Dropped by at Restoran MJ chicken rice shop 茗記正宗海南雞飯 at Taman Perling for lunch today.
Owner Mr. Leo has been in the chicken rice business for nearly 50 years. He started as a kitchen help in 1970 at Singapore's legendary Swee Kee 瑞记 before returning to JB in 1983 to start his own chicken rice stall in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah.
Mr. Leo then set up his own shop tucked away in a quieter corner of Taman Perling at Jalan Persisiran Perling 1. MJ's chicken rice has been part of the community here for over twenty years and is one of its best kept secrets 😄 Regulars streamed in and out constantly at MJ while we had our lunch, some bringing their own tiffin carriers.
Restoran MJ serves both poached and deep fried chicken. Mr. Leo said both are equally popular.
We started with the deep fried chicken. Ordering half a bird.
This set consisting of half a bird, two plates of rice, a bit of innard, soup and a liang teh (home made herbal drink) came to RM19 in total.
The heap of chicken wasn't prettily plated. The dark brown skin was crisp and tasted mainly savoury-salty. The flesh was tender but a tad dry, especially the breast. There wasn't much moisture nor natural chicky flavour. Not quite my cup of tea, but I do acknowledge that many people like their fried chicken this way (without chicky taste).
The greasy rice was made with average quality grains but it has nice chicky aroma and flavour.
I like this chicken soup. It has nice round body and the natural chicken flavour is quite pronounced.
Next, we had this poached kumpung chicken set which costs RM6.
Woo... hoo... this is how I like my chicken 😋
The skin had the yellow colour of diluted saffron tea. Even before we sunk our teeth into it, we can smell the chicky aroma. The flesh and skin were tender and juicy, rich with natural chicky sweetness. There was a layer of congealed jelly between the skin and flesh.
MJ's poached kampung chicken rocks.
👉 Mr. Leo told us that it costs RM20 for half a bird. I can already see myself back with a gang to indulge in a delicious whole kampung chicken. I like the greasy but flavourful rice, and tasty chicken soup at MJ too.
Restuarant name: MJ 茗記正宗海南雞飯
Address: 597, Jalan Persisiran Perling 1, Taman Perling, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor
GPS: 1°28'47.0"N 103°41'00.7"E | 1.479723, 103.683536
Tel: 012 720 5726
Hours: 11:00am to 2:00pm (Monday off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 5 Dec 2017
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Do they have dark soy sauce to add color and flavor to the rice?
ReplyDeleteI didn't see any.
DeleteYes they do
Delete