Hainan Chicken Restaurant

The Asian lady that works here is very friendly!
The hainan chicken here is so good. The sauces are definitely not as good as Savoy though. (Minus the one star for that)!!
If only Savoy used their sauce here at this restaurant, then it would be 5 stars!!!
I also love that this place gives you chicken soup and veggies, with your meal!
Sad that this place is closed :(

I’m disappointed I came here for dinner today and the place was closed. Guys with ladders taking down things and the place looked empty. I don’t know if they’re remodeling or closed forever. Hopefully this review saves someone a trip.
I wish I didn’t wait in traffic going to a place that’s closed. Now I’m at Dolphin Bay next door eating popcorn chicken.

I’ve checked in 4 times! That says a lot since I haven’t been out much since I had my baby. I came upon this place perusing the nearby restaurants on Unilocal while in Rowland Heights. I love Hainan Chicken so I decided to try it. After snacking earlier, I decided to pick up a plate to go. I decided to eat it right away in the car even though I wasn’t hungry. Fresh is always best right! And to be fair to this review! I loved the chicken, rice, and ginger sauce! Loved it so much, we went back for seconds, thirds, and fourths!
This place gets very busy around lunch time! Even when you order ahead of time, you can expect to wait. Make sure to have enough time to eat. The reason being is that it is operated by mainly one pregnant lady supported by her very young daughter and older mother or mother-​in-​law. Please be very patient. The lady is very nice. She walked me to my car last time seeing that I had a newborn with me. That was very nice of her considering she doesn’t have much help in her restaurant.
They do run out so call ahead. Language may be a barrier. Go with chicken with skin and dark meat! Taste so much better. Their red sauce is starting to taste better too! We tend to order whole chicken uncut. They are the best.
Aside from the slowness, the other downside is that it can be a bit salty!

I’m so bummed! I went to grab Hainan Chicken today with my parents from my favorite Hainan Chicken Restaurant only to run into the owner and find out they decided to close the business because his wife is pregnant and it’s too expensive to hire people to replace her, running the restaurant was really hard work and he does not have time to train someone and the rent alone for that space was $ 5,400/month. At $ 10/​plate including tax and tip, they’d have to sell 540 plates of hainan chicken a month or approximately 17/​day just to cover the rent. It is such a bummer to see a place with such delicious food close so soon :(I did connect with him on wechat and offered to help him if they ever decide to open another hainan chicken restaurant.

Came to eat at Hainan Chicken yesterday evening around 7 pm with my family for dinner (we were a party of 5). There was plenty of seating at this time. After quickly looking over the menu, I decided to get the Hainan chicken (they have other items but why would you get anything else besides what the restaurant is named after?).
I got the Hainan Chicken Rice meal with white meat and without bones (as that was an option to have with or without) and vegetables. This meal also came with a bowl of broth as well and cost $ 7.25 prior to tax. The chicken was moist and a good portion. The cooked cabbage was just average and wished I had bok choy (as I saw in another Unilocaler photo that bok choy was the side vegetable) or another cooked vegetable. The rice was good and also a good portion. But by no meals is the chicken here better than Savoy (that is blasphemous to say… well actually it’s just what you prefer… but this place is not better than Savoy).
My husband ordered the Hainan Chicken Rice meal with dark meat with bones and vegetables (cabbage as well) that came with broth. His dark meat with bones was pretty depressing because he had very little meat. He should have gotten the dark meat without bones (dark meat cost more than white by the way).
I liked the sauces here and thought it was a bit more flavorful than Savoy. I liked that the ginger sauce had a savory taste (probably just have salt added to it) and this other oil based sauce. Although I did like the ginger sauce, it didn’t look to be fresh because it had a dark color, as if it was just sitting out all day. Fresh ginger has a light color (buy some ginger and grate it in a white bowl and you will see what I am talking about).
Now this place has bare walls and no décor what so ever, which does not bother me. But what did bug me about this place is that it is rather filthy (they current had a «B» grade upon our visit but at one point they did have an «A» grade… check out previous Unilocal photos for this business). The floors are rather sticky and so are the tables and the bathroom floor (ladies’). There are also stains on the bare walls as well. And although a lot of the best Chinese restaurants have «B» grades, I still would prefer a cleaner restaurant (with my last reference to Savoy, they got an «A» grade. Just a shame that they have lousy parking and limited seating).
By the way, this restaurant is located in the same plaza as Nini Bakery (a few doors down from this bakery actually) in case you are looking to eat here. There is also plenty of parking.
And lastly, this restaurant is CASH ONLY (as most Chinese restaurants are… including Savoy… okay I lied, this is my last reference to the restaurant).

Another hole in the wall find thanks to fellow Unilocalers! Located in a non-​descript strip mall, this is your mom and pop style restaurant. The place is quite spacious with bare white walls. But who cares about that when we’re here for the chicken!
The must order is the hainan chicken rice, dark meat and no bones. It comes with a bowl of soup and some veggies on the side. The chicken is juicy, tender and moist, and quite flavorful even without the sauces. The rice is quite gingery and full of chicken flavor. The place definitely lives up to its name.
There are three sauces in the condiment tray: regular ginger sauce, green onion-​cilantro ginger, and the spicy ginger sauce. All 3 were really good. Though I found that the chicken and the rice tasted perfectly fine without any of the sauces.
The menu offers other hainan chicken dishes, such as chicken by itself or with noodles. There are also other dishes to supplement your meal. But why bother when the chicken is so good?!
Service: This is a mom and pop place, literally. The chef is the husband, and the waitress is the wife. They have a young daughter that helps out by bringing the menus and the check. There’s also a grandma, but I don’t think she works there. Don’t expect much service as its a small family business.
Overall, this Hainan chicken is so much better than Savoy in Alhambra and Green Zone in San Gabriel. And you can get it without waiting in line for an hour. While this is further, its definitely worth the drive. Almost as good as the amazing hainan chicken I had in Singapore. This will have to do until I go back!
Parking: Large parking lot for the strip mall.

There are so many restaurants in Rowland Heights, this one would have been easy to miss. It’s hidden in the plaza across the street from Good Time. Found this place on Unilocal and bookmarked it!
Arrived here for lunch and parking was a breeze. There wasn’t anyone in the restaurant when I got there, but shortly after being seated, people started rolling in. I ordered the hainan chicken and rice (dark meat and de-​boned). Everything was delicious and flavorful! The dish was reminiscent of the hainan chicken and rice I had when I visited Singapore years ago. You could tell they use fresh (non-​frozen) chicken by the texture of the meat. Rice cooked in chicken broth… yum! The steamed cabbage tasted homemade, which is the way I like. Was hoping for bok choy based on Unilocal photos, but it’s all good.
Couple of issues: 1) although I got the de-​boned chicken, there were still bones (a whole chicken wing and this piece of bone with no meat covered by a piece of chicken skin) and 2) didn’t care for the soup.
Overall, I got what I came for: one of the best tasting hainan chicken and rice in the SGV for under $ 10! Can’t beat that! Will return with friends and family. Oh, and cash only!

Best hainan chicken… their hainan rice is so tasty. love their sauce… the owner is really nice… love this place.

What’s up, first of all let me address the picky mofos on this site by saying that when you roll up into an authentic mom&pop Chinese joint to get your asian fix on, your lowest priority should be service. If you’re going to spend most of your time and energy focusing on service, I suggest you take your ass to Panda Express.
The people who own/​run the restaurant are two hardworking individuals who happen to make some incredibly awesome chicken. Yes, it is indeed much much MUCH better than anything Savoy has ever come out with. The chicken here is full of flavor, soft, moist, best Hainan chicken I have ever had in my entire life. Actual people from the Hainan province would definitely be proud.
If you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend that you come here and give it a try, you will not regret it at all. I always come here when I’m sick (chicken soup) or when I’m craving some insanely good chicken. Real cheap for the quality of food you’re getting back, it’s a great deal.

What makes a good hainan chicken? This is a question I have been asking myself after tasting this restaurant’s version of it for the first time.
I have read how my half Japanese cousin’s hubby rave about this place on Facebook while I was vacationing in Hong Kong over Christmas/​New Years and decided to give this place a try.
Named 海南雞飯王(Hainan chicken rice KING), they are not kidding. They might just be serving the BEST hainan chicken in Los Angeles if not the whole United States!
For the uninitiated, hainan chicken rice is dish invented by Chinese immigrants to other south East Asian countries and is now considered one of Singapore’s national dish. The traditional preparation is a chicken cooked in sub-​boiling stock, then chopped and served with chicken broth with rice cooked in chicken fat that has been cooked out if the chicken.
The version served at Hainan chicken restaurant comes in the boneless (also skinless) variety as well as the better tasting bone in original version. You will see that the chicken is smaller and more tender because they use free range chickens instead of the tasteless hormone «enhanced» frozen chickens that American food industry prefers. They have a tendency to run out if chickens if you arrive too late in the day, supposedly they only use free range chickens that are slaughtered each day and NEVER frozen.
They serve a generous portion of the chicken fat rice here unlike the half bowl bullshit served at most Hong Kong style cafés. The ginger sauce and chile sauce used here is addictive! The cabbage here is cooked in the chicken broth and tastes juicy, hot, and sweet! Everything is served piling hot and the rice stayed hot even when I got home after spending over 20 mins on the road!
If I have one complaint about this place, it is their unfortunate decision to use seaweed in their broth… An abominable practice started by Taiwanese influenced Chinese restaurants that has unfortunately infected most cheaper Chinese noodles places. Even Hong Kong has not been immune from this execrable habit. Thank heavens the use of the stinky bamboo shoots is still not as prevalent globally.
清倉令郎聽湯

I was going wait til the new year to review this place buuuuut I feel like more people need to know about this place. Hole in the way, YES; mom and pop, literately; delicious food at super reasonable prices, YOU BET’CHA!
In Chinese, this place is literately called the Hainan Chicken Rice King. If you didn’t know, Hainan is a province in China, but Hainan chicken is more well known in Singapore, as it is their national dish. You can find other variations throughout South East Asian, such as Malaysia or Thailand. That mean’s there are many styles of this dish. This place is comparable to the Hainan chicken at Savoy. Which is to be known as the Singaporean style.
From the outside looking in, it’s just boiled chicken and rice. But The moist chicken makes a great canvas for the sauce. The oil intensifies the aroma of the ginger while making a lovely sauce. You get the succulent texture of the chicken and fragrance of the ginger in each bite. It’s simple ingredients doing magical things.
That was just the chicken. the order includes soup, some bok choi, and ginger/​chicken broth flavored rice. I’m not really sure why their rice is brown. It tastes great. SO MUCH UMAMI FLAVORZ! I wish carbs were not so bad for you, I would go nuts on the rice. Best part of all, it’s all under $ 8(for all that).
This restaurant also serve other Chinese stir fried favorites. I ordered the shrimp and eggs. It came out super fluffy and well seasoned. Shrimps were not over cooked and no funny tastes. I wish they had threw on some spring onions to make the dish look nicer. Plus the onions would balance out the richness of the proteins. But… that’s just me.
Final thoughts about this place. Although it may not look like much. Super stereotypical looking Chinese restaurant. They do serve up some reasonably priced and delicious food. The portions are big. They are very friendly and I really wish they stick around for the long haul.
Side notes, they do to go orders, you can ask for boneless, and they don’t have a to go menu. So just look at the pictures on Unilocal.But why would you need a menu anyway, just get the Hainan Chicken rice!

Thanks Unilocal for another hole-​in-​the-​wall find! Again, you did not fail me and I had a delicious homey meal for an easy price!
FIRST AND FOREMOST, HAINAN CHICKEN, it’s in their name, just try it, you’re welcome.
Parking: small-​ish lot, we ate at 8pm so no problem finding a spot.
Service: the only one waitress that night was super friendly and attentive. Her English is a little broken but it’s all good in the hood.
Food:
+it was simple and delicious!!! The chicken is moist and boneless,
+the price: $ 7.75 for the regular chicken meal and $ 8.25 for dark meat (I liked my meat dark
+yummy dipping sauces, unlimited
–the side soup was cold
–very little veggies, a girl needs her fiber ;)
— décor, or shall I say the lack of it? Oh well, the food was great and cheap, no one has time to look around.
I’ll be back for sure! I lovvvve Hainan chicken and this place seems to be the best in the Rowland area :)))

Ty fellow Unilocalers! I can’t wait to go back.
Outside looks plain just like the inside, it’s decent size with plenty of chairs and tables. It was very plain inside with barely any decorations. Each table has the three sauces for the specialty hainam chicken, it is so good. They aren’t stingy with the sauces.
We ordered hainam chicken (dark meat) with rice. It was so delicious and tender. It was plain but just right. The whole thing was so balanced. Bonus was the soup. It wasn’t anything fancy but it complemented the dish just right. Extra bonus, the water was good also. I’m weird, I’m very picky about my water. Lol the dish is better enjoyed right away.
Service was very friendly. It wasn’t too crowded but they seem really nice. It’s definitely a mom and pop place kind of feel. Which made us live this place even more. we love supporting local businesses.

The chicken rice is so tasteful almost same as in singapore. Only the chilli sauce and the ginger sauce is differnt.
They provide good quality of service. Inside is very simple. They have a very clean space.
They only have one stuff so you probably need to wait but she is very nice.
One order is about almost $ 8 quite expensive but its a large size.

Hainam chicken, boneless plz ty.
Comes with a basic soup with cabbage, salt, and green onions
Main dish is boneless chicken, oil rice, and boy choy
I love sauces. I love the ginger sauce that accompanies hainam chicken. It might even be the reason why I order the dish in the first place. I thought it couldn’t get any better, but by golly. Garlic and cilantro with the ginger? Why didn’t I think of that.
I really like that they offer boneless. Maybe to avoid any potential accidents and lawsuits. Lol. They also have signs on the walls warning patrons of bones.
Oh yeah, $ 7.25 for the food before tax
P. S. it’s not like Savoy

GO FOR BONELESS!
I made the mistake of not ordering Hainan Chicken boneless the first time and was given a pile of bones with very little meat. Since then, I’ve tried it with boneless dark meat and boneless white meat have been satisfied both times. The dish may be very simple, but it does it’s job. Generous amount of meat with chicken broth rice will fill you up. Like others have said, it would be nice if they gave you a sauce dish with 3 compartments instead of 2 because there are 3 sauces here.
The restaurant feels super… Chinese. Like authentic. The place is just void of anything other than tables and chairs. I get the sense that all they care about is the food. I can actually appreciate that. A-​OK for Hainan Chicken Restaurant!

My friend and I walked up
We ventured in and got a seat
We were hungry and were ready to eat
First got free soup in cup
Refreshing flavor’s what I found
Their cooking is real great and sound
It’s great and sound
Next came the chicken dish
Tender, moist, and piled high
With two of three sauces I did try
Ginger sauce was delish’
One of the best sauces in all around
Their cooking is real great and sound
It’s great and sound
It came with flavored rice
It had a subtle oily brothy taste
I ate all of it, left none to waste
To make a balance nice
Boiled veggies tasted fresh from the ground
Their cooking is real great and sound
It’s great and sound
Décor is not their best point
It’s plain and drab and that’s just fine
The food is good, so again here I will dine
This is a true mom-​and-​pop joint
While we ate their daughter was around
Hainan Chicken Restaurant’s great and sound
It’s great and sound

A few weeks ago, a buddy of mine took me here because I had never had Hainan chicken before. He’s from Indonesia but has also spent time in Singapore, and he said that this place was the closest that he could get to eating Hainan chicken back home. Well, the exterior and the interior of the restaurant aren’t much to look at, and the place was nearly empty when we walked in. Either way, my expectations weren’t very high during my first visit. All signs were pointing towards this being another run-​of-​the-​mill Asian restaurant, but I am so glad that I was wrong :)
Anyways, we order the Hainan chicken of course, one dark meat and one white meat. The food took about 5 or 6 minutes to come out, so +1 for the speed of service here. For those who haven’t seen or eaten Hainan chicken before, it literally looks like plain boiled chicken, rice, and boiled cabbage on a plate. It smelled good, but the lack of color on my plate was a little disconcerting. Either way, I was pretty hungry and ready to dig in, but my friend stopped me and told me to follow his lead.
The thing that differentiates this restaurant from Savoy and any other Hainan chicken place is the carousel of sauces that they give to you. There are 3 sauces, all of which are pretty damn good in their own right. They’ve got a ginger sauce, a hot sauce, and some kind of soy-​based (I think soy based…) type of sauce. But if you’re ready to experience a different level of flavor, go ahead and combine all 3 and mix them up. I like to mix the sauces pretty evenly, but I’m sure you can make that decision yourself.
The next 10 minutes was one of the best culinary experiences of my life, and even though I was full, I was contemplating taking another to go just because I live so far. Needless to say, I was back at this place within the week, and it was just as good as the first time. The rice is flavorful, the chicken is juicy, and the sauces are just amazing.
Just to make sure that I wasn’t blindly enjoying this Hainan chicken without trying others, I went to Savoy because Savoy seems to be the go-​to place for this dish. Savoy wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t this good. Savoy is also really small, but it does have a better ambience if that’s what you’re looking for.
All in all, this is definitely somewhere that’s worth a trip all the way from Long Beach. I’ll be back again soon, and if you haven’t tried this place yet, go ahead and make the trip soon. You won’t regret it.

I’m so glad that Hainan Chicken Restaurant has opened up close to home.
I’ve only had to-​go from this location so far and each time it’s been a great experience. The portions here are so huge I can make two meals out of it. I prefer to get the boneless Hainan Chicken ($ 1.00 extra if you like dark meat). The portion comes with a lot of the special rice and veggies (bok choy or napa cabbage) and a small bowl of soup (either chicken broth or a seaweed soup). Make sure to ask for extra sauce!
The chicken is very moist and tender. Not dry at all. Paired with a bit of the garlic sauce and hot sauce, and rice and I’m in a Hainan Chicken lover’s paradise. The rice is also very flavorful and aromatic. The veggies and soup are also a nice way to mix up your meal and fill you up.
The service here is very friendly. If you’re ordering to go you’re usually out in less than 10 minutes. There’s also a lot of seating if you want to dine in. Also note they are closed on Tuesdays!

This is a mom and pop that feels like they just opened yesterday with no ambiance to speak of. The Hainan chicken is offered with bone or boneless and are tender and flavorful but not very meaty. They offer 3 dipping sauces to accompany the chicken. The rice is also flavorful and aromatic. They also have other soups, noodles and other dishes as well. I tried the brisket rice noodle. I thought the brisket wasn’t tender enough and the soup a little bland.
The service is super friendly. I think they need to get a little established and improve the ambiance and they should be fine.