Boon Tong Kee

Cagdas Sen

3.0

When mucking around the Mall of Asia, give Boon Tong Kee a go - it's a culinary trip to Singapore without the expensive airfare. Don't forget uncle Thian's Signature Boiled Chicken, lah!With Singaporean food slowly finding its way to Philippine shores, I can relish in as many fond memories as I want, with imports like my newly discovered Boon Tong Kee serving my favorite Boiled Chicken and Cereal Prawns. Now that's damn shiok!The story goes in 1979, Mr. Thian Boon Hua started a small stall in Chinatown serving Cantonese chicken rice. Building upon the popularity of his silky white chicken rice, uncle Thian and his family established Boon Tong Kee along Balestier Road in 1983. My parents hadn't even thought about having me then.I ordered a lot for five people, but we still managed to lick most of the plates clean, plus a few extra orders of Chicken Rice.We started dinner with an order of Prawn Toast, each bite chock full of fresh prawns with a little bit of what I taste is mayonnaise that's been colored green and a teensy bit of fish roe for contrasting color. There's definitely no skimping on ingredients here. I had two of these delicious babies - we were off to a great start!The Fried Sambal Kang Kong provided us with the much needed vegetable component in our protein-heavy dinner. Braised and then mixed in spicy sambal sauce, it has just the right amount of heat to complement the rest of the dishes without taking away from their individual flavor profiles. This gave everything I paired it with some much needed spice, as it is after all, an important component to Singaporean cuisine.The Fried Spare Ribs with Zhen Jiang Sauce was both sweet and spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. I was also surprised at how generous the serving was - there was so much! I would get as much meat as I could off it with my spoon and then give the bones to the dogs. They quite enjoyed their spare ribs dinner since they definitely weren't getting scraps! The golden mantao on the side was over-fried and a bit of a let down.The Signature Boiled Chicken was a hit at the table. But then again, why wouldn't it be? It's a Singaporean staple. The quarter that we ordered was good for two people (if that is all you're having), the silky white chicken breast boiled in a rich stock and dipped in a mix of ginger, chili, and dark soy.We had an order of Boon Tong Kee's large Crispy Cereal Prawns. Not only was it a large serving, the prawns were massive! They should rename this dish to Massive Cereal Prawns instead. I was over the moon with joy - so many giant, juicy prawns! Jericho's mom found the cereal breading to be too salty, but this was fine for me. Is was less salty than the Coffee Pork Ribs.For dessert, I really wanted to try their Green Tea Creme Caramel for dessert, but they were out. I settled for the Choco Almond Jelly instead. Hey, if I can't get my green tea fix, at least there's a chocolate alternative - and that's all good in my book. It was alright, but nothing special. The almond jelly slid down my throat leaving the mild taste of almond essence in it's wake, with the pistachios and sesame seeds giving the silky dessert some crunch and the chocolate leaving me on a happy high.

David Sindhu

3.0

Having just come from a magic show at the arena, i wondered if my lunch would be just as magical. Boon Tong Kee is at the far end of the second level restaurant row fronting the bay. Diners may eat inside or outdoors to enjoy the breeze and the view. It has an onsite restroom. It was not my intention to go there. I was just looking for a restaurant with serving sizes good for one and a quiet, not too crowded and safe environment. What attracted me to Boon Tong Kee was a poster announcing the newest additions to their menu, personal sets. The sets are not really of new dishes but rather smaller servings of Boon Tong Kee favorites over rice plus soup and iced tea. I ordered the Signature Boiled Chicken set. First to be served was the egg drop soup. It was steaming hot with generous egg portions. It tasted very good although I found it a little salty for my taste. Pickled vegetables was also served. These too were flavorful and crunchy. The boiled chicken was served on a bed of Hainanese rice. The chicken was soft and juicy. The Hainanese rice was perfect. It was not too wet or sticky. Iced tea was good.What I loved about my meal is that it was very good yet very affordable. For PHP138, I got appetizer, soup, chicken and rice plus iced tea. Magic indeed.

Mytasteoffood

4.0

Fried Beef Fillet w/Black Pepper, Crispy Cereal Prawn, Salt & Pepper Squid (request lang)