Yu Kee Duck Rice

It’s an old famous duck rice stall. I think it used to be much better. The duck rice is still ok and the yam rice is yummy. But overall, it lacks the same punch from yesteryear. Nonetheless still a decent meal.

Yu Kee is known for its stew sauce recipe, which has been used and improved on for over 60 years. I ordered the Specialty Duck Rice ($ 3.80) that comes with a plate of brown stewed rice, duck, stewed bean curd and hardboiled egg and a bowl of soup.
Their rice has been known to be stewed in a special sauce, which turns in brown. It was great because the rice was tasty enough to be eaten alone. The duck meat was tender and very lean. Together with the sauce that it was covered in, it was delightful without an overpowering herbal flavor. This dish is great when eaten with their ikan bilis chili. The soup was flavorful with an herbal taste to it, but it was a tad too salty.
Overall, the duck rice was enjoyable but slightly salty. In a coffee shop atmosphere, it is also a place that is more suitable more a quick meal.

Yu Kee Duck Rice has been around for over sixty years now and the main branch is found here at Liang Seah Street just across Bugis Junction. These days though, thanks to the power of franchising, its actually everywhere, even in food courts.
Sadly, its one of those old favourites that has lost its lustre. First off, service standards is really poor and the staff is exceptionally rude. The quality of the food has also dropped significantly from being one of the best duck rice in Singapore to one of the worst.
The ultimate death knell for me though is the chilli. Yu Kee used to be very famous for their ikan bilis mixed chilli. These days it just taste really salty and oily.
Dont get me wrong though, its still decent duck rice overall but not worth the hype. So unless you got a craving for duck rice, there are much better other food options in the area.

We decided to try this supposedly famous stall one day. Upon eating the food, we found the duck relatively nice but not outstandingly good.
Given that it was relatively crowded at that time, we assumed that the food would be freshly prepared and so the chances of contamination arising from stale food were minimal. Boy, were we wrong. We ended up having food poisoning — and the attendant consequences — for the next two days.