Famosa Chicken Rice Ball

When in Singapore, people would always recommend eating Hainanese Chicken Rice or just chicken rice, at least once. It is a boiled chicken in oily kind of sauce, it is best eaten with nice chili and some dark soya sauce. I have eaten chicken rice at different level all over Singapore, and I would say that I am quite fond of it. So imagine my delight to know that Melaka has their own chicken rice dish they are proud of. The first time I was here in Melaka, I heard about the specialty dish of Melaka called Chicken Rice Balls, but to our dismay we didn’t reach the restaurant in time as it seemed to have close early. In this trip, I am determined to find out what all the fuss was all about.

Probably one of the more prominent places to have the famed chicken rice ball is at Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant. This restaurant is at the corner the busy Jonker Street now known as Jalan Hang Hebat. The exterior of the restaurant building is quite impressive with the 1911 building itself colored brick red. The intricate details of the building’s facade have be patiently restored making it one of the more attractive structures along Jonker Street.

I have having second throught about entering the place since it was already 12 noon, but no one is eating at the place? Maybe the food isn’t that great after all. I took my time to think by walking up Jonker Street and back until curiosity finally got the better of me and I entered the place. The interiors of the place were a little dark since it was also colored brick red inside. On the windows were bars giving the appearance of a cell. There weren’t a lot of people eating here but I decided to eat here anyway.

I didn’t know any better so I ordered their specialty, chicken rice ball, what else? The menu itself wasn’t very helpful since it had entries for chicken and the chicken rice balls separately. I tried ordering them separately but the waitress asked if I want a meal with both of them, which is what I wanted anyway. The food finally came and the portions were a little small. I guess you get where you pay for. My meal of chicken and chicken rice balls cost me MYR 4.90, which is actually quite affordable. I should have ordered a bigger portion.

The chicken actually tasted great! It had that familiar oily taste with a tinge of saltiness and sweetness – a kind of balance that is hard to find. I felt sorry for myself that I ordered so little of the chicken, anyway that is just half of the story. What about the chicken rice balls? The chicken rice balls, true to their name were chicken rice made into small dumpling size balls. Chicken rice is basically rice cooked in drippings of boiled chicken and ginger. It is oily but quite tasty. I usually have two servings of the rice alone that go together with the chicken. Anyway, the chicken rice balls were made from this stuff and eating dumpling style.

To be honest, the chicken rice balls were a bit of a disappointment. They didn’t taste anything like I was expecting them. In fact they didn’t even taste like chicken rice. It was a bit dry but I guess so is rice. It is meant to be eaten with the chicken. I even ended up dipping the chicken rice ball into the chili to give it more flavor. Call me ignorant but I didn’t really like it that much. Maybe next time, I would just try their chicken rice.

However, other tables seem to think otherwise. A rather animated uncle on the other table was bringing friends to the restaurant to have chicken rice balls. He rather emphatically stated that every one who eats here should have at least five balls, which is exactly what I have. I wonder what his vistors thought of the chicken rice balls though.

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