Lam Bee Chicken Rice – Tasty Chicken Rice In An Old Coffeeshop

Lam Bee Restaurant is an old coffeeshop along Circuit Road. We were recommended by some of our friends to try their chicken rice.

Almost every table in the coffeeshop has these blue and orange plates and white saucers. Seats are limited, but that does not stop patrons from sharing tables.

Wanting to try everything, I ordered a serving of roasted pork, char siew, roasted chicken and steamed chicken to go with my fragrant rice (all for $6). I also love Cantonese-style soups so I got myself a bowl of Chicken Feet with Black Bean soup ($3) to complete the meal. I even brought my colleagues back for lunch soon after (which explains the big plate of chicken rice below).

The eatery offers both roast and steamed chicken – both styles are tender and supple. But the highlight for us was the steamed one. Lam Bee uses 2.2kg chickens which gives a smooth, succulent skin and the meat has a nice bite. There is no need to drizzle the meat with much dressing. It was already enjoyable on its own.

What seals the deal is the kicky chilli sauce, which is properly citrusy and spicy (at least for me). It sent a sharp spicy kick at the start but the spiciness didn’t linger. The fragrant rice is not too oily and carried a slight ginger fragrance. It goes perfectly with the spicy chilli sauce.

The pieces of roasted pork were uneven in thickness but that did not bother me as they were surprisingly crispy even after lying on the sauce for a while. Having some rice with it balanced the saltiness out.

The char siew was not the most tender, but its edges are slightly charred and fragrant. I’ve eaten the char siew on multiple occasions. Sometimes it was sweet, but other times it was too salty. I hope Lam Bee can be more consistent with their char siew.

Now, the chicken feet with black beans soup looked greasy at first, as it had a layer of oil on the surface. However, I remember that whenever my mum adds chicken feet into her soup, the natural oil of the chicken feet always settles into the soup shortly after. In my mum’s words, she calls that the “essence” of the chicken feet and that’s where the flavour of the soup comes from. You bet this Cantonese-style soup was full of flavour!

To be honest, $6 for 4 different types of meat is a steal! Also, both of the owners were amiable and humble so chatting with them was a delightful experience. I will be back for the chicken rice and soup for sure!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.