Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice (Singapore): This Hawker Stall is a Mouthful (LOL) But They Make Good Chicken Rice! (With MICHELIN Bib Gourmand Recognition)

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This article is part of the Singapore Food Trip 2025 series. Check out the installments in this series: Dian Xiao Er (Herbal Roast Duck) | Kek Eng Kee Seafood (Zi Char) | The Coconut Club (Nasi Lemak and Malay Food) | Tiong Bahru Market (Hawker Center)

Hainanese Chicken Rice (or simply “Chicken Rice”) is accepted as the national dish of Singapore. It has 3 main components: The chicken (which is boiled), the rice (which is cooked using the chicken stock), and the soup (which is also the stock). It’s usually served with 3 dips: Chili sauce, ginger puree, and a soy-based sauce.

One spot where you can try this is at Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice at Tiong Bahru Market (check out my food guide here).

The stall opened in 1988 by Cheong Weng Wan, who had a friend who worked as a cook in Mandarin Hotel. Back then, the hotel is known for its chicken rice. Cheong learned from his friend and even improved the recipe.

The stall is so well patronized that it has been awarded a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand status since 2017. In fact, it has branched out across Singapore and has even expanded abroad to my home country, the Philippines, with several locations as of the time of this writing (check out my review of their Philippine franchise here).

But even though it’s already available in my country, it’s still good to visit the original.

Their Steamed Chicken Rice has tasty and tender chicken. This is a pleasant surprise because the chicken of chicken rice is usually on the plain side, with the sauces doing the work.

Steamed Chicken Rice (Small: SGD3.80; Large: SGD4.80)

I like that the rice is flavorful and not clumpy or sticky, for the lack of a better term.

The Roasted Chicken, while still delicious, is not too tender, at least when we visited. Maybe they just had an off day.

Roasted Chicken Rice (Small: SGD3.80; Large: SGD4.80)

By the way, here’s a trivia: The “roasted” chicken in chicken rice stalls are actually fried. Stalls call it “roasted” to distinguish from the battered and fried ones, like KFC’s. Anyway…

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice also offers another kind of chicken: Lemon Chicken. As far as I know, you won’t see this item in other chicken rice stalls.

Lemon Chicken Rice (Small: SGD3.80; Large: SGD4.80)

It’s made with fried chicken cutlet and drizzled with lemon sauce and mayonnaise. This is also good!

To balance, the stall also offers vegetables. As expected, it’s crisp and delicious.

So far, I’ve tried two chicken rice stalls in Tiong Bahru Market. Without a doubt, Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice is the better one. I don’t think it’s the best I’ve ever tried. But if you’re visiting the market and craving for chicken rice, you might as well order there. I recommend it to you!

Address: #02-82 Tiong Bahru Market, 30 Seng Poh Rd., Tiong Bahru, Singapore | Operating Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10AM-4PM