Review Hainan Chicken - Glen Waverley

First time here since they moved to Century Walk. Had a reasonably good experience with the service and the food. Ordered roasted chicken rice and hainan chicken rice. Rice is yummy and made better by the ginger and chilli condiments. Both roasted and normal Chicken was well made with a smooth texture and good flavour. Overall good dining experience and good value. Would go back again.

Really good food and the menu has a great range, but as mentioned by others, expect a wait for the food to arrive. Not a big deal for us as we weren’t in a hurry but it would definitely affect our choice in coming back. If you don’t mind a wait, it’s a nice option though!

First time here, I ordered Hainan chicken with dry noodles and Bak Kut Teh. The chicken itself was a little disappointed in terms of taste. The noodles however was excellent. The Bak Kut Teh was also a disappointment. What it looks like in real life is nothing like the poster and it feels like it was put together in a rush and it was only light warm. We came here on the 27th of Dec and it was packed. The waiting queue was directly opposite our table and seriously, there is no privacy what so ever. The service was adequate given how busy they were. Like many others, we waited over 25 min for our food.

Generally the food is quite close to traditional Hainanese Chicken. The portion is reasonable for the price.

Chicken rice was meh, but the stingray was really good! Rare find in Melb

REALLY delicious Hainanese Chinese Cuisines 😘😘😘😘 Even for delivery it's still just taste like it was just came out from the kitchen! Magnificent recipe indeed! The chicken is really freshly steam out and tender! Never tried a chicken like that overea! And the laksa when u eat it feels like eating at Penang at Malaysia! Must give it a try!

Order their hainan chicken rice and red bean drink . Actually their food were nice . It is better comparing with the one at box hill . However , I am not satisfying with their service . I enter the shop at about 8:35 pm and place my ordered at 8:41pm (printed on the bill) . There were only 5 table with customers and not busy at all . I wait until 9:02pm and try to get a staff and ask where my meal is . However the staff were chatting with the other tables for minutes . When a staff come to my . I point her to the clock and my bill and told here I have been waiting for 20+ mins for my meal . It is really unacceptable for the long waiting given that the restaurant wasn’t busy , and those food i ordered are precooked . I did order any special food that required further cooking at all . Wish you guys will improve .

Great, authentic chicken rice. Love this place. Beautiful food. Unfortunately the ambience is more food court than restaurants, but the place is always busy with the local Asian community on the weekend..you need to book or be prepared to,wait on Friday and Saturday nights.

Hi everyone first time at this restaurant and I'm sorry it was hopeless.. Not trying to be harsh or bias here but the overpriced, tasteless food was terrible!!! Customer Service was good and your staff did not let you down in terms of service, but you cannot expect to charge 17$ for half Hainan chicken bones. The half Hainan chicken that was served, was basically full of bones and hardly any meat. The minimal chicken edible had no taste, and the texture was like rubber. Seriously it made me question if you guys are cooking 'real' chicken, cause that s#!t you served did not taste anything like chicken! I am not alone in my opinion because my friend who ordered the same thing also struggled to eat your signature Hainan chicken dish. We each also ordered the chicken rice, but after eating the 'so called' Hainan chicken dish, was put off and did not bother touching the hard rice. So all together $20.60 for bones and rubber, served with hard chicken rice.... Seriously I am not the person to write a review, because most of the time I cbf and honestly I'm not a very fussy eater. But you guys deserve this and are basically stealing from people serving that rubbish. How can you call this restaurant Hainan chicken, like WTF?? Have some pride in your cooking and respect the customers who you also make pay first for their meals first!!! Anyway looking at the other reviews pretty much sums up what this restaurant has to offer. I do not recommend your restaurant to anybody, people stay away cause it's better for your health!!!

Have been here numerous times since it opened, and it has IMPROVED at every visit. I was there during its first week of operations - back then, even for a connoisseur like myself, I found its chicken was way undercooked - but not anymore! My last visit yesterday - the Hainanese chicken was cooked to perfection, even the roast chicken (which tends to be dry) was succulent and juicy AND with a crispy skin! Definitely the best Hainanese Chicken money can buy in Melbourne - the texture of the chicken is 2nd to none! PS: I do have a complaint though - a big complaint - no soya sauce as a condiment ("Sang Chow" in Cantonese). They only provide the thick sweet soya sauce ... NOT the right sauce in my book! The last 2 visits I brought my own (in small plastic capsules - like the ones you get from Japanese sushi takeaways). Kudos for the generous (unlimited) supply of ginger sauce and specialty garlic chili sauce!

21/12/15 - 2nd time having Hainanese Chicken rice here, came during off peak hour so this review is only based on the food, service is not considered. Rice was moist this time, however... The taste seems to be... lacking, I might as well be eating plain white rice. The chicken was ok though I would like more sauce with it and I think it may have been in the microwave as some of the meat was a bit tough and dry. The sauce tasted different this time, lacking in flavor somehow. Hence one star this time. Additional note: At least the menu had a bit of re-tune by getting rid of the random dishes that was previously on it (kimchi). Layout is still the same, cramped. There's a large timber table at the front that is intended to seat 12 people, cramped. I doubt this will change.

Absolutely pathetic. Hainan chicken with rice was terribly overpriced with little flesh but more bones. The Ipoh Hainan Chicken with noodle soup was absolutely tastless. Sweet n sour pork was the only dish that was ok but what frustrates me was I had to ask the waiter where my food was, after checking he came back saying "Sorry we forgot, we will get your meal right away". So here I am sitting on the table watching my wife finish her meal while I'm wondering when my food is going to arrive. Service I give 8/10 it was good, everything else, I wouldn't bother. My advice save some money travel overseas and buy real authentic hainan chicken with rice coz trust me, it'll be worth it. Not setting foot into that restaurant ever again.

One of the best place I've eaten on Kingsway. Been here twice now and will be back for more. Thank you for the great food and keep up with good work! You guys are great.

No Hainan chicken left at 9pm?? Hair in soup, forgot a friends dish.. Friends rice was hard (bottom of pot probably) when it came out!

Like we get it, apparently famous for hainan chicken but yeah, comes out cold, rice is cold, sauces are plain, service is awful, also $13 not a tight arse but make your way 10kms down the road to Springvale and get a proper Hainan chicken.

Happen to be at Glen Waverley and saw this new place. Thought we would check it out. Ordered hainan chicken rice and deep fried squid tentacles with spicy chilli sauce. Delicious. The down side: place is really cramp. Ordering needs to be improved. Not ideal if you're looking into customers oriented.

I shunned this place for a long while due to the bad reviews it's received. However after a friend's suggestion, I have been 3 times over a period of time and I have been happy with the Hainanese chicken rice and all the condiments that comes with it. I have also had other dishes and they are also nice. Can't understand why it's received such bad reviews but if you like Hainanese Chicken rice, give it a go and judge for yourself.

WORST place in Glenny, refer to Ash Uduman's review ! I wish i could rate this place 0/5 but fb doesn't let me lol. RIP

Best hainan chicken rice in town . 海南鸡飯太好吃了· 店里还有其他好吃的!�

What's unique about Hainanese Chicken rice is the type of rice and boneless chicken. Always, served with dark soya sauce ( missing ) Rice is tasteless. Overall a disappointment.The only thing Hainanese about this place is the name

Have roast chicken and rice everytime I come here. It is absolutely amazing!!! Don't understand why so many bad reviews. Staff are friendly as well

Hainan chicken still have hair on its skin...very terrible !!! This is my 2nd time visited..disappointed!!!

The food is above average but having to wait 50 mins for Chicken Rice is quite frankly ridiculous.

Great food here if you like hainanese chicken rice and bak kut teh, however service is not as good.<br/>It took quite a while everytime we ask for something.

Booked for a table of 4,still waited for 20 mins before a table available,then waited for 30 mins for dishes arrived.<br/>Hainan Chicken was nice, but the size was small,ordered the desserts. I had to hassle them 3 times before they turned up,the service was very bad may be due to not enough staff.<br/>Will I go back again ! May be not as I am not a very patience person.

Went to the old shop at kingsway but good that the shop had moved to a new location.<br/><br/>We came to this place a few time and it was move to the new location about 9 months ago.<br/><br/>The new venue is double the size and staff were pleasant.<br/><br/>It was not busy and we ordered the signature Hai a ESE chicken rice . <br/><br/>Taste : 🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔<br/>Quantity : 🐤🐤🐤🐤<br/>Price : 🐤🐤🐤<br/><br/>* free range chicken <br/><br/>The Yee new was really under par. Not much Yee new and have no taste. Prawn and fish balls were ok but more work needed .<br/><br/>There was also a strange smell from the bar. <br/><br/>Overall I think come here for the chicken rice and desserts .

Was really looking forward to trying out this Malaysian Singaporean joint. Not bad for its price point as the portions are generous. Came here with a group of 5 people and we had the mixed platter chicken. The rice lacked flavor and to me, the taste of the chicken rice makes a world of difference.

What else would you order at Hainan Chicken if not the Hainan Chicken Rice? That's what we came here for and in a way, it did not disappoint. Keep your expectations in check and you'll be fine.<br/><br/>The chicken was the highlight, as you would have guessed. Tender and juicy, and rather silky smooth. Even the chicken giblets were cooked well. The rice was alright and the soup seemed like an afterthought.<br/><br/>The menu is rather extensive, featuring noodle soups, bak kut teh, and an assortment of entrees. Very busy, even on a weekday night, so I guess they are doing something right.

Came in for a quick dinner and it was packed with people.<br/><br/>We had the classic hainanese chicken rice and it was good, the chicken was cooked nicely however, the rice can be better. It came with a side of rice and soup and it was good and the chilli and dark sauce on the table is so good, definitely add it into your dish.

My family and I were in the area and decided to stop by in Glen Waverely for lunch. Nothing really stood out for us, but mum saw the sign for Hainan Chicken and suggested we go there.<br/><br/>🔆LOCATION🔆<br/><br/>The first original Hainan Chicken restaurant used to be situated along the busy eatery strip of Kingsway in Glen Wav on the same side as City Century Walk, however the restaurant has since moved to Montclair Avenue which is a short walk around the corner just off Kingsway. <br/><br/>There are three distinct open space car parks within this area, so there is plenty of parking, although on weekends it does get a little difficult. Glen Wav train station is only 3 minutes short walk away from the main eatery street hub.<br/><br/>🔆SERVICE🔆<br/><br/>The staff at the restaurant were somewhat friendly. As it was peak lunch time on a Sunday afternoon, they were busy walking around, but not really getting much service. We all received water on our table but during our meal had to ask them for refills.<br/><br/>🔆MENU/PRICE🔆<br/><br/>There were 5 of us and we all ordered the same dish: <br/>Hainan Chicken with Rice, $14.50<br/><br/>🔆VERDICT🔆<br/><br/>The Hainan Chicken with rice includes a small bowl of soup. The soup tastes like MSG, so I didn't really drink it but I poured a bit over the rice to get it a little more moist. The rice itself was very tasty with lots of garlic flavour but a little on the dry side. The portion of chicken is quite small which was disappointing. My family and I were all commenting how there weren't enough chicken pieces on the plate and it didn't fill us up.

Lol what r the other ppl down rating this place on?? 有病

My partner and I always frequented this place for authentic chicken rice. The garlic chilli is delicious but be warned, the chicken rice has very strong garlic taste. So if you don't like garlic, this may not be the place for you. Food here is inconsistent - sometimes the chicken could be really tough and stale. When you catch them on a good day, the food tastes really authentic. They relocated from another location along Kingsway. I have to say the new location has a weird smell...<br/>I would have given a higher rating if the food quality is consistent.

The low score may not properly reflect this restaurant. It's been around for years and the place usually seems quite busy.<br/><br/>I've only ordered the signature hainan chicken and rice. Overall it's good! They hit all the right flavours. They seem to skimp out on the chicken but between the rice, chicken and soup it's still a pretty filling meal.

Dishes had poor presentation and did not look fresh. Sadly we are not impressed with the taste of any of the dishes we ordered. Even their signature Hainan chicken is floppy, overcooked and flavourless. Bak Kut Teh was awful. No reason for us to come back here.

We had the bak kut teh (apologies for the misspelling) with noodles soup and congee with chicken feet. It certainly warmed our bellies on the coldest winter night in Melbourne. The soup had enough herbal flavour and was not over powering. Really busy on a Sunday night - perhaps go in early!

We tried this restaurant on a whim, got seated pretty quick even if a waiting line was exiting. Food was good , loved the squid tentacles they were tender and tasty. Roast chicken and chicken rice was also good. Will recommend you try this place

My favourite Hainanese chicken rice in Melbourne. I always have the hainan chicken rice set here which comes with soup. The chicken rice is a large portion and has great flavour. The chicken is springy and tender. The soup is very flavourful. The chilli sauce is garlicky and spicy like it should be. We also like to order the vegetables in oyster sauce which is crunchy and sweet. We also order the pork balls in bak kut teh soup which are springy and the soup is nice and herbaly (but is a little on the expensive side). The tofu is also very nice. Seating in this restaurant is cramped though and sometimes you are asked to share a table with others.

Will definitely tried out this chicken shop whenever in Glen Waverley. This restaurant serves steam chicken and roasted chicken with rice which had originated from Hainan, China. This type of meal are largely available in Asian countries like in Malaysia and Singapore. Their rice are flavoured with tasty chicken aroma which is different from normal rice. It goes well with the chicken when eat together garnished with their own made garlic chilli sauce. Very wonderful meal for eating in or takeaways. Prices are reasonable and quick service too. Highly recommend this place to eat, many other varieties of meals available beside this chicken rice.

always sooo delicious - prices have rised slightly as their popularity has grown. the new location allows for more seating but the quality has (thankfully) remained the same. definitely recommend the classic hainan chicken with chicken rice and hainan chicken with the thick, soy drenched noodles !! we also tried their thai style tofu but asked for the sauce separately - the tofu itself was deep fried and could have been a bit lighter and tastier (extremely bland in flavour by itself) but the thai sauce was an absolute winner.

Been here couple times, the hainanese chicken are quite nice, rice were full of favor. Love their chicken kut teh noodles too, comes with chicken Maryland, heaps of mushrooms, tofu skin and tofu, the soup were very rich too. Can’t ask for more, a place will certainly be back.

Love the Hainanese chicken, although the temperature of the chicken was a little cold when we got it. The spicy chilli fried chicken was our favourite, would definitely come back for more! Also love the new place

Roast chicken was way too salty. Pieces were too chunky and not properly chopped up. Chilli sauce was good. Serving was too large and expensive. Would’ve preferred half the portion and price.

Good food, prompt customer service and always busy. Not sure why it rates low but the food that I’ve had in my visits have always been delicious. Prices are slightly above average and the place is always packed with pretty short wait times. One of my go to places for chicken rice if I’m in the area.

I'm not sure why Hainan Chicken has such a low rating here. When we visited after a typical Asian grocery run, the place was full of seemingly happy customers tucking into roasted meats. <br/><br/>The service was pretty top notch. I could see the wait staff constantly walking up and down the restaurant diligently scanning each table to see what the customers needed. The unlimited supply of garlic chilli sauce and ginger sauce won me over immediately. Granted, the sauces were mediocre but unlimited sauces is a rare occurrence. <br/><br/>The entree original fried chicken was fresh, crispy and savoury. It was a great way to start the meal. The chicken rice was fragrant and not too oily. The generous amount of partially deboned chicken was pretty impressive. The skin was silky and the meat was smooth. <br/><br/>We had a lovely experience at their new, more spacious location and we will be back for sure.

For me, what makes hainanese chicken rice is the layer of gelatin under the skin of the poached chicken.<br/><br/>The poached chicken was not bad; the meat was tender not dry and skin had a slight chewy texture which was not unpleasant. The taste of the meat was plain and not salty enough for my tastebuds. However it missed the mark without that beautiful gelatinous layer.<br/><br/>The rice had a slight chicken-y flavour which was not too overpowering and not too salty. I felt like it needed a stronger chicken taste. <br/><br/>The soup was good, came out hot and not overloaded with MSG. <br/><br/>All in all, not a bad meal but definitely not comparable to Malaysian standards. Good for a quick fix I guess.

Let’s put it this way, if I was stuck on a deserted island and a crate of Hainan Chicken’s food washed up to shore, I’d rather consume the island’s own sand and wash it down with the saline sea water. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration but I wish having the chicken in my mouth didn’t feel like a used condom.

Great place for some hainanese chicken rice. Where most places have very bland chicken rice where the chicken has become dry, This place stays close to the true manner in how chicken rice should be served.<br/><br/>Price is a little higher compared to how much chicken n veges you get but still worth it.

I love the chicken rice and noodle here, probably best chicken rice in Melbourne for me is from here. I've been here about 4 times before writing this review. The price of food add up quite quickly. Lemon tea is nice also.

<br/>It was the worst bak kut teh we’ve ever had. The pork was undercooked and even with hairs on it, absolutely disgusting. And if you think at least the chicken dishes should be better because of the name of this place, think again. The chicken was not freshly made and was so chewy. It’s like they don’t care about the review any more since they’re about to move to the other side of the street.

Huge range of Malaysian, Singaporean, Teo Chew and Taiwanese style food at decent prices.<br/>The execution feels like short cuts were taken for efficiency and a lot of the dishes were kind of room temperature.<br/>- Hainanese Chicken Rice: soft pieces of poached chicken cut up to order and napped with a light soy sauce. The chicken rice itself was quite tasty, being made from chicken stock, fat and spices.<br/>- Hainanese Roast chicken: good roasted flavour and the chicken wasn't dry.<br/>- Fried chicken: freshly fried and had a nice crisp coating. The chicken was juicy in the middle.<br/>- Pork ball soup: herbal soy based but quite salty.<br/>- Claypot Seafood YeeMee: this came out way later than all the other dishes, so by the time it came out the others were halfway into their meal. Also there are soup and dry versions of yee mee, but the menu didn't specify, and I expected it to be dry. The claypot was loaded with noodles and toppings, and the soup had a thick texture.<br/>The restaurant is still popular with the older generation and family who like a no fuss, quick meal.

Authentic Hainan chicken in town from Nanyang. We came in at 3.30pm which is relatively quiet. Both services and waiting time is less than 10 minutes which is very good for hungry foodie like us :) <br/>We ordered Mixed Chicken (Roasted & Hainanese); White Pepper Pork Stomach Soup; Vegetables with oyster sauce; Minced Pork Tofu. <br/>Our favorite is Hainanese Chicken as it is cooked to perfection where the fat jelly in between the skin & the meat remains. It is burst of juice when you bite into the chicken! So good! The chili & ginger sauce sided to the chicken are very authentic to Malaysian foodie like us! <br/>The other foods are average, and we will come back to get another serve of Hainanese chicken. <br/>#hainanchicken #glenwaverley #kingsway #malaysianfood

We ate here last night and ordered the hainan chicken with dry noodles. The chicken came out and it was cold which was pretty disappointing. I also suspected it was slightly undercooked. I only ate 2 pieces and 1 hour later I was so sick. I’ll never eat here again.

2nd best Hainanese chicken rice in Melbourne. (First is Rasa Rasa). Price is slightly expensive, but worth it. Also, need to change the bowls they use for their soup cause so easy to topple.

Food 1/5<br/>Service 3/5<br/>Ambience 2/5<br/>I ordered Hainan chicken 🍗 thinking it will be amazing as it’s in the name. Unfortunately it had no flavour and was under cooked. The fried squid was so hard and chewy :(

I was really looking forward to a decent Hainanese Chicken rice and thought a restaurant with this name must set the benchmark for the best. It looked promising from the outside as the place was full with a queue form.<br/><br/>We took our order and I got chatting with the friendly Malaysian staff. Everyone seem to be having Hainanese chicken rice so we were looking forward to ours.<br/><br/>The meal when it came was hugely disappointing.<br/><br/>The chicken skin had bits of hair on it and was chewy. The meat was super tough and skinny and had more bones then meat. It was as if they killed an old chook to produce such poor quality meat. The rice didn’t have that strong chicken/ginger fragrant and my guess is it wasn’t well cooked with the chicken soup/stock. The soup was in the same category. The ginger and chilly garnish that was on the table felt terribly weak and diluted. <br/><br/>How can they stuff this simple recipe up so badly? It literally is the worst Hainanese Chicken rice I have tasted in Melbourne and I will never step foot in this joint ever again.

FAST Food Review<br/><br/>FOOD: Excellent tasting Roast Chicken Rice, Dry Noodles, Crispy Fried Chicken - 4/5<br/><br/>AMBIENCE: Busy and cramped atmosphere, menus need to be replaced, in bad condition - 3/5<br/><br/>SERVICE: Was alright, nothing major to complain or compliment - 3.5/5<br/><br/>TOTAL: You go and go back for the fantastic food, that’s it - 10.5/15

Took away some food to try and it was good, so we decided to give it another go. Their steamed chicken rice is definitely a must-try, and I would recommend this over the roast chicken. Also try the 3-layer tea if you like a milky/creamy tea flavour. IMO, the fish ball soup was a bit bland, and the cendol with red bean needs more cendol. Overall, the food is decent, and the price seems reasonable.<br/><br/>Keep in mind that it is very packed on Sunday, so be prepared to wait. The waiters are helpful and environment seems clean. Would come back again.

Delicious Hainanese chicken rice ! <br/>I tried many of Malaysian restaurants here but Hainan Chicken is one of the best. Reason? <br/>1 Free Range Chicken. <br/>Free range chicken is relatively small compare to normal chicken, but with much better texture and flavour compare to ordinary chicken, hence some reviews may find it not so meaty to eat. In MALAYISA, all delicious Hainanese chicken are using free range chicken. <br/>2 The Garlic fragrant rice. <br/>Not many places cook the right texture of chicken rice with the balanced of garlic oil flavour. Hainan chicken done it pretty good, and they use good quality Jasmine fragrance rice, fluffy and aromatic. <br/>3. Dipping chili sauce & ginger sauce <br/>The sauce was pretty good. Chili sauce is well balanced with good amount of garlic and ginger. And the ginger sauce taste a bit bland there’s room for improvement. <br/><br/>Service - staff were attentive but they can be very busy. So far so good, no complaint. The only downside is their tables are not clean enough even after wiping by the staff. A big no no for a busy restaurant. <br/><br/>Haven’t tried their roast chicken coz they are not free ranged chicken. But will try in the future soon. Overall this restaurant deserved a better rating due to the food quality. Keep up the good work ! <br/>

Amazing food. The hainan chicken was good, although the chicken seems a bit "skinny" and there wasn't much flavour in the steamed chicken even with the soy sauce. The star of the meal however was the Fried Chicken pieces with the 3 sauces. They were sooooo tender and the sauces were delicious!! We also had the Bak Kut Teh and it was legit!

Friendly staff, flexible ordering, a lot of varieties. The bak kut teh is nice, should try this and the deep fried chicken is not too bad as well. Overall, the food is decent with reasonable price. Worth a try.

Being a lover of Malaysian food i first visited Hainan Chicken on a quiet weekday lunch time which was a pleasant experience. My second visit was on a Friday evening where it was bustling presented a dysfunctional welcoming as they tried to accommodate all the waiting customers. The service was friendly yet it is self-serve when ordering and payment to be made prior to meals being delivered. The crispy chicken was well cooked and is great with rice. Unfortunately the Hainan chicken was a little cold and felt that it wasn’t freshly made. The tea tarik was fantastic. If I was to go back it would be for the crispy chicken and tea tarik. Worth a visit if you’re a Malaysian fan and visit at lunch for the desired experience.

So many options in Glenwaverley but Hainan Chicken felt like a good option. The place was busy the moment you stepped in the door. We were very quickly seated. I wasnt going to look past the Hainan Chicken as their speciality. A very good Hainan chicken which an equally good rice. Great they had the addition of chilli to pair the dish. The Tea Tarik was a perfect combination.

Why would you make a paying customer that's ordering takeaway, wait 30 mins for their meal, I could have went somewhere else in the same time. I've never written a bad review before but this deserves it. I had to ask for a refund before they assured me 5 mins, even though it still took them more than 15, and gave me an order for someone else that wasn't even mine.<br/>they served phone calling customers, seated customers and everyone else who ordered AFTER me. terrible service

Craving a decent Hainanese Chicken Rice, even with an average review, I still decided to go and grab their Hainanese Chicken Rice..Seeing so many people around (7.30pm), my decision is fast..grab and go. Once home, my kids are fighting over it (even they had eaten their dinner). With their first bite, they starts to compare it to the other Chicken rices we had. They are disappointed, the rice is light on flavours and the Chicken is drier than others. Nevertheless, we finished it. Pretty average meal.

Tried the roast chicken rice, wasn't the most flavourful chicken but still alright. They serve "chicken rice" too so that's a plus, as not many places do that, although not the best, but still good and better than places that only serve it with regular white rice.<br/> <br/><br/>I find the steamed/poached white chicken to be better than the roast version.

Quality of Service: 3/5<br/><br/>Service was okay. You would have to order the at the counter. This is fine but if you are here for lunch/dinner with a big party of friends, it can be a bit inconvenient not having a staff to have all the orders taken for the table.<br/><br/>Quality of Food: 4/5<br/><br/>Been here twice and the food was great for both times. Food portions are okay but prices are slightly higher (just slightly) than it should but i guess the taste makes up for it. The main courses taste great, though i wouldn't recommend the Bak Kut Teh but everything else will meet your standards, let it be rice or noodle, they are flavorsome. <br/><br/>Place’s Environment & Atmosphere: 3/5<br/><br/>It can b a bit stuffy and warm if the restaurant is crowded.<br/><br/>Do I recommend coming to this place?<br/><br/>I'm not sure about the low ratings for this place but i definitely think this is a good place for regular visits if you have a cravings for good asian style chicken rice.

Came here for my Aunty’s Birthday as we had been craving for Hainese chicken. Poor customer service, kept rushing us to order and take the menu away. Once you order at the counter you are required to immediately pay for your meal and then been expected to wait for over 30min for a bland tasting dish lacking flavour. Dishes came out, cold as if attempted to be warmed up via microwave not fresh<br/>The Grand Tofu better choice few restaurants down.<br/>

This was a rather disappointing meal. We had the Ipoh chicken rice & hainan chicken rice. Both dishes lacked flavour: the rice didn’t have that rich flavour.., chicken was bland & rubbery, and the ginger in the chilli sauce was so overpowering it ruined it. Unfortunately, we won’t be hurrying back.

The search for really awesome Hainan chicken rice is like searching the Moby Dick. It's out there somewhere. Sometimes when you think you're close, it just gets away. The ironic thing about this restaurant is I actually enjoyed the other dishes more than their Hainan chicken rice, especially the Bak Kut Teh. <br/><br/>With the chicken rice, I would have liked the rice to be more fragrant. The chicken has been fairly inconsistent - sometimes it's really good, sometimes not really. There's also been times when we had quite a lot of boney bits. Given their extensive menu, I would be happy to just bypass the chicken and have everything else.

I really like the Hainan chicken rice here at this shop. It takes us 45 mins to get here from our place but I find myself here every week 😊. <br/>Love the chilly sauce and the ginger sauce the shop provides.

The chicken here is juicy and tender, and the noodles are pretty flavorsome. I found that the food has too much MSG,  I was so thirsty afterwards .

Expensive and not worth it at all. Tried roasted chicken, Henan chicken, stir fried veggies and fish congee. I’m totally disappointed with the food. Can’t even finish the meal. Worst experience ever.

Say hello to my favourite chicken rice store in Australia! It’s absolutely amazing and authentic, down to the chilli and ginger they have 🙂 Also super loooove because they have roasted chicken, which is my ultimate fave type of chicken rice ❤ (sorry, it’s just a roasted chicken kind of girl)

I'm not sure why this place has such a low score because I think it's better than some of the average Asian restaurants I've been to. <br/><br/>The hainan chicken is tender, rice is flavoursome and the accompanying soup is ok (perhaps lacking a bit in depth). The noodle dish is pretty big, probably enough for two people. The congee is a bit bland in isolation but perfect with the addition of ginger, chilli and hainan chicken. Another top pick is the fried chicken. <br/><br/>Service is always friendly. You order and pay at the counter. The place is compact so it can be cumbersome if you have a pram.

Tried something new on kings way food street in Glen Waverley. The roasted checked with dry noodle is not bad. Will have to try the proper hainan chevron rice next time

Located at glen wavery, the customer service is good , and the hainan rice really authentic, tasty and feel great , and not forget the hainan chicken great thumbs up , price is reasonable ^^ cheers

Never eat here again!<br/><br/>Poor service and poor management, expect at least 35mins Tor Hainanese chicken rice. The restaurant allocates tables and the food doesn't come together. Look forward to getting your rice and soup first, plus waiting for your chicken to arrive lately. Furthermore, look forward to watching your guest/friends eat first whilst you wait for food! Poor form from first day of opening, gave a second chance months later and no change. If a restaurant can not perform well, you might as well shut it down and salvage what you can get back from the initial payment. 1.0 of of 5.0 with a generous heart.

This place does decent chicken rice. Quite authentic, coming from a Malaysian- but prices are way too expensive for just chicken and rice. Staff seemed efficient enough but the food took almost 30 minutes to arrive, which explains the queue outside during lunch hours. I had the roasted and the normal chicken, and bean sprouts. Honestly I will never pay close to 17 $ for HALF a chicken again.

Probably the best authentic hainan chicken you can get in Melbourne. The chilli and garlic sauces so good! Can be busy during dinner time. Self service.

We enjoy the hainan chicken rice here. Plenty of chilli and ginger that is available on every table which adds to the enjoyment. Will be back again

Very traditional Malaysian dishes, best Hainan Chicken in Australia by far. The chicken is full of flavour, and the skin is crunchy, as well as very little MSG in their soup. This restaurant may not suit everyone as the flavours are authentic Malaysian.

Approaching $14 for a serve of Hainanese Chicken Rice is getting a bit pricey.<br/><br/>Chicken - Felt like the type of chicken that is served at Yum Cha (skin was a bit rubbery and yellow, chicken was served cold). Definitely different to traditional poached chicken. <br/>Rice - Nice flavour but a tad dry for my liking. <br/>Soup - Nice and hot, and not too salty.. nothing to complain about. <br/>Service / Ambience - The area around the front door was packed and with waiters going in and out.. It was very hectic.<br/>Wait for food - 15 minutes.. Improvements could be made there although it was quite busy. <br/><br/>Overall, for a place that is named 'Hainan Chicken', it didn't live up to its name.<br/><br/>If I wanted chicken rice.. I'd walk a few shops down to China Bar.

This restaurant always is one of my favorite restaurants in Glen. I come here about 2 times every week to enjoy the chicken rice. The steam chicken is amazing here...

Already had no expectations for this place because of the ratings, plus how bad can it be? It was a busy Sunday night post movies and we were indecisive. There's something uncomfortable about this place, felt really claustrophobic.<br/>Ordered up some Hainan chicken rice at a place that bears the name proudly, how can you go wrong? It came out with a generous portion however it's on the slightly more expensive side of the spectrum. <br/>The positive, the chicken was tender. The negatives, the main component the chicken rice should be able to stand by itself and you could pretty much eat it alone. It was however dry and bland not even the chicken soup could revive it. Chicken was also lifeless as were the communal sauces of chilli and ginger, just weak. There was no dark soy sauce accompaniment.<br/>We also got a couple of fried goodies of deep fried chicken with triple flavour sauce and crispy squid tentacles, both of which no one really wanted to finish because the sauces were sickly sweet.<br/>Not a fan sorry.

I came here once for dinner and although the staff were really nice, I didn't really enjoy their chicken rice. The chicken wasn't very juicy and abit dry that day. The portions were very big as well.

We ordered the hainan chicken and the iced honey lemon mint tea drink. I found the hainan chicken to be a bit bland compared to laksa house in the city...if you have a way to get there. But I liked how the sauce and ginger was a large amount. However, I think the hainan chicken is a bit too pricey for a restaurant in the suburbs. The drink was also too sweet, all I tasted was the honey and nothing else...tbh, I'm not sure if I'd be willing to come back to try this place again as it is a bit too far. This place was okay but you can definitely find hainan chicken at a better price.

Come here with our friends because we don't know what we want to eat but other restaurants are so crowded. We have chicken rice and it tastes okay. But the waiting time is too long to have a meal. Sometimes we need to ask why the food haven't come

Absolutely LOVE their roast chicken and noodles. The crispy skin and the juicy succulent meat is delicious! The noodles are something different you can't get everywhere so they're definitely worth a try if you haven't already.

Fulfils any hainanese chicken cravings you may have - chicken is flavourful but the serving size is quite small for the price tag. Service is okay, busy joint!

Good customer service and the highlight dish was the chicken rice. The chilli sauce and ginger garlic sauce is delicious. Although the rating is surprisingly 2 out of 5,  for me it was worth it.

Would have given them 5 but the tables were too small. If u order 3 dishes it will hard to manage. Bit long wait on food but worth it.. try their chilli, it's not too spicy but too yummy.. entree fried chicken is awesome n under budjet. Will go there again

Pretty good for quick lunch. Chicken is very tender and mostly deboned. Slightly light on the taste. Other menu items look good too, will come back and try others.

This place does decent chicken rice. Don't know why the ratings are so low. <br/>Probably also due to me visiting after peak hour, hence it wasn't as rushed or terrible as the other reviews written. <br/>I like how they've got the chilli and ginger paste sauce on the sides. No proper chicken rice stall is complete without them. <br/>Will definitely head back if I'm around the area again.

The chicken rice is definitely the best I've had in Melbourne in a while. The important thing is the chicken rice chilli is actually pretty good. Most places that serve chicken rice in Melbourne make the chilli sweet, which is not the way it's meant to be. The roast chicken is yum. I drive from Doncaster just to get their rice. Well done guys!

Half Hainanese Chicken + Thousand Island Chicken, an awesome combo for an addition to a family dinner. Generous with the sauces, and the wait was

So relief to see many ppl got similar bad experience like me. I do agree their standard drop a lot compare the grant Open ...<br/><br/>There are many good maly place around east part of melb , sure will not come back anymore

We ordered the Hainan chicken and rice and the sesame chicken noodles<br/><br/>Unfortunately there's not too many good things I can say about the dishes we ordered. The sesame chicken really didn't taste like sesame and was rather unexciting. The hainan chicken was a bit rubbery, and the rice was more salty than flavoursome.<br/><br/>Perhaps we were there on an off night, as it seemed rather popular

The chicken rice was okay and probably as good as can be expected in Melbourne. According to my Malaysian friend, compared to Malaysia the rice was okay but slightly drier, and the chicken was cooked well but also tasted a bit drier (although this may be due to differences in Australian and Malaysian chickens). The soup was bland and not as salty (this might even be an improvement!). Overall, the chicken rice was passable but not amazing, though very expensive at $17.80 for half a chicken.

There's a touch of the 'fast food joints' about the appearance of this place, what with its pictures of dishes on the wall, and small tables.  Not necesarily a bad thing, it can be quite helpful to see a dish you've never heard of before, and the seating, well it's in line with people eating and running, so it works.  <br/><br/>My daughter and I arrived just after 11.00am for a brunch with a difference (for us).  I expected we'd be the only ones, but no, there were already three or four other tables occupied.  A forewarning of how busy it was likely to become when the proper lunch time crowd hit.<br/><br/>Look, Hainanese Chicken is the food I wish I grew up on, I like it so much, it is a comfort food for me, and I make my own.  The trouble with making your own of course, is that you make it just the way you like it.  For me, firstly that means it's a warm chicken dish, it also means it has lots of spring onion, ginger sauce - that is loads of spring onion, the chicken rice is also redolent with sticky chicken-fat goodness.  Hainan Chicken's version is different.  The chicken is not warm, the rice has more of the flavour of fried onion, and, most dramatically different for me, the ginger sauce has only a smattering of spring onion.  Right, so it's not my version, doesn't mean it's wrong, just different.  When I got over myself, I found I quite enjoyed this version - though I do still wish there was a spring onion heavy ginger sauce.  The chilli sauce is simple, but works, I thought there was a little too much sesame oil, but the pieces underneath were fine.  The rice was delicious after a few mouthfuls.  The broth was mild in flavour, with a few pieces of Chinese cabbage, and I felt it would have benefitted from being a little hotter.  The cucumber hid under the chicken, wading in the lovely slightly sweeted soy and chicken juices.  All in all, a pleasing experience.  I like the coriander and herb garnish on the top of the dish and the mini buckets on the tables for bones when you're done.<br/><br/>What I like is that you get a choice here - you can have chicken on the bone (yes please, for me) or off the bone (would suit my youngest), you can even choose which pieces - I didn't bother, I love it all.  Still, for those more particular, I can appreciate how much this would be a good thing.<br/><br/>We also tried the prawn spring rolls, they were quite nice, but a dipping sauce other than what is provided for the Hainan chicken would have been appreciated.  We both really wanted to try the jellyfish, but the Crispy Squid looked so good, we had to go with it.  The squid was well cooked, and the batter was crunch, for me, it was on the verge of too salty, and I like salty, but 'on the verge' and too salty, are not the same thing, so I just drank a lot and ate it.  Might give it a second go, maybe it was just a one-off.<br/><br/>Took some take aways for the rest of the family.  The Pan Fried Pork and Vegetable Dumplings, and the Pan Fried Chicken and Prawn Dumplings, of course suffered for the drive home, losing their crispy, but I am told by those enjoying them, that they were still delicious enough, and worth visiting in-house to try fresh.  I took a Hainan Chicken as well, but the broth did not come along for the ride - forgotten or not an option for take-away, I am not sure.  The Original Fried Chicken was also well-received, there are varieties with different sauces that might be worth a go another time.<br/><br/>By the time we left, the place was all but full, we decided to wait outside for our take-away and watched the crowds flood in, and overflow...to the restaurant next door.<br/><br/>Plastic glasses are looking a little tired and past their best.  The Chrysanthemum Tea  wasn't the best I've tried, tasting too much of musty and not enough of floral, I did appreciate the glass cups with handles though.  A ginger and lime drink was enjoyed by my daughter.<br/><br/>Would I return?  Yes, outside of peak hour!

Use to like this place very much when it first opened. Somehow when the restaurant is busy all the time, all year, the quality of the food goes down. It's so disappointing they never kept their standards from the start.

We came across this restaurant by accident and we were going to avoid it as it has such a low rating. We ordered Roasted chicken with dry noodle and a side of Chinese doughnut. The chicken was tender and yummy! We love their sambal too. We'll be back for more.

Believe the low ratings!! The ones who give good ratings need to know they are being ripped off.<br/><br/>Try laksatown, grand tofu, petaling street, pappa rich, straits of malacca - all along kingsway who serve authentic chicken rice that is not over or under cooked, less expensive and do not call themselves expert in something they are not. Yet they still do a better job at a reasonable price.<br/><br/>Rice portion is big but they make you pay for it. Chicken portion is small, tough and rubbery. Sauce is average and not fresh. <br/><br/>After being disappointed for the second time with Hainan Chicken, (yes I believe in second chance) it was still a let down. I decided to learn how to cook this dish from scratch and can tell you it's not hard.<br/><br/>It's time consuming but to make it really delicious is possible.<br/><br/>A restaurant that call themselves hainan chicken - we should be expecting perfection, especially with the premium price tag. And not when there are better options around in Kingsway.<br/><br/>Chicken rice lovers - try the other restaurants I mentioned for authentic chicken rice.

Came in with 7 others and we all ordered the Hainanese chicken on rice. Not only did the food take more than 25 minutes to arrive, out of the 7 plates, 2 plates were served with raw chicken. When we pointed this out to the staff, they just put the plate into the microwave.. <br/>We ordered another 2 servings as take away, and asked the staff to make sure the chicken was cooked thoroughly, and not raw. They said, "it's supposed to be like that." Apparently raw chicken is okay to the staff..

I went with some Malaysian friends and they love chicken rice, I guess it is traditional food in their country. I am never a big fan of chicken rice as they are rather bland, but I guess you have to eat them with sauce. Anyway, for what we ate it was really cheap. We shared 2 whole chickens and an octopus entree and 4 chicken rice between 5 people (3 girls and 2 guys), and we could not even finish the chicken, we paid about $11 per person. The portion of the rice is so big.

We have avoided this place for some time due to the poor rating. Zomato ratings are generally on point but in this case, I have no idea why this place has such a low rating. When we finally decided to check it out I was in complete surprise as the food was actually really good! The Hainan chicken tasted authentic and was cooked to perfection, really moist. The garlic and chilli sauces that come with it, eaten with the rice, it was delicious. There are not many places that do a good Hainan chicken but this place definitely does. <br/><br/>The highlight for us was also the enoki mushroom. Oh my gosh it was sooo good. When we ordered it we were just expecting a plate of enoki mushrooms but it came out immersed in a bowl of herbal soup. Best soup ever. I felt like I was getting a health cleanse just from drinking it. And it was packed with enoki mushrooms. We also got the steamed vegies which was Chinese broccoli and that was also flavoured really well. They also do fresh juices served in massive glasses. I got the watermelon cooler which had watermelon, apple and mint. Davin got a juice with cucumber, apple and ginger. Unexpected for a place like that to do fresh juices, we loved it.<br/><br/>Overall, this will be a place we will frequent from now on when we're in the mood for some good chicken, or even just to drop in for that enoki mushroom soup. I wouldn't listen to the poor ratings and reviews and recommend dropping in to check it out yourself!<br/><br/>- H

Waited 30 minutes for the food to come out. When it finally arrived, my chicken was fridge cold! I asked for it to be heated up and come back hot, but it had barely been heated up when it returned.<br/><br/>Also a staff member accidentally spilled a trail of oil when carrying plates back to the kitchen and another staff slipped over. Instead of cleaning it and making sure customers and staff don't slip, they loosely dried it with paper towels and left it. No sign, no mopping.

The chicken was still raw when it served. Staff wasn't friendly and helpful. The dinning space is a bit narrow that wasn't comfortable sitting there.

I love hainaniese chicken I come<br/>Back here every know and than but! Theirs always a but! 6/10 there will be hair in your dish! Eat with caution! I do wish the owner takes a good look into this procedure.

Ratings reflect the quality of food unfortunately. Been here on two occasions, both times left disappointed. Hainan chicken was rubbery and lacked seasoning and rice was too salty (or full of msg). For the price there are much better Malaysian options along the kingsway strip. Won't be back.

chicken is so delicious，staff are very friendly. the location and the atmosphere is very good. Besides this，the rice is northest rice which is very good

Great restaurants with great location. Food was ok for the price. Not too sure if we will attend again but it is certainly worth trying if you are in the area

I came here with an open mind especially since the rating wasn't the greatest. I was disappointed because half my chicken was not cooked properly, it was raw. My friends ordered the same thing and their chicken was cooked perfectly. Sadly, this has definitely put me off and I probably wont ever come here again.

17/8/17<br/>Wife ordered chicken rice and got undercooked chicken. NOT OKKKKKKKK. NO RAW CHICKEN FOR anyone especially PREGNANT WOMEN!!! STOP EXPLAINING ABOUT HOW TENDER IT WAS. ITS F*ing RAWWWWWW!!!!!!<br/><br/>11/2/17 since my partner asking for chicken rice she wanted me to come for another try. This time was dine-in so no missing items from the takeaway order again. Just another disappointing experience... If you wanna charge people like "Paparich" maybe start having better service and decor first... Just not good enough man. <br/><br/>7/1/17 Ordered takeaway on two occasions and always something missing. First time wrong item and no soup, second time no sauce and cutlery...... How can a hainan chicken rice be completed without the sauces or anything else. Absolutely not happy and don't think will be going back again.<br/><br/>Clearly need a more experienced senior staff to look after the front better.

Do not believe the low rating. This joint serves one of the better Hainanese chicken rice in Melbourne. Very authentic taste with delicious well-prepared chicken, garlicky chilli, and fragrant rice. Have no idea why the ratings are so low - I dine here regularly as it is one of the only few places in Melbourne I can find authentic chicken rice that is similar to home (Singapore).

I usually order Hainan Chicken with Dry Noodle. Personally I beleive it has improved a lot - flavour of the chicken and noodle, and the sauce served on table. But the taste of chicken is still a bit plain. Overall i like this place except it's a bit pricy

Recommended by a friend saying how smooth the hainan chicken was. So I decided to try, I ordered half a Hainan chicken, half a crispy roast chicken, some noodles and rice. I personally thought it wasn't that amazing the flavours were average and the roast chicken was over cooked. The hainan chicken was quite soft and cooked to perfection. The rice had decent flavours though. Overall not bad just nothing special.

It's not too bad a place for chicken rice and bak kut teh. A bit of a change from the stands Asian restaurants along the Kingsway strip. It is named after chicken restaurant but it serves quite a variety of dishes but speciality is chivken.<br/>Cannot complain too much re the chicken. Personal favourite is the roast chicken. Suggest if 2 diners, order 2 bowls of chicken rice with 1/2 a chicken for value for money.<br/>Understand the bsk kut teh is nice but have yet to try it.