Chin Chin Eating House – Decent Hainanese Fare in Purvis Street

With the closure of Golden Mile Thien Kee Steamboat and quality at Yet Con getting worse, there seem to be getting more difficult to have a good Hainanese meal.

When my friends from Hong Kong are here for a visit, they wanted to satisfy their craving for chicken rice so I brought them to Chin Chin Eating House at Purvis Street. Established since 1934, dishes offered here are very hainanese, including steamed chicken rice with chilli sauce and ginger dip, pork chop, chap chye, mutton soup and more.

The chicken rice at Chin Chin is drizzled with light fragrant soy sauce and sesame oil, enhancing the flavours of the tender and juicy chicken. Cooked just right, it has retained the moisture every bite. The rice looked less oily but still fragrant and tasty with aroma from the ginger and garlic. While there is nothing much to shout about for the ginger dip, the cilli sauce does have a little tanginess which I love.

I like to pair my chicken rice with Hainanese Pork Chop ($6). But I thought the lean pork cutlet that I had that day was a little on the dry side and the tomato sauce here doesn’t work for me. If my memory doesn’t fail me, Yet Con has better Hainanese Pork Chops. Nevertheless, it does bring some nostalgia while having it.

We also ordered Hainanese Mix Vegetable ($9) or chap chye, with well-stewed cabbage, black fungus and vermicelli in savoury bean sauce. Only available on weekends, the mutton soup has got herbal and meatier flavours. The aromatic soup has got mutton, dried dates and some wolfberries. Recommended if you are okay with mutton soup! There are also other favourites such as cereal prawns, sambal kangkong, prawn paste chicken etc.

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