Sights on the way to Hoe Kee: Peddler in his element.
Hoe Kee is located right at the tip of Jonker Street and is well-known to locals and tourists alike. Hoe Kee is famed for its ball-shaped Hainanese chicken rice, smooth steeped chicken and Assam fish. This trip round we didn't go for the fish as it would have been slightly too heavy on the stomach.
There was already a queue forming outside the restaurant as we passed the restaurant in our car. As it turned out, our strategy of putting down 2 passengers to line up paid dividends, as after parking our car, a huge U-line had formed outside the restaurant. Orders were taken while waiting in line to shorten serving time.
The cooking station
"Warning" for customers expecting nothing but balls
The restaurant is beautifully preserved showing traces of its heritage from the old days with wooden chairs, marble tables, large plaques with chinese characters and floating lanterns above our heads.
The courtyard
Our food arrived in about 5 minutes, which was fantastic news for our tummies. The chicken was silky smooth albeit being slightly fatty. The plate of chicken also included some chicken liver (which we never asked for) which none of us at the table ate. I'll make it a point to specify our preferences on our order for any future trips. The chicken rice was good, fragrant from the inclusion of chicken stock in the rice. They are shaped in golf-sized balls, originally done to keep the rice warm for longer.
Silky smooth chicken
Rice balls. We ordered 30 to share, each ball costing RM0.30.
Vegetables to balance out the meal.
All in all it was a pleasant meal, this being one of Melaka's most famous food establishments. Next stop: desserts!
Opening hours: Open for lunch.
Service: Prompt and efficient.
Price: RM43.30 for a 5 person portion plus drinks. Reasonable.
Location: Nasi Ayam Hoe Kee, 4, 6, 8 Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka.
Tel: 06-2834751 or 012-6238431
GPS Coordinates: 2.197306, 102.246006
*This is a guest post by The Unc.
i really wish that one day i'll reach there..
ReplyDeletemy favourite type of chicken... yums :P
ReplyDeletei need to have my dose of fat yellow skin chicken rice..oh gosh..cant wait!
ReplyDeletei lurrrrrrrrve chicken liver! it's my absolute favorite part of the chicken. i remember snapping it up whenever my grandmother used to steam a whole chicken :D
ReplyDeletePauline: Make some time to drive to Melaka. It's worth it!
ReplyDeleteFujiko: It's my favourite type too! :)
ReplyDeleteJoe: Chicken rice is simple but definitely one of the things we miss most when overseas...
ReplyDeleteSean: Looks like I will have to bring you along next time to finish off the liver! Never acquired the taste for chicken liver, though kidney is fine for me.
ReplyDeleteI love chicken heart, chicken liver, chicken testicles! But giblets, giblets are the SHIZNIT!
ReplyDeleteMichelle: I thought giblets WERE the heart, gizzard, liver etc. No ?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen savoury rice balls before - Is this unique to Melaka or even this establishment?
ReplyDeleteMichelle: LOL, seems like you really do love your giblets!
ReplyDeleteCnDDaddy: I've seen Hainanese chicken rice balls in other parts of Malaysia before, but this place must rank as one of the most famous establishments making them.
ReplyDeleteHoe Kee may just be in my agenda for my next melaka visit :)
ReplyDeleteAugustDiners: Looking forward to your write-up then! :)
ReplyDeletea place which I never miss ^_^
ReplyDeletemelissa: any other places in melaka that you think are unmissable?
ReplyDeleteErmm...I think it would be the satay celup!
ReplyDeleteI saw some good reviews on ikan bakar @ "Medan Ikan Bakar Muara Sungai Duyong". Hope to try it out in future.
assam fish is good.
ReplyDelete