Rooster & Rice

This Asian chicken & rice thing is a fairly simple concept.  Poach some chicken in seasoned fragrant water.  Use that broth in addition to the rendered chicken fat to make some flavored oil rice.  Ensure there are the requisite dipping sauces and don't waste that chicken broth as it can be served as a soup on the side.  There are distinct, yet similar, versions all across Asia including Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian, Vietnamese and of course Chinese (Hainanese Chicken).  Now I'm not here to dispute where it originated, rather, I blogging about my latest food adventure at Rooster & Rice.  This chain has locations across several states in the West and serves up the Thai version (Khao Man Gai).  I recently checked out the Bellevue location.

Their menu is pretty simple with only 3 items on the menu.  We started with The Original, that featured boneless breast and thigh meat with skin.  I found the chicken breast to be sufficiently moist, but it wasn't juicy though.  On the other hand, the thigh meat was plenty tender and juicy.  Chicken was fragrant, but really, it had to be dipped into the KMG sauce.  This combination of soy, vinegar, sugar, garlic and ginger was reminiscent of the one found at Nong's Khao Man Gai, except being a bit more vinegary.  

With the same deboned breast and thigh atop chicken oil rice, The Bellevue, featured the classic ginger & scallion condiment.  This would be more like the Chinese version of the dish.  We really enjoyed the condiment as it was predominantly ginger with just a bit of scallion for effect.  It was seasoned nicely and brought the chicken alive with brightness and a bit of sharpness.  The chicken rice was quite good being flavorful, nutty and plenty al dente.  There was some crunchy cucumbers on the side as well as chicken broth.

Last item was the Hat Yai Chicken with crispy shallots on top.  We found the skin plenty crispy and flavorful while completely rendered.  I wouldn't say the chicken was moist inside as the deep-fry was pretty aggressive.  It was delicious though especially dipped into the sweet chili sauce.  We sampled their alternative sauces too including Habanero, Thai Sriracha and Pineapple Habanero sauces.  They were all spicy, with the habanero being the hottest.  There was background sweetness but the one with the pineapple had the most.  Definitely a great alternative or addition to the standard sauces.  Overall, the food at Rooster & Rice is good and the sauces are killer.  I do think that the chicken breast and the Hat Yai chicken could benefit from a bit more moisture though.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post)

The Good:

- Well-portioned

- Okay pricing

- Delicious sauces

The Bad:

- White meat could be juicier

Baba Chicken Dhaba

With "Home of the Best Butter Chicken" prominently plastered at the entrance of Baba Chicken, it elicits memories of Buddy the Elf congratulating a coffee shop for having the "World's best coffee".  Jokes aside, I really do like a good butter chicken and I was truly intrigued by that proclamation.  Formally Showsaa Modern Taproom, Baba Chicken now focuses on accessible food in a more casual atmosphere.  Jackie and I were invited to see what changes have been made and yes, the butter chicken.

I have to say their revamp of the interior makes the place a lot brighter and less formal.  There is this sports bar vibe that is also reflected in its menu.  Hence, we started with some share plates starting with the Kurkuri Gobi.  These fried cauliflower florets were crispy (thanks to the rice flour) and cooked through.  Yet, they still had some firmness so that there was no mushiness.  Best of all, the spices really came through with a bit of heat.  There was some balancing sweetness too.  

One of my favourite items here is their Paneer Til Tinka.  Essentially, we find paneer sticks coated with batter and 2 types of sesame seeds.  They are deep fried and served with a sweet and spicy dip.  These "fries" were crunchy and nutty on the outside with squishy and tender strips of fresh cheese.  Texturally, they were already on point, but we got some earthiness from the spices and the dip just brought things together with sweet heat.

You maybe wondering why we ordered Fish n Chips at an Indian restaurant...  Well, this wouldn't be the first time and really, I've yet to have a bad version.  In fact, most, if not all of the fish n chips I've had at Indian restaurants are on par or better than dedicated fish n chip restaurants.  This was no exception as the fish was super flaky and moist with a uniformly crispy batter on the outside.  Fries on the side were the typical starch-covered variety, but they were crispy.

We were surprised to be so excited about a typical-looking order of Tandoori Chicken.  Well, because it ate and tasted a lot better than it first appeared.  No fancy sizzling platter here, yet, the chicken was so impactfully smoky and well-seasoned.  More importantly, the chicken was really tender and moist.  That was true even for the breast meat.  They did this by par-cooking the chicken first and letting it rest, then finishing off on the grill before serving.  This kept the chicken from drying out.  Delicious. 

Okay, here we get to the regular-sized Baba Butter Chicken.  This was super rich and creamy that was not tomato-forward.  With that being said, there was a hint of tang at the finish.  Spices were prominent with pronounced earthiness.  Not much in the way of spiciness, yet it wasn't lacking flavour.  The big pieces of tandoori chicken nestled within were smoky and sweet while being juicy.  I have to say if you like your butter chicken this way, it is one of the better ones I've had.

Contrasting the Baba Butter Chicken, the Delhi Wala Butter Chicken was more tomato-forward with initial tanginess giving way to much more spiciness.  The tang was nicely balanced by the sweetness from the onion.  It was more velvety than creamy, being less rich where the spices were also not as prominent due to the stronger tomato notes.  The pieces of charred chicken were smoky, moist and tender.

To us, the Daryanganj Butter Chicken looked to be a hybrid between the Baba Butter Chicken and the Delhi Wala Butter Chicken.  It was definitely more tomatoey than the Baba chicken, but creamier than the Delhi chicken.  It was just as or more spicy than the Delhi chicken as well.  There was a pronounced tanginess that was balanced by the cream, yet the spices really came through.  This would be the most common butter chicken you would find at most Indian restaurants. 

We had a few more curries as well including the Paneer Angaara.  Wow, this one really packed a punch.  This was probably the spiciest curry that we had and it was a good kind of spicy.  Despite having a kick, it did not detract from the other components.  Hence, we could still pick out fall spices and of course, earthiness.  There was a hint of smokiness as well as tomato tang and sweetness.  Loved the texture of the paneer as it was at its squishy best.

Going a bit off the board, we went for something different in terms of flavour and protein in the Methi Prawn.  This was still rich and creamy with earthy and slightly bitter notes, thanks to the fenugreek.  Furthermore, we definitely got aromatics from the base of onions, ginger and garlic.  That offered sweetness, slight sharpness and nuttiness.  As for the prawns, they were both plentiful and texturally on point.  They had a nice rebound and natural sweetness.

As always, we complimented our orders of basmati rice with something more flavourful and could stand on its own - Chicken Biryani.  As you can see, the rice fully took on the marinade from chicken.  Hence, it was spicy, earthy, gingery and garlicky.  Texturally, the rice was moist yet still had a nice chew to it.  The ample pieces of chicken were tender and due to the marinade, the flavours had penetrated the meat.

To further compliment our curries, we went for a selection of breads.  We had the Garlic Naan which was fluffy with a crispy charred bottom and edges.  Nice chew on the inside too.  On top, there was a wealth of butter and garlic, which made it delicious to eat on its own.  We also had the Hari-Mirch Bullet Parantha which was topped with a considerable amount of chilis.  It was definitely spicy, but balanced, so it didn't blow our taste buds away.  Loved the texture of the bread as it was crispy and chewy.  Lastly, we tried the Stuffed Naan in onion and also chicken.  These were also fluffy with elasticity.  Edges and bottom were crispy and charred.  Both came with Baba Buttery Gravy and butter.  Suffice to say, they were delicious.

Instead of ordering a dessert, we went for the Mango Ice Cream Lassi instead.  So really, it was a creamy and refreshing mango lassi with a scoop of mango ice cream.  The lassi itself was creamy, yet light at the same time.  It wasn't overly sweet either.  However, the ice cream took care of that.  Considering all the heavy dishes we had, this was rather refreshing.  Overall, the food at Baba Chicken is solid and yes, the butter chicken (all 3 versions) was delicious.  Definitely a good choice if you were in the mood for the dish.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- All 3 versions of Butter Chicken
- Place is a lot brighter and casual now
- Other dishes were solid too

The Bad:
- Food can take some time

 

Ā Mā Chicken Rice

Ah yes, Hainanese Chicken aka Chicken Rice is a dish that is popular in most parts of Asia.  It originated, as the name implies, in the Hainan Province of China.  Through travel, it has spread across SE Asia and has morphed into different versions.  Yet, the basic premise is the same, poached chicken served with chicken oil rice and all the condiments (which are similar or different depending on the location).  It seems like a simple dish, but as you know, those are the type of things that you can easily mess up.  Our latest food adventures has brought us to Ā Mā Chicken Rice in Redmond.  This is a Cambodian restaurant and hence this is the version of chicken rice that we got to try (among other things).

So let's get right to it with the Chicken Rice accompanied by the aforementioned chicken oil rice, sweet chili sauce and what I like to call "crack sauce" made of fermented soybean, sugar and ginger.  Very reminiscent of Nong's Khao Man Gai in Portland (albeit the Thai version).  At the table, there was also the classic ginger & scallion condiment as well as chili crunch.  I found the chicken oil rice to be super delicious with enough seasoning and aromatics for impact.   The rice itself was not mushy while not being hard either.  The dark meat chicken was buttery and succulent while flavourful on its own.  Best thing to dip the chicken into was the crack sauce as it was a bit of everything with some spice.  However, the ginger & scallion condiment was a classic match too, especially since it was mostly ginger.

For those who wanted something a bit different, yet still technically qualify as chicken rice is the Crispy Chicken Rice.  So the rice for this was exactly like the previous dish, therefore it was an excellent base to start with.  On top, there was a considerable amount of deep-fried chicken breast.  As much as it was white meat, it was still tender and almost juicy.  On the outside, it was plenty crispy with a fairly thick coating.  To compliment the fried chicken, I thought the fermented soybean sauce to be the best match.  It really brought the chicken to life with sweet and savoury elements.

Another dish we had which was on point was the Phnom Penh Noodles.  If you have ever been to Phnom Penh in Vancouver, you will be very familiar with this dish.  It comes in both dry and soup form, where we tried both.  I personally love the Dry Phnom Penh Noodles myself as the flavors are more concentrated.  Consisting of rice noodles mixed with a sweetened soy sauce, the bowl was full of liver, ground pork, shrimp, green onions and fried shallots.

The soup version of the Phnom Penh Noodles sports the basically the same ingredients except instead of the soy mix, everything sat in a hot broth.  I felt the broth was clean, sweet, a bit meaty and slightly briny.  Noodles were still al dente despite sitting in the hot broth.  It soaked up some of the flavors and tasted good on its own.  However, I enjoyed using the chili crunch to amp things up a bit.

Other than the chicken rice, the other best dish of the meal was the Ā Mā Dried Noodles.  These had thinner and firmer egg noodles that were topped with ground pork and dried shrimp, dried mushrooms and a piece of that fried chicken.  This was so savory and full of umami.  Noodles had a nice elasticity and chew to them.  Overall, the food at Ā Mā Chicken Rice is delicious and well-prepared.  Portions are good and the prices are reasonable.  Great for a casual meal any day of the week.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Delicious

- Reasonable pricing

- Ample portions

The Bad:

- Super busy and a wait for a table is normal

- Tight seating

Nong's Khao Man Gai

Wait, didn't I just post about Nong's Khao Man Gai earlier this year?  Yep, that is true, we paid Portland a visit in March and made our way to the SE Ankeny location.  Food was great, served in large portions and was reasonably-priced.  A good recipe for success and in fact, they have been very successful with their food truck in the past.  I've enjoyed their chicken rice with "crack" sauce since this blog began.  So I was not about to pass up another opportunity to dine there again.

Although I will talk about some other dishes in this post, I can't help but start with their namesake in the Khao Man Gai Piset.  This was the larger version of their signature dish with more chicken, rice and sauce.  Although the chicken itself is tender and moist, the ginger garlic sauce is what makes this dish.  So addictive, the combination of sweetness, tanginess and aromatics could make shoe leather taste good.  The chicken rice was nutty and al dente which was perfect for the chicken and sauce.  Loved they included the chicken livers too.

Sure, the chicken rice here at Nong's is really good with all of the components being on point.  However, I'm going to say something controversial - the Super Soup is my favorite thing here.  It is essentially the chicken soup that comes with the chicken rice, but served in a large bowl with the chicken and rice in it.  It becomes a super hearty and comforting dish with sweet soup, tender melon, chewy rice and tender chicken.  I could eat multiple bowls of this!

If you aren't into the chicken, they do have an alternative in the Khao Kha Muu or Thai Pork with rice, pickled mustard greens, gai lan and boiled egg.  Really enjoyed this dish as the fatty pork did not require much in the way of chewing.  Even the fat was easy going down.  It benefitted from the sweet and savory soy braise as well as the tanginess of the mustard greens.  Combined with some spicy sauce, this was delicious.

One item that is not on the regular menu is the Noodle Bitter Melon with chicken wings, bitter melon, shredded chicken breast, gai lan, bean sprout, shiitake mushroom, daikon radish, rice noodles and goji berries.  To me, this had some duck soup vibes even though there was not duck to be found.  It had depth, sweetness and just a tinge of bitterness from the melon.  Noodles were thin and soaked up all of the delicious broth.  There was no shortage of meat with tender wings and shredded chicken.  A comforting bowl of noodles for a cold day.

For those who want something different than the classic chicken rice, there is also the Chicken, Rice & Peanut Sauce with a side of boiled broccoli.  This came with plain white rice rather than the chicken rice.  Good thing because the peanut sauce was pretty dominant with its nutty sweetness.  There was some salt to balance and further enhance the peanut flavor.  Reminds me of the Chinese hand-shredded chicken with peanut sauce but with much more sauce!  Every time I have this dish at Nong's I find it heavy and hence, I can eat only half of it.

To go with our food, we also ordered 2 drinks in the Ginger Lemonade and Thai Tea Float.  Refreshing, tangy and plenty gingery, the ginger lemonade really helped keep our appetites going despite being full.  As for the float, it was addictively sweet and creamy.  Great option for those who like Thai iced tea but want some creamy soft-serve with it.  Overall, this was another great visit to Nong's.  The food isn't complex here but it doesn't have to be.  It is comforting, served in large portions and affordable.  Perfect trifecta!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Homey and delicious food

- Large portions

The Bad:

- Seating is tight here and limited (although there is overflow next door)

- Simple menu, but you know what you're here for...

Barcelo's Flame Grilled Chicken (Guildford)

I've always loved Barcelo's Flame Grilled Chicken.  Even more so than Nando's, however, I do like them both.  I just think Barcelo's is better.  Did you know that Barcelo's was actually first to the scene in South Africa?  Nando's actually showed up much later despite most people thinking it was the original.  Anyways enough with the history lesson...  Jackie and I were invited to try out their Guildford location within the T&T complex on 152nd at 101st.  Upon entering the store, it struck us that the dining space was large and well-appointed.  No wonder they have a sign outside advertising that they can accommodate 50 people for a private party!

Well, there was only 2 of us and we arrived in the time between lunch & dinner, so we had plenty of space!  We started with some appies including the Cauliflower Bites and the Corn Ribs.  Solid dishes with the bites being still firm with a thin and crispy batter.  Corn ribs were almost like street corn, but instead, these were lightly battered and fried.  They were drizzled with spicy mayo and topped with cheese.  There was this spicy and sweet thing going on here.

Of course, the thing to get here is the chicken, so we had the Peri Plate #2 that consisted of 1/4 chicken, 1 skewer and 2 wings.  These were all nicely charred with plenty of smoky nuttiness to go around.  We asked for mild, so the spice was in the background while the sweetness of the onions came through.  The dark meat chicken was super juicy and tender.  I found the white meat skewer to be moist despite the char.  Wings were solid too with elements of both the leg and white meat.  We got to choose 2 sides and went for the veggies and mashed potatoes.  Those potatoes were really good with the skin providing texture and flavour.

We also had the Half Pack so you can see how one of the family meals look like.  This featured a 1/2 chicken, 4 wings and 2 skewers.  This was essentially double the Peri Plate #2.  With all these pieces of chicken, we could experiment with all of the available sauces such as Lemon Pepper, Mild Peri, Very Peri and Supa Peri.  For me, it was all about the Supa Peri as it had the most impact and flavour.  I have a high spice tolerance, so it wasn't too bad for me.  You still can't go wrong with the other peri sauces as you can taste the slight spice, tanginess and sweetness.

For those who don't just want to eat pieces of chicken, especially on the bone, then there is the Peri Chicken Sandwich.  This was actually quite good with a grilled piece of chicken breast.  It was moist and tender with some mild peri sauce.  Naturally, I dunked it into the Supa Peri!  The veggies were fresh and the brioche bun was nicely toasted.  For our side, we had the Yam Fries which were crispy and not overly greasy.  It came with a spicy mayo.

Now I wouldn't blame you for laughing at me for Peri Sirloin Burger.  This almost seemed out-of-place, but let me assure you, it was actually good!  This featured real ground sirloin (and not some processed patty) that was meaty and lean.  It was seared up nicely with a nice crispy exterior.  Despite being lean, the meat was moist and not dry at all.  It was flavourful and combined with the fresh veggies, it was delicious!  I only wished it was served on the brioche rather than the Portuguese bun.  However, I get it, Portuguese grilled chicken, so need to use Portuguese bun...  The Peri Fries on the side were crispy and nicely spiced.

For dessert, we were served an Oreo Ice Cream Cake as well as a classic Portuguese Tart.  I would say the ice cream cake was pretty typical and did the job.  I did like the Oreo crust!  The tart was very silky and soft where the filling had a hard time staying within the flaky shell.  It was sweet, but was appropriate for the flavours.  Overall, this visit to Barcelo's was exactly like my other experiences (which have been many).  Chicken is prepared right being smoky and not dry.  Loved the peri sauces.  Always satisfying.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Well-charred chicken that is not dry
- Surprisingly good burgers
- Affordable

The Bad:
- Sides are hit and miss

Ginger & Scallion

Onto our next food adventure, Jackie and I made our way to Phinney Ridge where we would find Ginger & Scallion.  If you are familiar with the Asian condiment of grated ginger and scallion, then you would have guessed that this place dishes up chicken rice.  Known as Hainanese Chicken in Chinese cuinse, Ginger & Scallion is actually Thai and serves up Khao Man Gai.  There are a few differences namely the main condiment, which is a bit ironic with the name of the place.  Ginger and scallion is usually associated with the Chinese version while the Thai version has as soybean paste sauce with thick soy sauce, chilli, ginger, garlic and vinegar.  Well, they have all the sauces here, so they cover all of the variations in terms of condiments.

Before we got to the chicken, we had some appies to start including the Cucumber Salad and Spicy Shishitos.  Lightly pickled and then topped with some goji berries, the cucumbers were fresh, crunchy and juicy.  The mild brine ensured there was some impact without being being overpowering.  As for the shishitos, they were beautifully charred and salted.  Hence, there was a noticeable smokiness before we got into the mildest hit of spice (as shishitos are typically not spicy).

Before I talk about the chicken, we got to acknowledge that they offer up all the necessary Sauces to make things tasty.  Amalgamating different sauces for various versions of this dish, we find the usual ginger & scallion (name of this place!) and sweet chili that we associate with the Chinese and Singaporean dishes.  Then we have the sweet and spicy ginger & garlic sauce for Khao Man Gai.  Finally, we have the Kecap Manis from Indonesia.  Yes, they had it all!

To start things off, we had the standard in the deboned Chicken Thigh.  This was a healthy portion of tender dark meat that was mild-tasting.  It wasn't exactly juicy, but it wasn't dry either.  I felt this went best with the ginger & garlic sauce that have Nong's vibes but spicier and less sweet.  Naturally, this also came with chicken oil rice and soup.  I found the rice to be well-seasoned, gingery and definitely tasting like chicken.  It was firm, but not dry.  Soup was sweet and gingery.

Then we had the White Meat, but served cold with a wine sauce.  Since this was not kept warm, such as the previous dish, the meat was more moist.  This was true even though this was chicken breast meat.  Once again, the chicken was mild-tasting, but really benefited from wine.  There was also a bit of gelatin underneath the skin, which was tasty.  I felt that this went well with the ginger & scallion condiment as it allowed the wine to stand out.

Sticking with cold chicken, but this time with the dark meat, we had the Spicy version.  This cold dark meat was truly succulent and had even more chicken gelatin between the skin and meat.  Therefore, the chicken itself was pretty flavorful even without sauces.  This could've been partially attributed that it was dark meat since it has more fat.  With that being said, the spicy soy did taste really good and adding even more spice with the garlic and ginger condiment was the way to go here.

Moving away from chicken for just one dish, we had the Braised Duck.  This duck breast was sliced thin and topped with the braising liquid.  The duck was pretty tender and took on all of the flavor of the braise including a salty-sweetness from the soy and some elements of five spice.  I felt that the only condiment that worked for me was the kecap manis where it reminded me of eating Chinese smoked duck with a similar thick sweetened soy.

My favourite dish was the Coconut Curry Chicken with breast meat (that was hand shredded to order) and then served with chicken rice and a cukes.  To amp things up, a big dollap of chili sauce was added to the plate.  When combined, there was enormous impact with heat, smokiness, spice, sweetness and coconut.  In addition to the already gingery sweet chicken oil rice, this was super addictive and I'm still thinking about it as I'm writing this blog post!

At the end, we were presented with 3 desserts including a Matcha Cake, Thai Tea Tres Leches and Key Lime Pie.  The pick of the bunch had to be the tres leches.  It was soaked beautifully with sweet Thai tea that was also fragrant.  The cake itself was super moist but not mushy.  We really enjoyed that!  The other 2 were good too with proper textures and flavors, but go get the tres leches!  In the end, we were quite impressed with the overall execution of the humble chicken rice.  Loved that they had different variations and all the sauces.  You will find something that suits your fancy and at a reasonable price.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- They have all the condiments!
- Choice of chicken meat, temperature and flavor
- That coconut curry chicken!

The Bad:
- Due to having to keep the warm chicken at temperature, the meat can be a little over (so get the cold version if you want consistency)