The Chicken Rice
In Santa Ana and Tustin, a chicken-focused sister to Sen Thai Noodle Bar and Tuk Tuk Thai Street Food
Outside of Southeast Asia, the words “chicken rice” might mean any combination of those two ingredients, but in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, they typically refer specifically to Hainanese chicken rice – a dish combining sliced, poached chicken with a bed of fragrant rice, chicken broth, fresh cucumbers, and several dipping sauces, all shown above next to an atypical addition: fried chicken. In 2019, a Thai restaurant called The Chicken Rice opened in Santa Ana (currently inside the 4th Street Market) to serve both types of chicken, and in June 2019, a second location soft-opened inside Tustin’s new 99 Ranch Market across from Wushiland Boba.
If this narrow focus sounds somewhat familiar, you may have already heard of Chic Now Hainan Chicken Rice in Irvine and Stanton, or seen advertisements for the same chicken dish at Sen Thai Noodle Bar inside Trade Food Hall. As it turns out, Sen, The Chicken Rice, and Tuk Tuk Thai Street Food are commonly owned sister concepts, and Sen has recently been serving a highly similar version of the Hainanese dish. They’re all following the same basic model as Singaporean restaurants specializing in chicken rice, some of which have received Michelin recognition for their low-priced, high-quality versions of the dish despite operating in food courts with cafeteria-style trays and seating.
Like Chic Now, The Chicken Rice serves more than the classic Hainanese poached recipe. In addition to a BBQ chicken that was sold out on our visit, you can also choose from several Thai recipes – Hat Yai-style fried chicken, larb crispy chicken, or classic yellow, red, or green Thai curries. Prices range from $14.50 to $16 for all of these items, as well as Chinese-influenced orange chicken and regular crispy chicken (shown above, second). Further options include chicken or tofu Khao Soi noodle versions of the yellow curry ($16 each), four chicken salads ($11 each), a few basic appetizers ($8-9), and mango sticky rice ($10). Thai iced coffee, tea, and lemon tea are also available in large cups for $5 each.
Much like our experiences at Sen and Tuk Tuk, the dishes we tried at The Chicken Rice were above-average by takeout restaurant standards, bolstered by friendly counter service and disadvantaged mostly by their plastic container-style presentation. We took advantage of the restaurant’s “duo” offering, enabling us to sample two types of chicken with rice for $17.50, and particularly enjoyed the Hainan-style chicken: tender, mildly but nicely flavored, and ideally paired with the restaurant’s thick, sweet soy sauce dip. It’s worth a brief note for Hainan chicken obsessives that The Chicken Rice doesn’t offer a pure chili sauce dip, and while both locations let guests choose from six dipping sauce choices (sweet soy, ginger-scallion oil, soybean ginger, spicy soybean ginger, fresh ginger/chili, and sweet & sour), the Tustin location gives guests two sauce picks versus Santa Ana’s three.
Although the plastic bowl wasn’t huge, we had no complaints about the quality or quantity of what was inside: even before using any of The Chicken Rice’s five optional sauces to brighten it up, the rice carried the traditional ginger-chicken broth aroma and flavor we were expecting, with the cucumber providing a cool, neutral contrast. And though there was nothing wrong with the Crispy Chicken we selected for the second half of the duo, it wasn’t as perfectly battered or bursting with marinated salty-umami flavor as the Hat Yai Fried Chicken, which we ordered separately, loved, and would sooner order again.
Khao Soi was the most elaborate item we sampled, and a bit of a chore to assemble, delivered in two bowls to keep the thin, crispy noodles up top from becoming as soft as wider fettuccine-style ones below. But the noodles, vegetables, and curry were all really good, and two large chicken drumsticks provided ample, delicious meat – minus a knife to cleanly separate it from their bones. Thai iced coffee was at least as sweet and milky as it was strong and generously portioned, while mango sticky rice was attractively butterfly pea-tinted and sweet, if somewhat neglected in fine details: too few ground peanuts, and the included mango arrived with its pit still attached to some of its core flesh. Sister restaurant Sen did a better job with the same dish by including more nuts and fully cutting its mango.
Even though our meal at The Chicken Rice wasn’t perfect, we were more than pleased with the quality of their namesake dish and most of the other items we tried; there’s no doubt we’d return again to sample more. That said, there isn’t a firm winner between this small chain and the more Chinese/American-influenced Chic Now – Chic Now may be the better pick for Hainanese chicken die hards, particularly as its version includes all the traditional sauces, but Thai items at The Chicken Rice are at least equally worthwhile counterbalances. If you can’t try both places for yourself, start with whichever menu that appeals most to your preferences, and you’ll almost certainly be pleased with your meal.
Stats
Price: $$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2019
Addresses
550 E. 1st St.
Tustin, CA 92780
657.428.8405
201 E. 4th St. Suite 139
Santa Ana, CA 92701
714.852.3467
Instagram: @thechickenrice