Boon Tong Kee @Balestier

A must during a visit to Singapore is chicken rice. Deceptively bland in appearance, this local dish is packed full of flavour thanks of the garlic and pandan rice cooked in chicken rice served with an array of sauce: chilli, dark soy and ginger. Unlike other places, the chicken at Boon Tong Kee isn’t an afterthought – tender, moist and covered in a layer of silky chicken skin, this joint’s full of winner winner, chicken dinners. Plus with seven outlets around town, it’s easy for you to get your fix.

What to order? The signature boiled chicken (from about $10) and a bowl of chicken rice should satisfy but Boon Tong Kee also has plenty of other Chinese dishes like braised pig’s trotters (around $30), sweet and sour pork and poached Chinese spinach with salted and century eggs to complete your meal.

In 1979, Mr Thian Boon Hua started a small stall in Chinatown serving Cantonese chicken rice. Building upon the popularity of his silky white sauce chicken rice and emphasis on quality service, he rallied his family members to establish Boon Tong Kee’s first restaurant at Balestier Road in 1983.