A Famosa

A Famosa was a fort built by the Portuguese when they defeated the Sultanate of Melaka in 1511. When the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of Melaka in 1641, the fort changed hands. It changed hands again when the Dutch handed Melaka over to the British in the 18^th century. Thanks to Sir Stamford Raffles, the fort was spared from total demolition when the British was trying to tear down the fort to get away from fortification. That's why we are still able to see the only remaining gate today.

The Chicken and the Balls

When it comes to chicken rice in Melaka, most people are recommending the two places at Jonker Street, i.e., Kedai Kopi Chung Wah and Hoe Kee Chicken Rice. However, the Melaka Top 3 begged to differ. It was a difficult decision to make for us as we were going to have only one chicken rice meal, so we decided to go for the No. 1 listed in the Melaka Top 3 website, i.e., Huang Chang Chicken Rice Restaurant.

This place is a bit outskirt of the city, humbly hidden inside a housing estate. Nevertheless, it was not difficult to find with GPS.

The first thing you see inside the shop is the big signboard with the standard operating procedure. You order the food and drinks at the counter and a receipt will be issued. You place the receipt on the table and your order will be served.

The serving stations were full with workers manning the rice balls and chopping the chicken. They were working non-stop as the crowd was building up when we visited this place. There were many packets prepared for take-away too.

The food and drinks were served quite promptly after making payment. The standard operating procedure really helps in the efficiency. The poached chicken was very juicy, succulent, tender and flavourful. The chilli, garlic and ginger dip was top notch too. Adding a bit of soy sauce to the dip is highly recommended.

The chicken rice balls were quite sticky and moist. They were full of the chicken flavour and you can tell that they authentically cooked with chicken stock.

If you want a taste of the Melaka chicken rice, I highly recommend this place. However, the queue can be as long as the two famous shops at Jonker Street.