless to say, a spot which we would not mind dining at for lunch if looking for a spot serving local fare with a twist in an air-conditioned environment with good vibes to boast.

13 Apr’21, Tue🌤
📍Tong Fong Fatt Chicken Rice (Telok Ayer Interim Market)
- Chicken Rice🍗

It’s been a while since I last had chicken rice, since there’s no queue that day and saw PM Lee’s photo at the stall, thought of giving it a try.

When it comes to chicken rice, usually go for 雞尾肉(should be chicken thigh if I’m not wrong) as the texture taste like drumstick but at no extra cost, chicken rice hack okay~

The chicken was indeed tender, the soya sauce was also quite on point, goes well with the rice. The rice was distinct and separate, really like nothing to pick on.

Perhaps, just the soup, a little too oily that is...

You may also help yourself to the chilli, ginger and dark sweet soya sauce, the chilli (quite spicy to my surprise) like up the chicken rice to another level.

Overall, quite a satisfying meal, wouldn’t mind having this again...

Damage: $3.50

Stepping into the small corner shop, you could see lots of poster and even video advertising their soy sauce business and the history.

They are proud with their soy sauce business that they ventured into this food business serving their soy sauce chicken.

I really love the chicken, which was so juicy and not bones at all. Don’t forget to try it with their chilli as well.

Boneless chicken thigh meat plus additional portion of chicken breast. Rice is fragrant and the chicken is tender.

Pity the ginger sauce that they serve is not great.

Cant help but be reminded of Kirstin Chen's Soy Sauce for Beginners when I tried this place. This place used its own soy sauce, still made in clay jars and the brand has also expanded to making its own chili sauces. So it makes sense they go into food and def did a good job with its soy sauce chicken. Always happy to see local brands surviving and modernizing with the passage of time!

It's 18.80 for 2 with burpple beyond! There's refillable soup and a tea/coffee. Their sauces are very nice but the tea can be improved its a little bland. Other than that, it's a pleasant experience!

It is delicious and and the noodle is tasty. The staff served us well and has a personal touch to the service as a whole. Well recommended food place for folks who work nearby!

With only 38 servings of their “farm to table” chicken, their chicken rice and noodles were priced higher than usual. However, we’d agree that their special dark Nanyang sauce was really good and had a strong flavour unlike most others.
Besides the sauce, we liked their different in-house chilli, namely chicken rice chilli, sambal chilli and the Nonya chilli. Can’t get enough of those chilli and you can get them home from their shelves.
A @burpplebeyond set includes drink and their special chicken stock and plum soup that is also pretty nice. Their Kopi stands out with a smokey charcoal scent which is worth checking out.
Overall a little pricey but with all those pluses and the offer, it is definitively worth it.

Don't crack your head over what to eat for lunch — turn to this soy sauce chicken joint along South Bridge Road. The Signature Princess Chicken Set ($18.80) includes tender chicken braised in its secret sweet-savoury Nanyang sauce with noodles alongside soup, a choice of coffee or tea and a Nanyang Umami Soft Serve.
Photo by Burppler Muriel AvdH

Got to know about this place after seeing some friends posting about it and giving some raving comments. Was quite excited about it and had wanted to try it out and hoping to purchase their home brew soy sauce but I'd say the chicken noodles were pretty average, I'd rate it 3/5. I think i had the expectation that it will be flavourful like the braised chicken that I am used to having, but it fell short. Staff were pretty friendly though :)