Review Ah-tai Hainanese Chicken Rice

Ivan Teh

Chicken Rice (SGD $5) @ Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice. . The former head chef of renowned Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, Wong Liang Tai (Ah Tai) set up his own stall in February 2012. . Only the poached version is available here, but the chicken meat is fresh, tender and springy, with a thin gelatinous layer beneath the skin. Has lovely sweet savoury flavour, with the gravy lending a savoury salty nutty note. . The rice is fluffy but has a more firm bite than elsewhere, with grainy savoury flavour. Paired with dark sweet soy sauce for salty sweet notes, and vinegared chili with a tangy sour sweet spicy kick.

Pawat Peerapongpipath

What a disappointment. At least it's somewhat more enjoyable than "Tian Tian", its rival. Rice has some fragrance and flavor but is served so cold that it almost sticks into a ball. At least it has some flavor. Chicken is passable but not stellar. Gravy sauce is more tasty than Tian Tian's and helps merging the dish a lot. Overall quite disappointing, nowhere near "decent". Just better than its rival.

slugontheface

The owner used to be the former chef of Tian Tian chicken rice afew stalls down. I went there to get my fix after an unsatisfying lunch nearby. The quality of chicken is good and the sauce on the chicken is of the thicker kind. It tastes almost just like Tian Tian to be honest, maybe slightly better. There wasn't a queue too so that is a plus.

Nicholas Wong

Tried the drumstick set. quality of chicken is good and doneness is perfect. The liver is fresh. Rice is fragrant, separated and springy. Chili is good and dark sauce is not diluted.

Luke Xu

ONLY REVIEW YOU NEED TO READ: Question: Should I wait in line for tian tian or go to Ah Tai? Price wise they are the same just like any other hainan chicken branch. S$5 for a medium chicken rice plate. Picture: Blue plate At Ah Tai the portion is slightly bigger and you get a soup. We found the chicken is definitely more flavorful and juicy than tian tian. Picture: Yellow plate At Tian tian the line is longer (~15-25 minutes wait usually). The rice is WAY BETTER and more flavorful than Ah tai. My advice: Order a portion of rice at tian tian, get a half chicken at Ah tai, make sure to get more sauce on the side cause its tasty and juicy. Enjoy! OR get the thigh part at tian tian that is a bit more expensive but its worth it. The regular chicken is too dry at tian tian Overall: I think tian tian is slightly better overall. Is it worth to wait in line? - if you are craving the hainan chicken rice taste, it probably is. The chicken quality is not the best, don’t expect any organic fresh food. Thank me later or by rating this review as „helpful“ for other people.

Kanokporn L.

We bought both Ah Tai & Tian Tian to try! In comparison to Tian Tian’s chicken rice… 1. Rice: AT’s was more fragrant & flavourful 2. Chicken: AT’s was more tender & juicier 3. Chilli sauce: the 2 tasted very similar 4. Soup: only given at AT 5. Queue: no queue on Sunday evening Conclusion: Try both and be the judge yourself! 😁👍🏻💯

Benny L

This is my second time at Ah Tai and I realised that their $4 chicken rice is now $5! 🙈 And $5 chicken rice is now $6!! 🙉🙉 And Ah Tai is still the same, looking grouchy, standing outside his stall with one arm on the waist, staring hard at Tian Tian (his rival), and also sending signal to customer that he do not want to be approached. 🙊 Haha!! To be honest, I like his chicken rice and I don’t mind his attitude. I even requested for chicken breast meat and he’s fine with it. His chilli was spicy but it’s super addictive!! So if you doesn’t like long queue, just go for Ah Tai rather than Tian Tian.

sheila devi

Like many others, we bought from both Ah Tai and Tian Tian to compare. On the day of our visit, Ah Tai was hands down so much more flavourful with excellent texture , fragrance for rice. I do think on other days, Tian Tian might be better. It really depends on the day.

Eunifoodie

The chicken wasn’t that tender here and the rice wasnt as flavourful as I expected. Still good though nonetheless

Thalia Arista

the chicken was juicy and tastes pretty fresh rather than tia* tia* , unfortunately the rice wasnt as good as tia* tia* the ginger very overpowering but the price is slightly cheaper than tia* tian* which is good

Shivangi

Classic steamed chicken and rice with chilli sauce and soya sauce. It was good, but dont really see the difference to other places where I have eaten same dish. Price is also same as everywhere els.

Mindful Eater

Sorry no pic as I was so hungry already. No line in Ah Tai which is good especially when in a hurry. Price range of chicken rice in Maxwell stalls are almost the same. Chicken here tastes good with special sauce and the chili sauce. Not a fan of their rice and I think it lacks flavor. Comes with a few leafy veggie. I think it's bokchoy. They use plastic spoon and fork which is a plus for me. Ah tai is worth giving a try.

Shazia Hussain

I had chicken with rice and after i finished it I had to have the same portion again, because it was so delicious. The service was fast and next to Ah-Tai is a drink shop, where you can buy your drinks. You just have to try the place, the food is amazing!

Shain Malhotra

Chicken was moist, tender and cooked just nice without blood visible. The blended chili sauce was superb. The rice was perfectly done. TianTian was closed on the day we visited (Monday). Prices cheaper compared to TianTian. Half a chicken, 2 rice, bean sprout, liver cost us Sgd17. And Ah Tai was very friendly and accommodating. We kept going back for chili sauce refills and had to refrain from ordering more rice. Definitely coming back.

Review Ah-tai Hainanese Chicken Rice - Singapore