Nam Kee Chicken Rice @ Upper Thomson Road

Dinner with the folks today was at Nam Kee Chicken Rice in the neighbourhood. The owners actually live on my street and bought the shophouse many many years ago. Unfortunately, the uncle who used to chop the chickens behind the counter passed away recently. The shop is now managed by his wife. The restaurant itself is almost an institution dating back to at least 30 years. The decor is simple, complete with brown booth seats and an old-fashioned cash collection counter, almost transporting one back to the 70s era. There probably aren't many eateries like these around nowadays that have not undergone a complete facelift to meet with the times. Another shop that brings to mind is Hwa Nam Restaurant further down the road, as well as Ampang Yong Tau Foo at Joo Chiat.

But I digress.....

Other than serving Hainanese chicken rice, they also specialize in a list of tze char items, of which sambal kangkong is an all-time favourite amongst many of their patrons. The restaurant is usually packed on weekends and if you order after 7.30pm, there is a likelihood that they've already run out of the dish.

Btw, the photos in this set were taken with my new toy, the Canon S95. Some of the colours may look a bit odd as I'm still trying to figure my way around the different functions. :P

I'm not a huge chicken rice fan nor connoisseur myself, but one thing I have to admit is that the secret to a great chicken rice lies in its chilli mix and of course, the rice itself. Nam Kee for me, has got this quite down pat. There's nothing more disappointing than a substandard chilli mix, or one that has gone sourish from being kept for too long. Nam Kee in this aspect at least, has never failed its customers(or at least during the times I've patronised them!). What I like about Nam Kee is that they also provide a bowl of pure unadulterated chicken soup(used from cooking chickens no less) garnished with spring onions, unlike the soups that some other chicken rice places serve. You can't get any more traditionally Hainanese than this!

Today's meal was rather average on the whole, with the chicken tasting less tender than usual. It felt like the standard had gone down a bit. Here's a photo of their Hainanese white chicken.


The sambal kangkong tasted very good as usual. Some places cook it really greasy but Nam Kee manages to keep the grease level a bit lower than the rest. There's also something in the belachan and hei-bee(dried shrimps) that they use that seems to give the dish an edge over its tze char competitors.



The sweet and sour pork(gu lo yok) was quite crispy soaked in the sauce but seemed to lack a certain oomph when you bit into one. Perhaps there wasn't enough fats in the pork to lend it extra body, or perhaps there wasn't enough pre-marination before deep frying? The cucumbers looked a bit odd being part of the dish as well.

Photo was taken after several pieces had been pinched by the family members.


We also had the hei zoh(hokkien fried prawn and pork roll) which was so-so as well. It was served with a sweet black sauce.


Another dish that we had today was the yam ring with fried cashew nuts, celery and peppers. The yam ring itself was quite crispy but I felt the dish was also about average on the overall...or maybe I was just too stuffed on too much oily food earlier already haha!


Don't expect great service as it's run like your typical mom-and-pop shop but the helpers come around fast enough when you need to take an order. On the overall, it's not superb tze char cuisine but good enough for most. If you're looking for a no-frills cosy family meal on a weekend night around the neighbourhood, why not check out Nam Kee one day?

Address:
201 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574343

Rating (out of 5):
Service: 3 porkchops
Food: 3.5 porkchops
Ambience: 3 porkchops