Tian Yuan Chicken Rice, Tekka Centre

Tekka Centre owes much of its crowds to its hawker stalls, able to count amongst its best offerings food as diverse as roast goose rice, murtabak, the obscure chi kak kueh of Teochew culinary tradition and even the simple congee. The section for the hawker centre has plenty of room for stalls however, and just as there are good stalls, there are also those which have yet to make a name for themselves (I noticed while wandering around a stall trying to sell "Western breakfast", an unusual offering even in Tekka, which, for their sake, I hope catches on).

There were a couple of stalls which sell chicken rice, and Tian Yuan in particular caught my eye since it appeared to be twinned with the adjacent zhi cha stall. The approaches to preparing the food offered by both stalls are vastly different to one another, so it's slightly puzzling that the two stalls would be run by the same guy, if indeed they are. The stall did not appear to be getting much custom, but unfazed I decided to find out why.

The generous helping of rice was fluffy and flavourful, its richness cut through only by the sting that came with the chilli. Paired with a good chicken, this would have gone down very well. Sadly, despite avoiding getting breast meat, the chicken was still dry, perhaps from having been left hanging for too long, and left me looking slightly longingly at the guy at my table who got chicken rice from the other stall.

The food aside, it might be interesting to explore at a later point how the two are related to one another, and one came to share the name with the other, although the reason might be something as mundane as buying out a retiring owner.

Verdict: 2/4 - liddat lor

Location:
Tian Yuan Chicken Rice
#01-292, Tekka Centre,
665 Buffalo Road