Located outside the Global Gourmet Street in Nangang, the restaurant charges an additional 10% cleaning fee for dine-in, and the prices are indeed not cheap. But how does it taste? It’s very delicious!
Having tried many Hainanese chicken rice dishes, the Hainanese chicken rice from Xingma Fast Food is exceptionally tender. The chicken is quite fresh, evident from how tightly the skin and meat are connected. There are often dark red spots on the chicken pieces, but there is no fishy smell, which should be due to the hemoglobin seeping from the bone marrow. Both sauces pair well, and the white rice seems to be authentic Thai rice, albeit a bit on the moist side.
We also ordered the signature laksa from Xingma, which might be our first time having laksa. The broth is rich and aromatic, and the shrimp flavor elevates the overall taste. The rice noodles and pasta can completely soak up the broth, making it truly exceptional.
In the Wenhua Road area of Fengjia student district, there's a small shop. The indoor seating only accommodates about 10 people before it's full, but there are outdoor seats available as well.
Today, I ordered the #Hainan Chicken Leg Rice for $155, which comes with soup. There are three types of sauces available, and you can choose two.
The chicken is super tender, and the skin is smooth and tender as well. There are Chinese cabbage leaves placed under the chicken. The side dishes, baby corn and bean curd, are stewed, and the broccoli is drizzled with sesame dressing.
The soup tastes like it's made from chicken bones.
Overall, I recommend it. It's not expensive, not far from home, and quite delicious. The minor downside is that parking in the area is difficult, but it's no problem for scooters.
The restaurant has plenty of seats, and you order at the counter. This place requires an additional 10% service charge.
This time, we ordered a set for two people costing $639, plus a 10% service fee, so the final bill came to $703.
The set for two includes: Spicy Chicken + Thai Green Curry Chicken + Cabbage with Shrimp Paste + two bowls of white rice + Yin Yang Milk Tea/Hong Kong-style Iced Lemon Tea + Kaya Butter Bread.
The Spicy Chicken was the best dish in my opinion; the chicken piece is thick, paired with crispy skin, complemented by onions as a side, and served with a sour and spicy sauce. Overall, it's really delicious.
The Thai Green Curry Chicken had a good amount of chicken, but I felt the flavor was a bit ordinary.
The Cabbage with Shrimp Paste was quite good, making it a great pairing with rice.
The Kaya Butter Bread, with its combination of butter and bread, has always been a good match and is tasty.
As for the overall meal, I thought the most ordinary part was their drinks; whether it was the Yin Yang Milk Tea or the Hong Kong-style Iced Lemon Tea, I felt they could use a bit more improvement.
"I encountered Malaysia in Miaoli."
For most Taiwanese, Malaysian cuisine is simply Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Char Kway Teow, and so on. Those more in the know might have heard of the Hainanese chicken war between Malaysia and Singapore. However, at this restaurant in Miaoli, I found Malaysian dishes I had never encountered before, making this trip well worth it.
"Visit the Malaysian Bean Sprout Chicken."
🍚 Order of the Day
👉 Fried Bean Sprouts + Wenchang Chicken (NT$40 + NT$200)
Bean Sprout Chicken is a classic dish from Ipoh, Malaysia. Since Bean Sprout Chicken is this restaurant's signature dish, it was only natural that I ordered the Bean Sprout Chicken combo.
The bean sprouts here are exceptionally thick and plump.
The bean sprouts are already crispy, and the owner has specially sourced farm-grown, appropriately thick bean sprouts, striving to replicate the Malaysian version. While they still don't match the original Malaysian bean sprouts, they are the crispiest and thickest I've had in Taiwan.
The Wenchang chicken has super tender meat, with both skin and meat being quite flavorful. Each bite bursts with oiliness that makes it hard to put down the chopsticks. The richness of the chicken pairs perfectly with the crisp and mild bean sprouts. One piece of chicken, two mouthfuls of bean sprouts – this combination is simply perfect. I'll definitely order this combination in the future.
👉 Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles (NT$70)
The chicken soup with rice noodles was a delightful surprise.
The rice noodles are incredibly silky, sliding over the tongue like smooth silk and down the throat, paired with fragrant chicken soup, creating a marvelous flavor. Upon closer tasting, I could even detect a faint shrimp aroma, likely from shrimp used during the broth preparation, adding more layers to the flavor – elegant with a unique character, which I really enjoyed.
👉 Char Siu (NT$120)
The Char Siu here involves a very complex preparation process. Compared to the common plum blossom version in Taiwan, which is sweet and fatty, this is a more satisfying experience. If you find lean meat unfulfilling, you should try the Malaysian version of Char Siu here; tasting a different type of Char Siu will be an interesting experience.
🍚 Other Orders (None Disappointing)
👉 Chicken Oil Rice (NT$35)
👉 Shrimp Oil Tofu (NT$65)
🍚 Summary
👉 Focuses on Malaysian Ipoh cuisine
👉 Perfect for dining after a trip to Miaoli!
🚩 The chef is from Malaysia and offers a variety of authentic dishes.
📍 Location and Transportation: Sam Sing Ma is located on Section 1, Da'an Road, Taipei City. The nearest MRT station is Da'an Station, Exit 6, which is about a 4-minute walk. Parking is inconvenient.
🏠 Space: Upon entry, there is a seating area, with the counter and cooking area behind it. The space is not large, with 20 seats available. The lighting and furniture have a cute retro feel.
💰 Ordering and Payment: Orders are made at the counter by calling out numbers for checkout, and only cash is accepted.
🍽️ Dishes:
Hainanese Chicken Rice: The portion is decent. The chicken, which is the main protein, is tender and delicious, served with cabbage, scallion omelet, and pickled radish (which lacks flavor). The rice soaks up the broth, and overall I find it average; the advantage is that it’s affordable.
Malaysian Curry Chicken Rice: The portion is sufficient, but there is little vegetable. The curry tastes good and pairs well with the rice, with seasoning just right—not too spicy. It contains chicken and very soft potatoes. (The sauce next to the rice is very spicy.)
💭 Summary:
I've eaten at this restaurant quite a few times. Previously, I would take takeout home, but today I came a bit further for dine-in. Personally, I feel this restaurant offers a rich variety of dishes, the flavors are authentic and the prices are reasonable. Although it may not have the consistent quality of a chain restaurant, it feels warmer to eat here.
The food is genuinely mediocre, but I really like the dining environment. This place is a mixed-use restaurant, offering everything from breakfast to lunch and dinner; we came for breakfast. I saw pretty good reviews on Google Maps, so we decided to come. This time, we ordered the much-recommended banana pancakes (by the way: do Malaysians really like banana pancakes? They seem quite common here), but the pancakes tasted very dry and powdery, only becoming slightly moist in the areas with bananas.
As for drinks, I recommend ordering Teh (tea); it's quite good. The coffee, on the other hand, is too sweet and has a strange taste.
Most of the staff are Indian, but the service is relatively friendly. It doesn’t come off as very harsh. 😆
Malaysian Fried Rice $185. This specialty fried rice from international cuisine really tastes quite different from Taiwanese fried rice—it's particularly flavorful. The two slices of what I assume are shrimp crackers are also very delicious, and the two shrimp are very fresh. Overall, it's quite special and tasty.
Curry Chicken Leg Coconut Rice $190 has a very unique flavor, probably because of the addition of coconut milk. It’s really delicious when mixed with the rice, and the boiled egg and cucumber dipped in the curry coconut sauce taste distinctly different.
Rojak $150. I ordered this because, from the name, I had no idea what it was and it sounded unique, so I wanted to give it a try. It indeed turned out to be very special, with a unique sauce that’s hard to describe. The ingredients include cucumber, guava, pineapple, and crullers (I might be mistaken 😂), plus one or two other things that are really hard to identify—just a taste test.
Nanyang Coconut Milk Smoothie $90 exceeded my expectations in terms of taste—also, I think it looks very cute.
There are both indoor and outdoor seating options, and the dining area is divided into two sections, indicating how good the business is.
Delicious Malaysian Flavor in Gongguan
This meal:
Coconut Rice with Fried Chicken and Sambal Seafood $260
For those who can handle spice, I highly recommend the coconut rice with sambal seafood.
The coconut rice comes with shrimp crackers and cucumber.
It’s best enjoyed with sambal sauce; it's spicy and very delicious! 😋
The fried chicken is also quite tasty, but comparatively, it doesn’t stand out as much.
Classic Malaysian Satay Platter $250
The quality of the meat in the satay is average, but one of the key points of Malaysian cuisine is the sauce.
The sauce is very aromatic and delicious! 👍
Malaysian Teh Tarik $70
Compared to the Indian Teh Tarik you usually find at night markets, Malaysian Teh Tarik isn’t as sweet and has a stronger, slightly bitter tea flavor.
Personally, I prefer Mr. Chi’s Malaysian Milo, but that day I didn’t want something so sweet, so I ordered Teh Tarik instead.
In the end, I decided to get a cup of Milo as well.
I’ve been a regular at Mr. Chi’s since my student days because my Malaysian classmates often crave their hometown food.
With a student ID, you can get a 30% discount on drinks.
Food recommendation for everyone near Gongguan!
Located in the Kaohsiung Station MRT underground mall, you can see this store before entering Animation Street. The decoration of the store is also quite atmospheric, and there are a lot of durian-related products and coffee products baked at the door. If you ask about it, it is actually quite easy to see him in many food stores.
After reading the Google reviews, I found that the reviews were still above four stars, so it shouldn’t be a surprise, so I went in and gave it a try.
Four points, green curry, paper-wrapped chicken, and eyeballs. But before we talk about the taste, we must first mention the price. The price of this durian ball is 99 yuan, but there are only three when it comes. Although we already know that durians are uneven things, there are only three on the huge plate. The small ball is still a bit empty and tastes very ordinary. Durian TV has it, but overall it won't make people want to order it a second time.
The home part is actually not very tasty. Green curry is available in many Thai or Malaysian stores, but to be honest, the green curry in this store doesn’t taste very special, and it’s not very spicy or spicy. It has other aromas, and as shown in the photo, there are only three pieces of chicken in a large pot of green curry... In short, it will not make people want to order a second meal.
Finally, there is something worth recommending about this store, which is its paper-wrapped chicken. It has a unique smell of spices, and the meat tastes very soft and tender. The saltiness is just right. I have to say it is a delicious dish. , it’s just 190 NT dollars but the portion is small. Although the taste is not bad, I won’t eat it a second time.
Located in the Giant Kota Damansara Mall. Parking is pretty easy to get.
Came on a weekend. It was quite clear they are understaffed as its usually quite busy on weekends. Took us awhile to get our table as their staff were hustling juggling many duties.
Just order with the qr code provided. As the name implies, its mainly known for its chicken rice and is a chain outlet.
Food came pretty fast but the taste was just normal/less than normal. The chicken looked abit skinny, the tauge wasnt so crispy and the pai ti was so-so.
The ayam berlando was coated well with spices and the spicy sauce was decent. However the chicken was abit dry.
Overall, wont mind eating here if i was in the area for shopping as there arent many choices here. If not, i wont be making the journey here.
