The Chatterbox

When visiting Singapore, everyone tells you to try the hawker centres. They have the best street food, the best chicken and rice… so who would expect a hotel restaurant to have such good chicken and rice? But this was one of our favourite meals in Singapore. While (very) expensive, both the Hainanese chicken and rice and the lobster laksa was top-​notch.
The chicken was tender, moist and fleshy and the rice, oh man, I wish I could have extra. The chicken-​oil-​soaked rice was just SO GOOD.
The laksa was also amazing. I have never heard of lobster being in laksa before but it added an additional layer of flavour to the curry broth and was a game-​changer. My standard of laksa definitely became way higher after my lunch here… and it was a pretty big lobster.
I also found the service to be quite good, albeit slow; I had to suddenly leave partway through lunch for 30 minutes right after the first dish was served. Thus, my friend asked that they waited until I came back before serving the second dish. When I returned and we told them that we were ready to be served for the second dish, they told us that they were already preparing as they saw me return. Very observant and attentive to their customers.
This restaurant is not cheap. In fact, it’s a bit overpriced because there are definitely way cheaper options for equally good Chicken and Rice (ahem Tiantian) and more authentic laksa (let’s be honest, no one else puts lobsters in their laksa). However, the outstanding service, the fact that there is AC (which you will not find in hawker centres — eating in 30C heat is not for everyone) and seating (which is also difficult at times in hawker centres), still makes this a good place for lunch — if you’re willing to pay the price tag.

lobster laksa is one of my favourite. very delicious. don’t forget to add some more laksa chilies!!!

Chatterbox is well known for their chicken rice. However their standard has gone down over the years and there are much better selection of chicken rice stores else where. On top of that, the price for a set ($ 25+) is enough to suggest going somewhere else.

Came here because I remember coming as a little kid. Had to see if it was as good as I remembered. It is but Hainan Chicken rice plate for $ 27?! But it only cost $ 8 in 1985. Oh how times have changed. Still as tasty as I remembered it to be but at hawker stand you can get an entire meal for two people for less than $ 20. Hence the 4 stars. Staff and service was very good. Presentation is a lot better here than at the hawker stand but you do pay a premium to be seated inside an ac area. This place is located in a mall but connects to Mandarin Orchard hotel. Rent must not be cheap so of course food prices reflect that. You definitely pay for the ac and nicer table and chairs than hawker stand areas.
Although the flavor was spot on, not sure I would go back.
Turns out locals laugh because this place is so expensive and quality of the chicken is not the best.
I had to go back to reminisce my childhood bowl of rice but for anyone looking to get yummy Hainan Chicken rice, better to go to hawker stand. If you want ac, buy to go at hawker stand and eat in ac area. Not worth the $$.

This is my favorite chicken rice restaurant in Singapore. Bit expensive but worth it. One can order breast or leg with or without skin. Also take out packaging is great although they charge 2.50 packaging fee.

I’m pretty sure I’ve dined here about 12 years ago and didn’t think it was as good as Savoy back home. Fast forward to 2015 when my wife said that we had to stop by to see whether or not Chatterbox was as good as she remembered it being (she lived in Sing for 5 years).
Since we were jet lagged and since they were open late, we came here for dinner on our first night in Sing. Had already set low expectations for their Hainan rice but wanted to give it a second chance so ordered that for dinner. To my surprise it was pretty tasty! Not sure what it was about my first visit but this time around the chicken was moist and tasty and the rice was fragrant and tasty! Wife commented that it was as good as she remembered it being and was a happy camper. One order would’ve normally been enough for the two of us to share but we were both starving and ended up finishing most of it.
Only drawback was how pricey it was but what do you expect for a large portion of food and at a hotel right on Orchard Road.

One of my favorite dishes in Singapore is laksa. I must say that Chatterbox has one of the best ones I’ve tried. Yes, it’s probably due to the huge lobster that’s in there! But it’s SO worth it!
The chicken rice is also good, but not worth it so much. You can get just as good or even better elsewhere for cheaper.
It’s great that Chatterbox is open late night because you can go after a night of cocktails on Orchard Ln.

If u are looking for somewhere posh for hainanese chicken rice, this is somewhere in Singapore that you must try! No long queues under the hot sun. Great food and definitely worth a try

This place wasn’t bad but also not very good. It is in the Mandarin Orchard hotel and I stopped in for lunch one day. I waited a really long time for service, a long time for food, a long time for my check, and an epically long time for my change.
When I asked my server what I could have that was gluten free, he pointed to one dish and said ‘that one’ off the whole menu. I was disappointed I could only have one thing or that something couldn’t be altered but he was persistent that this was it. So I ordered it and the chicken was unexciting, the rice plain white, and the broth was actually the only thing I liked.
The cost of the food was pricey for the quality but otherwise standard for a place like this. Service was friendly, just slow. The atmosphere was bland and uninteresting. I would avoid going back.

I totally regretted coming here to try their hainan chicken. I found a good thing at Tian Tian that was delicious and cheap. But people raved that this was just as good, if not better. At $ 27 a plate, I expect it to be out of this world delicious. Unfortunately, it was quite terrible.
The rice lacked the chicken flavor and fragrance that is the number one key to good chicken rice. But even as white rice goes, this was cooked poorly. The rice was undercooked and unevenly cooked (or just sat out for too long), as some parts of it were harder and drier than others. Rice is suppose to be light and fluffy.
The chicken was bland and DRY. Even with the sauce, it was not that good. It tasted even worse than some of the mediocre hainan chicken places in LA (and LA does not have good hainan chicken).
While the portions were bigger than Tian Tian’s $ 4 plate, the quality and taste of this was dramatically worse. I could have had almost 7 plates of amazingly delicious chicken rice at Tian Tian for the price of one pretty bad chicken rice here.
I’m sticking with the cheap and delicious next time! If you are going to eat here, try something else. I have a feeling their lobster laksa would be a disappointment as well.

Overview: Visited October 2014. Chain eatery found on the 5^th floor of the Mandarin Orchard Hotel shopping complex.
Pros:
1) The chicken rice was excellent and service was good and quick.
Cons:
1) Quite pricey for a Singapore staple meal (ex. chicken rice was 27 SGD). You could find this same meal elsewhere for 10 SGD.
Tips:
1) If you are into trying new things, you still may want to confirm what you are ordering. (Ex. I though I was ordering fried pieces of fish, but what I got was whole fishes –bone, head, tail– battered and fried like a chicken tender).
2) To beat the lunch crowd, try to get there before noon and avoid a wait.

I heard so much about Chatterbox serving the most expensive chicken rice served in Singapore. I refer to it as «Posh» Hainanese chicken rice. The meal comes served on the table on a tray. There is a plate of the chicken, a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup and a dish with the three different sauce. It was beautifully presented which I suppose what you pay as part of the price.
The soup was slightly different to the typical one I have had as Chatterbox included egg tofu. It was an upmarket soup!
Overall the chicken rice was okay but nothing special. Although I did like the clean and contemporary presentation.
Chatterbox is located in Mandarin Oriental hotel which is big and easily get lost finding the restaurant. But it does also have any entrance from the shopping centre it is connected. Also, although it didn’t look very busy when I visited for lunch, I suggest to reservd a table.

Not good :-(tried the hainanese chicken rice. Doesn’t even measure up to most food courts. Over priced. Ac and ambience earns it 2 stars

My cousin who lives in Singapore took me to Chatterbox and told me about their famous Hainese chicken. Having not had it before I did not have high expectations. The Chatterbox is located inside the Mandarin Orchard Hotel.
I enjoyed the dinner and the presentation and especially liked the different dipping sauces that accompanied the chicken. Great place to try out at least once for a first time experience.

I was starving in Singapore and was looking to be Wow’ed. Came to Chatterbox to try their Famous Chicken Rice. Ive read about it in magazines, heard about it from friends, and read about it online. So I decided to give it a try.
Arrived a little after 5pm and it was pretty empty and there were a lot of workers just standing around. I was their 4^th table and I was expecting great service since they were overstaffed. While looking at the extremely over priced menu, I over heard the people behind me asking whats taking so long for their food as they had a flight to catch, they seemed very aggravated. Anyhow I already knew i wanted to try the dark meat chicken rice, but i also wanted to get an appetizer, however nothing seemed to catch my eye. I went ahead and just ordered their signature dish as I thought for $ 27 its probably going to be an enormous portion.
Food came extremely fast, only within minutes of ordering. First thing that came to mind was, its just a regular portion that you can get almost anywhere else. However I started to dig in since I was starving.
The chicken wasn’t flavorful and was not tender as dark meat should be. I waved down a waitress and asked her about it, but she assured me that it was dark meat. I took her word for it, but for this to be their signature dish, I’m not sure why everyone raves about this place. It was not special at all.
The soup was good, but probably because of all the fried scallions they add into it. It would have been a lot better if it was hot instead of luke warm.
The rice was probably the best part of the meal. It was just perfectly cooked to the way i like. Flavor was okay, but texture was exactly what i wanted.
The service was pretty lousy actually. It took forever to get a server to place the order, my water glass was empty half way thru my meal, and it took forever to get my bill. I don’t understand how or why the service was so bad, there are so many waiters just standing around and not doing anything.
Chicken rice was $ 27, after service and tax the total came out to $ 31.80. Don’t make the same mistake as I did and try it out. Its a waste of time and money, go down one floor and try one of the other many restaurants.

A must for any newcomer to Singapore who wants to experience the humble chicken rice in air conditioned comfort. It is not for the budget traveller. A more comforting chicken rice can be obtained at many food courts or hawker centers in Singapore. However, as the maitre d explained to us the chicken rice is well known in Singapore at the Chatterbox. Whether it is the best or most comforting is for the individual diner to experience and decide. Although the chicken rice was $ 27 withut tax other items on the mene we tried were chicken porridge for $ 22 nad sea food hor fun for $ 27 without tax.

Came here for a quick lunch as it was close to my hotel in Singapore. The specialty chicken rice was very good. A large bowl of chicken, rice, soup and 3 dipping sauces. The chicken was very fresh and cooked perfectly. A it pricey at 27 dollars but for a once in a while meal was very good. The ambiance is more in line with a lunch vs a nice dinner location.

A place to go to when it is late at night or when you want a respite from shopping and do not want to jostle with the crowd in the food courts or similarly priced restaurants.
Chatterbox is largely known for its Chicken Rice. I have been to Chatterbox when it was still on the ground level (before the renovation and new location) many years ago and have seen the price increased to its current exorbitant level. Then again, it is in a hotel and other hotels’ restaurants also charge similar price for local food.
I do like the chicken rice as it is quite good. It comes with a huge portion of meat (2 layers of lean and tender moist chicken meat; I read somewhere it is about ½ a chicken), a bowl of fragrant rice, a bowl of soup and condiments (chili, ginger and dark soya sauce).
Besides chicken rice, Chatterbox also serves other local delights such as beef hor fun, char kway teow, lobster laksa, fried hokkien prawn noodles, bak kut teh, nasi lemak, nasi goreng, etc. If you prefer non-​Asian food, there are always salads, sandwiches and burgers.
The hokkien prawn noodles is also pretty good with a wok hei flavor, like wise for the beef hor fun. The bak kut teh is quite dismal to average. Nasi goreng is not bad.
Another reason to dine at Chatterbox is the coconut ice cream which is served inside a coconut. It is surprisingly good, with creamy coconut flavor and tiny shreds of dried coconut flesh.
Note:
Sometimes I wonder if hotel restaurants (or any restaurants under any Food Card discount membership) purposely jack up their prices so that when card members dine there and utilize the card privilege (10%-50% discount based on number of diners), the prices are actually not so painful to the pocket.

This place is known for its overpriced chicken rice ($ 27) and despite reviews telling people it’s not worth it, I felt like I had to try it. So when a friend came into town for work and wanted Asian food, I decided it would be a good opportunity to try it, since it’s sit-​down place with service, AC, and local food.
This restaurant sits openly within the Meritus hotel… a bit of a trek down hallways of the hotel to get to the restaurant. The dull lighting at night made the place a bit drab. I was hoping portions were family style to make it worth it, since it’s about 6x the price of hawker center chicken rice. The entrees on the menu were individual portions, but you do get about double the amount of the hawker center chicken rice. I shared a lobster laksa for about $ 37…at least the price tag came with a decent individual sized lobster. Both were quite good… I wouldn’t say too much better than the hawker center though. Service wasn’t spectacular considering the price tag plus tax & service charge.
There were a fair amount of Asians in the restaurant… so some locals must also be keeping this place in business. It’s exactly what was expected… food is satisfactory but the price is not. I wouldn’t go back. If you want chicken rice with AC maybe just buy back from a hawker center or eat in a food court. You’re not missing too much service.

Apparently, this place is most famous for its Mandarin chicken rice, and you’ll see many tourists queuing up and dining here. It’s an award-​winning dish that’s presumably featured in many travel guides.
At the same time, however, our family and friends who used to eat their chicken rice many years ago claim that the quality has gone down, while the price has surely gone the other way. ($ 25 each, is it?) I can’t make the same comparison as I’m new to chicken rice, but I do think the one here is overrated. We like how fragrant the rice is, but the chicken is mediocre, a bit dry actually, and too small in portion to justify the final bill.
The location is okay, but the service was horrible when we went. We won’t be going back with the kids.
SUM: there’s gotta be other restaurants serving better chicken rice.