Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice @ Balestier Road

Every conversation is now tainted with melamine. Imagine how chaotic it would have been if this issue was discovered during the Olympics! In better times, melamine was nothing more than cheerful-looking plasticwares and perhaps a potential name for Melanie’s younger sister. My heart goes out to the families affected by this man-made pandemic. There are things that we could have avoided. And this is definitely one of them.

Just like “Burn After Reading”, the movie. No, I mean the script circles around avoidable mishaps. Not that one should avoid this movie. In fact, I thought it was smart, well-angled and stylishly edited. From the Coen brothers, I expect nothing less than Fargo and No Country For Old Men. However, with elaborate usage of the infamous WTF phrase plus the special appearance of a d**d*, I doubt it will be rolling its reels across the Causeway in the near future.

The milk, again. A colleague once jokingly told me that back in those simpler days of our lives, they survived on condensed milk. None of those fortified with vitamins and all the nutrients one needs to be the first astronaut to land on Mars. He further suggested that perhaps all these ridiculous ideas are causing a surge in demand, hence the shortcuts. Well, I am not sure of that as condensed milk is afterall, still milk. My cheeky suggestion was to raise a cow. Instead of dogs and cats, get a cow. You can milk all you want. You control its diet. You can feed it with beer for the extra marblings. The power is in your hands, people! And the garden could use some organic nutrients as well.

Perhaps that’s why kampung (free-range) chicken tastes better. Because they are fed with what chicken should be fed with and how you wanted them to taste like. No lipo, no botox and no estrogen injections. Just leftover rice and crawlies. I pondered upon this when I took a bite of Loy Kee’s steamed (poached) chicken. Kampung chicken it may not be but it was fresh. None of those dreadful frozen chicken taste. You could sense the sincerity of the dishes as the portions and details were commendable. S$6.00 for a chicken rice set consisting of a bowl of rice, cabbage soup, chicken and greens is what I call sincerity.

As for the roasted chicken, the skin was lightly salted and aromatic. Not too bad but I believe I’ve tasted better ones. The dippings (chili, dark soy and grated ginger) were rather ordinary as well, hence the inability to enrich the whole tasting experience.

The roasted pork belly was sold out that evening. Well, I guess a good movie and pork belly just don’t get along. So, opted for the barbequed pork (char siew) instead. At S$4.00, the portion was alright but the texture left much to be desired. Lean meat equals chewy meat. And a runny sauce plus its blandness only helped to drag the ratings even lower.

The deep fried tofu at S$6.00 was surprisingly good. Texture-wise, that is. Crispy skin with a soft inner. It would have been excellent if the skin was thinner. The dressing was however, typical. Sweet chili sauce with strands of shredded vegetables, ala Thai.

All is not lost as the long-grained rice was cooked to perfection. Fluffy, aromatic and only slightly oily. Dreamy, isn’t it? Given a better chili sauce, I could have walloped another bowl of just rice. There’s something about eating rice with heavy bowls that makes it somehow more appetizing. This is one myth that I still cannot decipher. And I’m not delving into that matter in this post. Haha!

Founded in 1953, Loy Kee is one of Singapore’s oldest chicken rice establishments. With so many recognitions and accolades pinned to this restaurant, there’s no harm giving it a try. Taste of course, is subjective.

On the milk, again. Just 3 months away from the Lunar New Year. Reinstating trust and confidence is an uphill task, moreover with some parties taking advantage of this chaos. But it’ll be a nightmare to have old Charlie mooing next door, everyday!

May we all eat and live well.

Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice
No. 342, Balestier Road
Singapore.
Tel: (+65) 6252 2318
Website: http://www.loykee.com

27 comments:

Kenny Mah said...

Your cow's called Charlie?

HairyBerry said...

kenny, no lar dude. neighbour's one. i'm still undecided on mine. although i know what you would suggest...hehehe...

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Yah mon. I too can give you the perfect name for your cow. But you'll probably hate me.

Ciki said...

i know the blog is about chicken.. but i am more interested in the cow. incidentally, i just bought fresh cow's milk from a cow farm.. i think it's a sign! haha!

Yea, i agree you can milk your own cow how u like, as often as u like. And you can use its shit to feed your crops. how nice. now all we need is a farm , crops and cows! easy! lol

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Back to the cow. Your neighbour has a cow called Charlie?! And is ciki gonna start putting on a milkmaid outfit and milk cows?? I can see FBB making a beeline to the nearest ladang ternak to invest in some moos.

J2Kfm said...

sometimes all we need in life is a hot cup of steaming fresh milk. :)

fresh milk from cows can be drunk before pasteurisation meh? (or whatever the process' s called)

bout the chicken rice, erm, not so generous portion, ya?

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

haha when i started to read ur comments, totally forgot wat i wanted to originally wanted to comment..

i can so see fbb with a pair of binoculars in the opp field looking at ciki milking..the cows i mean..

back to chicken..i think i prefer my jln imbi kai fan lor..

ibnu marzuki al firdaus said...

mari kita ramai2 meriahkan lg mjls hr ry thn ini. dsertakan jgk list rmh terbuka slrh dunia;

http://warisan-marzuki.blogspot.com/2008/10/sywl-jth-dlm-okt-utk-kt-braya-ianya-jgk.html

jk anda ada info lain, sila emailkan lmn web ATAU no telnya ke sronoknya@gmail.com ATAU sms +60128624623 segera!

thx... semua d jmpt hdr & jgn malu2


apa komen anda psl video d bwh ini;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdXf2iI8ap4

http://test.chedet.com/che_det/2008/09/selamat-hari-raya-aidilfitri.html#comments

http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/2008/10/open-housing-in-kl-and-jakarta.html

maaflah TUN... drkm pun ms tgh kecewa, lpr, malu & mrh! ampunkan, x?

Precious Pea said...

I know what you should name your cow. HOLY!

choi yen said...

The simple food like chicken rice look so tasty under ur lens :)

PS: Regarding your cow, I think u have to make sure there is a field for it to makan rumput o... lol

Big Boys Oven said...

hahahah who is milking the cow? Anyway the chicken portion can be better or it is the way served.

fatboybakes said...

GUFFAW! "perhaps a potential name for Melanie’s younger sister.". Hi, I'm Melamine Chong, Melanie's sister. omigoodness, a normal english sounding post, without mystique and depth that can drown the kraken!

i'm DYING to know what name AWOL has for your cow. precious pea's suggestion is good. HOLY...
then there are the common cow names. BROWN, STUPID, FAT...

yerrr, nipples and AWOL, dont la make me sound like a ciki stalker, although i did happen to pop over from her blog, and read about mr edison and his farm. wonder is his first name's thomas. a very illustrious people, this edison clan. from lightbulbs to cows.

oh, the chook looks fab too opcors.

HairyBerry said...

lyrical lemongrass, ohhhhh...and what name will that be ar??? tell! tell! :)

cumi & ciki, haha! talk about mooing, eh? yeah, sounds like a good plan! really. we'll start with the normal cows. and move on to the premium ones. wagyu!!! :)

lyrical lemongrass, hehehe...figuratively, yes! :) i think ciki will be hiring ppl to milk the cows instead la...where got time? as for fbb...hehe..well, that man is multi-talented lar. ain't no mountain's too high for him! haha!

j2kfm, yeah! i agree! a good steaming glass of fresh milk is a good way to ease digestion! food as well as the bad things in life! :)

yeah, i totally forgot about pasteurisation. perhaps, that's why the uncle asked ciki to heat up the milk before drinking in her latest post!

actually, the portion's kinda huge. but taste was quite average la.

joe, haha! it's all about charlie, right? hahaha! binoculars? no lar, i think fbb will offer her a cake instead. i'm sure it'll be a butter cake!

jalan imbi kai fan? where ar? i used to like nam heong's. especially their condiments!

mal, rumah terbuka...woah, best nyer! nanti i gi blog u! :)

HairyBerry said...

precious pea, HOLY COW!!! hahaha! very good name, Pea. imagine me shouting, "milk, Holy, milk!!!" every morning...heheheh...so farny!

mimi, thanks for the compliment. but i think chicken rice really got this attractive look hor. maybe it's the oily rice. i love that! hehehe...

PS: haha! good idea! but i think i will have to move to a kampung area already, liddat. i'll miss the city life!!! :(

bigboysoven, who's milking the cow? hehe...definitely not me cos i really have no idea how to do it..haha! well, the chicken portion was kinda good. the presentation was kinda cool as well. but taste was average.

fatboybakes, haha! i also just realised that this was less shiok sendiri than the previous 2 posts. Melamine Chong sounds cool. toxic or what, eh? hehehe..aiyoh, my post where got depth? shiok sendiri lar...

yeah, i am dying to know what AWOL has in store for me..hehehe...i'm still thinking of a name. perhaps dic cos it rhymes with nic. hehehe...

woah, liddat oso you can think of ar? thomas, i mean. yeah, the edisons, first and last names included are very illustrious people hor? lightbulbs, cows, cams...holy cow, that din come out right! haha!

Live2Talk said...

I love PreciousPea's idea of the 'Holy Cow' and you can shout holy shit when the cow give your gardens some nutrients :D

Xiu Long Bao said...

Talk about diverting attention from not-so-nice chicken rice to milking cows.

Btw, can name the cow as Kok Hoe. Nice name.

fatboybakes said...

chortle, that's funny, the holy cow and holy shit part....

Precious Pea said...

Yah..then the moment you step out from your door and step on Holy's shit, you can yell Shit.Holy.Shit! Hahahaha! Err..can pass some Holy Shit to my garden ar?

洋洋 said...

wah....so so so delicious...i feel so hungry after read u blog!!

Jun said...

balestier road!! tell me if the tau sar pneah is reli as nice as ppl say it is...

ling239 said...

i prefer the pak cham kai!! ^_^

HairyBerry said...

live2talk, you so farnee lar, sweetie! hahaha! that holy shit joke got me laughing non-stop..haha! holy shit for the garden! haha!

xiu long bao, what diversion? it is actually inter-related lah.

i remember kok hoe. he's such a cool guy! i learnt sooo much from him. definitely not a good name for cow. i can think of another name.

fatboybakes, yeah, i couldnt help laughing at live2talk's holy shit joke..haha! joke of the day, definitely..hehehe...

precious pea, Holy Shit!!! hahaha! this is the glamourization of shit post lar..hahaha! shit is finally getting the recognition it deserves. as a fertilizer! hehe :) thanks to live2talk for the joke! hehe...

洋洋, thanks for stopping by! do have some chicken rice soon, ya! visited your blog just now. very interesting! :) i hope you are coping well with your loss... you take care, ya! :)

jun, oh, i tried the tau sar piah before d..hehehe..actually, a few times d...ok lar, best eaten while it's still hot. soft inside, crispy outside. i think can get similar ones at vivocity. i bring u there when u return to sg! :)

ling239, me too! :) can taste the chicken better, right? :) too bad they dun have the soy sauce/sesame oil/onions dipping! lurve that homemade dipping!

Jason said...

Erm... give a male's name to a female cow? Call it Betty :p

msiagirl said...

Cow is always girl, wat. I'm like Joe, after reading all the comments i forgot what i was gonna say lah. However the image of Fbb spying on milkmaids stays with me...snigger.

HairyBerry said...

jason...haha! but Betty is a female name for a male cow, isn't it? hehehehe....

msiagirl, hey, thanks for stopping by! fbb spying the milkmaids?? i'm sure he just ran out of milk for his mars bar cheesecakes lar..hehe..

ling239 said...

next time tapao ur own dipping and go lar :p

HairyBerry said...

ling239, hehehe...good idea! or i will ta pao the chicken rice back home instead. :) can watch tv somemore...hehehe