John 3:16 Malaysian Delights failed to impress with the Hainanese Chicken

I have been on a streak of tasting Hainanese Chicken on Rice these days. And this time I found myself and a bunch of buddies at John 3:16 Malaysian Delights after badminton. The name apparently comes from the bible. John 3:16 s one of the most widely quoted verses from the Bible and has been called the most famous Bible verses, considered a summary of the central theme of traditional Christianity, according to Wikipedia. I don’t know the background story but I really hope the food is just as good as their faith in what they believe.

I ordered the Hainanese Chicken on Rice of course ($12.95), and so did Jac. Among the rest of the friends, two of them got the Rendang Beef on Rice ($13.95), and Shirley got the Char Koay Teow ($10.75). For some reason, it took forever for our chicken on rice to come, when the other dishes came pretty quickly. Isn’t it always the quickest dish to come because they just have to chop off some meat from pre-cooked chicken? It finally came when my friends had finished 2/3 of their meals. I tried a piece of the beef and it was flavourful, from which I could imagine my friends enjoyed their dinner. Shirley was a little disappointed on the Char Koay Tewo, or the pan fried spicy flat rice noodles, which came in a pretty small portion.

When our chicken finally came, I didn’t like it. The chicken texture was a little too soft for my liking and the gravy like sauce on the chicken didn’t help. I almost found the sauce too slimy. There there was barely any skin on the chicken, which made me question the type of chicken they use and the quality. The ginger and scallion sauce casually placed on the plate and the sweet chili sauce was served on the side in a small plastic cup. It was sloppy looking, not very appetizing.

Final thought

I was disappointed with the Hainanese Chicken ($12.95) on Rice here. First of all, I didn’t know why it took them so long to prepare. Jac and I got our food when my friends were almost done with their Rendang Beef and Char Koay Teow. I was turned off by the soft chicken texture and the slimy gravy-like sauce. There was barely any skin on the chicken, which makes me question the type of chicken they use and the quality. The ginger and scallion sauce was placed on the plate by the chicken and the the sweet chili sauce was served on the plate in a small plastic cup. It was just sloppy, and not very appetizing. I understand my interpretation of authentic Hainanese Chicken is very subjective, but I honestly couldn’t enjoy this version.

rating: 2.5/5