We always refer this as Yishun 925 because of the famous chicken rice store here. But the correct name is Yishun 81 Food Court and they have been around since the founding of the neighbourhood.
Yishun 925 Hainanese Chicken Rice
There are many branches of this chicken rice, but Yishun 925 Hainanese Chicken Rice started here in Yishun Central. Many Yishun dwellers would know this chicken rice store because it was a favourite dabao (takeaway) meal for the commuters to and from the nearby interchange.
Here at the Honten (main store), they only sell Hainanese-style poached white chicken. The deboned signature poached chicken came with a layer of gelatinous skin, and a liberal amount of thin soy sauce and chicken oil to add saltiness. And for added flavours, a small portion of achar (Peranakan vegetable pickles) to balance the taste.
I added a side of boiled chicken liver and gizzards. The gizzards were crunchy, but the liver was not as good as the ones from Ah Tai, which tasted like foie gras. The same soy sauce was used for flavours.
This rice was much better than their YCK branch. The comforting warm chicken flavoured rice was delicious, and together with the chicken and chilli sauce, I finished in a heartbeat. I would love another portion, but my cholesterol laden heart stopped me from doing so.
A good chicken rice requires three important elements – chilli sauce, chicken flavoured rice and of course the chicken. The chicken has to be poached to just right, and the jelly between the skin and flesh must form properly. The rice must be loose and not crumped together. The chilli must have the fragrance of chicken oil, ginger and lime, and a balance of spiciness and sour.
The chilli was garlicky and full of flavour. The YCK branch strangely tasted similar to McDonald’s garlic chilli sauce. But here it was like any other chicken rice store. Recommended for a cheap and good eat.
Hua Zai Hong Kong Style Roasted Delight
Next to the chicken rice store is a HK-style roast meat store. Hua Zai Hong Kong Style Roasted Delight 华仔港式烧腊饭·面 is not stranger to the local roast meat scene. Because they are next to Yishun 925, they did not offer their $9.90 whole steamed chicken here.
The char siew is soft and meaty with fatty parts and sweet flavours of charred caramelised bits. The savoury tasting roast pork belly had very crispy skin, and meaty flesh with soft fatty parts. The pork belly was really salty though that it had to be combined with plain rice. Another surprise was the free soup which they let you take as much as you want. The flavourful soup boiled with the duck bones has danggui (angelica roots) in them.
There were many other stores in the coffeeshop. Some had excellent reviews online like Ming Qi Hokkien Mee. Others, like this dim sum store, were quite mediocre.
Yishun 81 Food Court
925 Yishun Central 1 #01-249 Singapore 760925
Visited in Jul 2022
Pls dun try more thirsty after eating..it.
Is this marketing campaign sponsored by the store because customers had posted complaints abou5 it’s meagre chicken slices?
No, I was there and thought it was the eve of National Day, so just featured the national dish of Singapore. None of my posts is sponsored by any of the restaurants. I have been back to many other chicken rice store, the supply chain issues are real, and not only the prices of the fresh chicken have gone up, the supply is low as well. Kampong chicken is used as an alternative but imagine that you have to portion from a 1kg or less chicken from the usually 1.2-1.6kg chickens that they get before this prohibition of export. @DAS I am glad you picked up the post, did I give a too glowing a review for them? I usually don’t bash the F&B folks because it’s a tough industry. (only the really lousy ones in my Blacklist and most didn’t survive the cutthroat competition anyway)
BTW, I usually do not say how much I have spent on the meal or dish. So you may know, I paid for 1/2 a chicken and it has went up by 15% from its usual price. Not complaining, that’s the way it is these days.