Malacca is constantly saturated with tourist. This, and in addition to local who have great love for chicken rice, sums up to long queues and price increase for Malacca Hainanese Chicken Rice. People who got fed up with the exorbitant charges, like me, tends to seek for alternative options. The last trip we were in Melaka, we found Huang Chang Chicken Rice, which is away from the centred and busy Jonker Street.

We arrived before lunch hour and on a weekday, which explained why we could easily got a table. The ordering system was rather easy, alike to how we order satay at Satay Haji Samuri. Walked up to the counter and ordered the number of rice balls and whether we would like quarter, half or whole chicken.

Here’s the comparison between Huang Chang chicken rice to the famous Chung Wah :

The Rice Balls:

The rice balls at Huang Chang were smaller but creamier with a stronger hint of ginger taste. We liked that they’re more compact, didn’t crush easily when we poke them up with forks. Choking hazard aside, I always thought that the best way to eat chicken rice ball, is to gobble them up in whole.

Chung Wah’s rice ball were not far behind, but could do with a bit more moisture.

The Chicken:

Huang Chang serves better chicken than Chung Wah. Way… better. Their chicken were soft, smooth and juicy due to the right doneness. On the other hand, Chung Wah’s chicken were dry and tough with taste overwhelmed by too much sesame oil.

The Chili Sauce

Again, Huang Chang won hands down in the chili department. Its chili sauce had a lot more ‘real’ chilies, bursting with spiciness. It was a great contrast to Chung Wah’s watered-down chili sauce.

The Price

Would you believe it, that our lunch at Huang Chang is 40% cheaper than what we paid at Chung Wah?

Chung Wah dictates a minimum order of half a chicken + 15 rice balls at RM23 for each table. Strangely we were billed RM30 by the end of our meal even though a friend drank a simple limau ais, while I drank nothing. RM7 for a limau ais?

On the contrary, Huang Chang does not have a minimum order and half a chicken only cost us RM14 – RM15. The chicken balls were only 20 cents each.

My above statement seems to contradict with some food blogs, commented about the overcooked chicken at Huang Chang. I must emphasize that this post is based on my one-time visit to Huang Chang, and we probably had a lucky day. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to another try again at Huang Chang to confirm my verdict. For the time being, it’s my favorite chicken rice restaurant in Melaka.

Huang Chang Chicken Rice Restaurant
BB-376, Taman Melaka Baru, Batu Berendam, 75350 Melaka
GPS : 2.237917, 102.259464