Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball (和记鸡饭团)

For the first time, we're posting something out of KL. We decided to travel to Malacca for a 2 days trip. Shortly after arriving in our hotel, we were hungry and decided to have Malacca’s famous chicken ball as our lunch. This chicken rice dish is a variation of the Hainanese chicken rice.


We were told that this restaurant is a good place to dine in. Well, you can tell when you saw the heavy queue outside the restaurant. We later learn that this restaurant has been featured by countless food shows, newspapers and magazines. We waited patiently to be seated and placed our order when seated.


So, here’s our chopped chicken served with cucumbers. The chicken was quite oily but it still tasted great and the meat was tender.


Here’s our main attention, the chicken rice ball. We were served with 15 chicken rice balls. The rice is cooked with chicken stock, garlic, spring onion and ginger. It was shaped into a bite-size ball. Why did they shape it into a ball? About 50 years ago, when rice was served and sold to the fishermen and boat loaders in Malacca, they have to eat their meal as quick as possible and so the rice was shaped into a ball so that they can take their meals easily. Some also argued that the rice has to be kept warm from the time it was cooked until mealtime. Anyway, the main point is, it is delicious.


Chicken rice is usually served with bean sprouts. Hoe Kee served shredded cabbage instead. It tasted ok to us. But somehow we prefer bean sprouts.


The total for the bill was RM17.50. Besides chicken rice, their assam fish is also very well-known. It was a new experience for us. You guys should give this restaurant a go when you happen to visit Malacca. It’s really worth it!


Restaurant Information
No. 4, 6 & 8 Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200 Melaka.
Tel : 06-2834751


Sugar Bean Ratings
Food : 4/5
Environment : 3.5/5
Service : 4/5
Overall : 3.8/5