Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls @ Kedai Kopi Chung Wah, Melaka

I was debating between eating at Chung Wah Hainanese Chicken Rice and Hoe Kee Chicken Rice but during our last visit, we had the latter so this time we decided to go with Chung Wah as the waiting line is usually extremely long and we thought it indicated better food =P

Relatively short line on a working day

Although the shop entrance where the queue is is quite large, for some unknown reason the owner decided to barricade more than half of the entrance with miscellaneous boxes, chairs and stuff. There was only a small space about a person's width for entering and exiting the shop and with the queue starting immediately at the shop entrance, it was really a hassle to make way for exiting guests and more often than not, everyone was just left feeling squashed. They probably blocked half of the entrance to control the crowd but I wonder if they thought about their customers' convenience. Not a very good first impression indeed > . >

Interior

The interior of the shop is quite small comparatively even though it spans two shop lots and coupled with the inefficiency of the staff, hence you see the long queue outside. When it came to our turn, no one told us where to go so we waited around for a bit (we had expected the staff to show us to a table like in Hoe Kee) and suddenly the people behind us started walking towards the empty tables! So we rushed off to nab an empty table...

The staff did not take the order from customers who arrived first (God knows what their logic is) and were extremely unorganised, grouchy and forgetful hmmpf. There was no menu and they did not ask what we wanted, just asked how many persons we had in our group and slouched off.

Chef incessantly chopping chicken

Homemade chilli sauce

Their homemade chilli sauce is quite unique with an unusual colour of creamy orange and red, and it definitely packs a punch.

Chicken rice balls

It seems that the standard order would be 5 rice balls per person but you can ask for extra. The rice balls are smaller than Hoe Kee's but are more moist and hence holds its shape much better. It is also more flavourful (you can taste chicken stock) and did not break apart when I cut it in half so it remained essentially a rice ball and not chicken rice, if you know what I mean.

Steamed chicken

This is the standard portion for 2 pax (not sure if you can order extra as no one seemed to do so - they just ate whatever was given by the staff). The steamed chicken is extremely smooth and firm and has more bite to it (the kind which presumably had lots of exercise when it was still clucking around). However I was not impressed with the three measly pieces of cucumber > . >

There was no soup even on weekdays and the shop did not seem too hygienic to me. No doubt the chicken rice is sufficiently good but I have since concluded that the long line outside the shop is not because of its fame but rather because the staff are inadequate and slow. One visit is more than enough for me and the next time I return to Melaka, I will definitely head to Hoe Kee.

PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Dough


Kedai Kopi Chung Wah

18 Jalan Hang Jebat
Melaka