Chicken rice is one of Singapore’s most beloved dishes, and most folks would have their own favourite stalls. While you can count on famous institutions like Chatterbox, Tian Tian and Ah Tai, there are also many under-the-radar gems like Sam Leong St Chicken Rice.
The hawker stall, run by a husband-and-wife team, has its own pool of devoted regulars, though it is not as high-profile as some of its counterparts. Last January, the stall’s elderly Hainanese founder died unexpectedly, leaving his widow to run the shop solo.
The founder’s wife, who declined to give her name and age, told 8days.sg that her husband’s leg had been hurting, and he was already planning to retire and go for leg surgery.
On the sixth day of Chinese New Year last year, he resumed his operations after closing for the festive season, and drove to the market to buy ingredients. “But he had a heart attack at the market entrance. He wanted to schedule a leg operation, but he left before that,” shared his wife.
Prior to his unexpected passing, Uncle had been in talks in 2022 to sell his business and prepare for retirement. His wife explained: “Our son has his own career and didn’t want to take over the business, and I cannot cope with running the stall by myself. So we said okay when a new owner expressed interest in taking over.”
RESTAURANT UPGRADE
8days.sg understands that the new owner of Sam Leong St Chicken Rice is the parent company of popular Henghwa cuisine chain Putien, who has transformed the stall’s old-school coffeeshop into a mod restaurant with comfy air-con.
Responding to our enquiries, a Putien rep shared: “We are currently at the soft launch phase and working towards the official launch," adding that more details will be shared at a later date.
Customers can already drop by the restaurant for a plate of chicken rice. Despite the swankier new digs, prices are still very reasonable, starting from S$3.50 for poached/roasted chicken rice or chicken porridge.
You can also order a quarter poached/roasted chicken (S$10), half chicken (S$16) and whole chicken (S$30). There are also sides like braised egg (S$1.20), chicken liver (S$1.20) and fried chicken wing (S$3.60).
The chicken rice is also available in combo set meals with a side dish and drink. But the food is now served on disposable plates instead of the melamineware that the kopitiam stall was previously using.
It appears that the chicken rice is still as good at the new restaurant, as a netizen posted on Facebook foodie group Can Eat! SG that the food “looks plain and simple but tastes good”.
Unusually enough, the shop is also open from 8am to 3am daily unlike a typical chicken rice hawker stall, so you can have kway png (chicken rice in Hokkien) for supper even after midnight.
Sam Leong St Chicken Rice is at 6 Verdun Road, Singapore 207275. Open daily 8am 3am. www.facebook.com/samleongchickenrice
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