Boon Tong Kee

I did not grow up in Singapore and therefore was not familiar with the name of the resto. But my cousin brought us to this place for dinner so I came without any expectation. Now, we’re all Malaysians (well one is now a Singaporean), six of us, half all their lives, the other half very well travelled but our palate is still genuine Malaysian/​Singaporean. The food here is definitely not average as the 3 stars overall suggest, neither is it a top restaurant for the Hainanese-​chicken-​rice-​plus-​zhichar category. Most of what we ordered were delish, especially the fried tofu. The rice was magnificent but feels a little too oily. The service was so-​so, and the ambience was average. The price of six-​dish dinner was acceptable but the drawback was «no American Express». Bah. I’d give you 3.5 stars if I could, but I couldn’t. Four felt a little less unfair than 3 stars but BTK you really need to lift up your game man!

When I was young, my Father used to take me here to enjoy succulent Chicken Rice which I would ask for more bowls for rice. My record so far is 4 bowls of rice and 2 plates of steamed chicken at one shot, that was how hungry I was at that time.
Fast forward to recent times, the quality of Chicken rice has dropped to a standard that I can hardly believe. I find the quality these days is no better than some of the food stores at Hawker centres. Why should I pay more when I can get cheaper price from else where? I been to this branch a couple of times, and frankly I am also less than impressed with the service.
Signs of impatience and mood swing (seems to me) when some of the stuff served my friends and I. One positive note about this place is that they sell other dishes as well, not bad but to be honest, I only come here for the chicken rice and sadly the standard has dropped.
Overall, I am disappointed with the quality but I will still come back to try the other dishes. With the opening of the Beauty World MRT station, business should be better.

How did Boon Tong Kee get so famous? All their branches are the same: mediocre, overpriced, terrible chicken rice.
It’s not terrible, sorry — it’s still edible.
But oh so mediocre.
The only saving grace is most of their outlets are open really late, esp the river valley one. This one till 1 am, but still.
Even among the late night after-​partying chicken rice places, BTK could not even hold a candle to. say, Five Star. Not even close.

The only time I come to Boon Tong Kee is after a night of partying. There are always plenty of seats, and even if you have to wait, it won’t take too long unless you’re in a really big group.
I have to say the chicken rice here is really fragrant and moist, but it is served in a strange little pyramid. I suspect the reason for that is to hide how little rice you’re actually getting.
The chicken itself is tender and tasty. They are famous for the white chicken, and even though I normally prefer roast chicken, I don’t mind the chicken here. However, i do find the jelly bits quite gross and normally pick them out.
The chilli here is nothing to shout about though. I think the chilli is what makes a chicken rice dish exceptional.
I do like their other dishes, such as the fried tofu, and the fishballs with minced meat. The tofu has a nice silken texture and isn’t too oily even though it’s deep fried. I especially love the fish-​meat balls that explode in your mouth. Watch out for the hot soup that comes squirting out. i have burnt myself and squirted it at friends (by accident of course) several times already.
I do think the food here is overpriced, but the food has always been consistent. The ambience here is nothing special, but the service is fast and efficient.

This restaurant is definitely famous for its chicken rice. Some may find it too premium for a plate of chicken rice where you can actually find any stalls to serve just as good. However, this stall does not only serve chicken rice and the other dishes should be given credits as well.
Some of the dishes to recommend are the crab meat soup, which taste rich and great in texture, the fried tofu, one of the signature dish tastes awesome, the tofu is smooth and the crust is crispy. Wonderful combination.
A point of worry as mentioned at the start is that the crowd at restaurant is unusually thin. I suppose the higher than expected pricing of the dishes has something to do with it.

How much you like this Boon Tong Kee outlet depends very much on what type of diner you are– whether you’re dining in, taking away, or doing a drive-​thru (yes, they actually have that!).
I especially like the drive-​thru service. I live about 5 mins away, so I usually call in advance to place my order. It takes about 10 minutes for the food to get ready, and they will ask you for your car plate number. The welcome counter doubles up as the drive through counter– the food prepared for drive-​thru takeaways are placed on chairs there with receipts indicating your car plate number. The only thing left for you to do is to drive through the lane (enter from Cheong Chin Nam side because its one-​way), roll your windows down, pay, and go. I always try to give exact because the cashier counter is all the way inside the restaurant to prevent holding up traffic.
Dining in is not too bad as well. Even though the place is pretty small, its quite ridiculously overstaffed– I don’t know if I appreciate that many people looking at me when I eat. Having said that, service is especially efficient, and its always a plus to be able to have hot food before you. There also isn’t usually a problem looking for a seat, even though their chairs are not very comfortable and they use a kind of leathery-​plastic to cover their tables and that kind of freaks me out.
What I dislike is the taking away service. Because of the popularity of the drive-​thru, take aways (by yourself) can mean you have to wait for as long as half an hour– they cant afford to let the cars hold up, so they will almost always prepare the food first. Also, they are extremely short staffed for those who are actually to handle food, so while you have many people at your service as a sit-​in diner, as a take-​out customer you have very little choice but to wait for the orders before you to clear up before you can even place your order. Once they take your order though, they pod gets served pretty fast.
The standard of the chicken here is pretty good– but a little known dish which happens to be my favorite is the deep fried tofu. Somehow they manage to fry it in a way that doesn’t make it appear toooo sinful. though I’m sure it is. The batter is crisp, thin, the tofu is silky smooth and the portion is just right.