Looking for lunch, passing by Heng Long BBQ Chicken Rice at Mei Ling Market & Food Centre, I couldn't resist the parade of golden brown birds in the window.
I counted at least four chicken rice stalls at Mei Ling food centre, and only Heng Long comes with Michelin recommendation.
I normally eat poached chicken but since this is Heng Long BBQ chicken, I opted for fried chicken.
Note: There are a few quirks in how Singaporeans name their chicken dish.
1. Roast or BBQ chicken are almost always deep fried in hot oil. Actual roast chicken is very, very rare at Singapore hawker centre stalls.
2. Steamed chicken are almost always poached. I actually have never come across a Singapore hawker stall that steam cook their chicken. But, they are usually referred to as "steamed chicken" though they are poached 🤷
Okay.... back to Heng Long BBQ Chicken.
I ordered a lower quarter cut which costed me SGD$13 (with rice included).
Plenty of protein for one 🤭 (I have a daily target of at least 120 grams of protein to prevent age-related muscle loss or sarcopenia.)
The bird chopped into large chunks with bones intact was set on a heap of cucumber slices and liberally doused with a savoury sweet aromatic, blended soy sauce and oil dressing.
The skin, tissue thin, well browned and delicately crisp. It tasted slightly savoury toasty from seasoning and deep frying.
The bird was cooked through. The meat was tender, moist but didn't have much flavour.
It didn't have the jelly layer and the natural sweet chicky taste of chicken (which I can often get from good poached chicken).
I gathered that fans of deep fried chicken actually prefer their chicken without the fat and the chicky taste.
The chicken came with a huge dollop of ginger and scallion relish. Flavoursome and aromatic with mild ginger heat. Chicken rice stalls rarely provide this relish, so kudos to Heng Long.
The rice was a tad soft and a little too moist.
Well enveloped with stock but not overly greasy. Slight savoury taste and aromatic smell.
Chili sauce was watery, spicy hot and sour.
Savoury clear soup with pronounced Sichuan style preserved vegetable (zha choi 榨菜) taste.
Not quite for me as I like my chicken to have some jelly fat, and some natural chicky taste. But, I can understand why this appeals to a lot of folks who don't like fat and are put off by chicky "gamey" taste. The rice was mildly flavoured and not greasey too.
This chicken with its savoury sweet dressing was still tasty enough for me to finish the quarter bird on my own. I appreciated the ginger and scallion relish too.
Stall name: Heng Long BBQ Chicken Rice 兴隆烧腊咯咯鸡饭
Address: 159 Mei Chin Rd, stall #02-42, Singapore 140159 (Mei Ling Market & Food Centre)
Nearest MRT: 10 minute walk from Queenstown station
Tel: 96464336
Hours: 11:30am - 7:30pm
Written by Tony Boey on 14 Sep 2026
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