A small stall occupying a space in Hong Seng Coffee Shop sells Chinese Styled Roasted Chicken Rice. Besides your usual chicken rice, one may opt to go for the Char Siew (caramelized pork) or the Siew Yuk (roasted pork). Seeing a massive queue on lunch time at this place is not an uncommon sight. Queues snake around the coffee shop or even pouring into the next lot is a sight that will welcome most patrons (this is a “universal” sign in Asia that a food place serves quality food).
This place is highly rated on 4sq, and since both gNOMes were around that vicinity, why not? 🙂 gNOMe 1 and friend queued up around 10 minutes to get their order placed. Finding a place to seat could be a hassle too, so come early!
The dude behind the counter had a rather pleasant look, though having to cater to so many needs within his operating hours. He looked rather composed, and served each patron with a smile.
gNOMe 1 and friend came back with 3 portion’s of roasted chicken and 1 portion of Siew Yuk. We wanted to try the Char Siew but was snapped up earlier before. In contrary to your usual chicken rice soya sauce, here they serve the Char Siew sauce (thick, sticky sauce with a sweet taste) to go with your plate of fragrant rice instead.
The rice served was aromatic, cooked to the right texture, not too hard yet not too mushy. The Char Siew sauce has a sweetish flavour, albeit thick, goes well hand in hand with the rice. The chicken was tender, and juicy, but gNOMe 2 had to admit that this isn’t the best roasted chicken rice she had tried. The best for her in KL (with a limited sample size)? Located at Wisma Sentral, Jalan Ampang.
On the contrary, the Siew Yuk is roasted to perfection. The skin was very crispy and aromatic, the meat was tender and tasted a little bit salty, and the layers of fat provided extra oomph to the affair. Dip it in chilli sauce, or the Char Siew sauce or rather eat it alone, it will taste just as good. The whole affair came up to around RM15 each per person.
Verdict : The chicken rice here is fairly enjoyable. This is because the chicken meat served here is juicy and piping hot (just the way Chinese love their food). Do come and try it out if you don’t mind the queue. Sufficiently good but not THE best. The search continues.
Address : Restoran Hong Seng, Jalan 17/29, Section 17, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Opening hours : Opens daily from 11am till 2.30pm. Only for lunch.
The Garden NOM 