Restaurant:
Rowland Man Chan Chicken Rice
19209 E Colima Rd Ste F
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Welcome to another edition of Restaurant Reviews!
Today, we’re taking a look at a small hole in the wall restaurant that specializes in Hainan Chicken located in Rowland Heights.
If you’re not familiar with Hainan Chicken, it’s simply poached chicken that is often served with rice and soup both cooked with the chicken stock along with dipping sauces for the chicken. Although this dish originated from Chinese cuisine, there are various adaptations from multiple Asian countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
ABOUT THE RESTAURANT
Rowland Man Chan Chicken Rice is a small mom and pop, hole in the wall restaurant located in the corner of a strip mall.
The inside is on the smaller side and can seat approximately 20-25 guests.
Local Chinese people seem to dine here quite often which is a great sign of the authenticity of the food served here.
THE FOOD
Because this restaurant is known for their Hainan chicken, we decided to try 2 different types that they had. We also ordered 2 completely different dishes just to add some variety and to see if their other food was any good. Before the food came out, they also gave each of us a small bowl of herbal chicken broth which was simple, but AMAZING. Onto the food…
1. Hainan Chicken Rice (Dark Meat)
Description:
Poached chicken served with chicken rice (seasoned rice cooked with chicken stock), pickled vegetables, and 2 dipping sauces: green onion ginger sauce & sweet and spicy sauce.
Review:
I was very excited to try this as this was their signature dish and this chicken definitely lived up to the hype. The dark meat chicken was moist and juicy and paired nicely with the two dipping sauces. Both sauces were pretty subtle in taste but were pleasantly ginger-y without overpowering the natural flavors of the chicken. However, the star of the dish was definitely the chicken rice that was served on the side. The rice was perfectly seasoned and the flavors from the chicken stock used in cooking the rice really shined through. The chicken rice alone was reason enough to give this dish an A+ Rating.
Result:
HIGHLY Recommend – Rating 9.5/10.
2. Fried Hainan Chicken Leg w/Rice
Description:
Skin fried chicken served with chicken rice and a sweet and sour sauce.
Review:
This dish is pretty much the same as the regular Hainan Chicken Rice above except that the chicken is fried, rather than poached, giving it that crispy delicious chicken skin along with the juicy meat inside. The fry was executed perfectly and the chicken overall wasn’t too oily at all. The sauce was your standard Chinese sweet and sour sauce and was also great with the chicken. I personally like the additional dimension of crispy skin so this would probably be my go to on most days but you can’t go wrong with either!
Result:
HIGHLY Recommend – Rating 9.5/10
3. French Style Filet Mignon
Description:
Cubed Filet Mignon Steak sautéed with onions in a soy sauce based sauce served with chicken rice and cucumbers.
Review:
If you’re familiar with the Vietnamese dish ‘Shaking Beef’ (or Bo Luc Lac), this is pretty much the same dish. The filet mignon was seasoned well with a nice soy sauce glaze and some pepper and was served medium with the proper pinkness in the center. The steak was VERY VERY tender and was phenomenal with the chicken rice. My only suggestion to the restaurant would be to also serve the pickled vegetables with this dish just to add some fresh vinegary notes to compliment the steak.
Result:
Despite being known for their chicken, this was a solid dish; Recommend – Rating 8.5/10
4. Garlic Eel w/Rice
Description:
Grilled Eel over Egg Fried Rice and topped with seaweed, bonito flakes, sesame seeds, and eel sauce.
Review:
The eel itself was grilled nicely and was soft and flaky. The eel sauce, bonito flakes, and seaweed were a nice touch adding some sweetness to the dish from the eel sauce and additional textural elements from the bonito flakes and seaweed. The egg fried rice that came with the dish was also very tasty and seemed like they might have also added a bit chicken stock to it as well. All in all, this was a wholesome and hearty dish and was surprisingly also very solid
Result:
Recommend – 8.5/10
5. Stir-Fry String Beans
Description:
String beans stir-fried with minced garlic and hot pepper in a mild soy sauce.
Review:
We honestly just ordered this because we felt like we needed some more vegetables but it paired great with all our dishes. The seasoning and stir fry on the string beans were all on point so no complaints here.
Result:
Recommend – 7.5/10
6. Coconut Jelly inside Young Coconut
Description:
Coconut Jelly made from young coconut water served inside a whole coconut
Review:
Even though this is a chicken restaurant, I've seen people come in just to eat this for dessert. The coconut jelly was silky smooth and perfectly sweet and had the consistency of a panna cotta. Young coconut is one of my new favorite fruits and this dessert was absolutely on point.
Result:
Simple but perfect. 10/10.
OVERALL RATING
If you’ve never tried Hainan chicken and happen to be in this area, I would definitely check this place out. The food is very authentic and despite the fact that the workers speak limited English, they were very nice and understood English well enough.
Both Hainan chicken dishes were about $10, the filet mignon ~$18, the eel dish ~$14, string beans ~$9, and the coconut jelly ~$7
For what it is, I think the prices were fair and the quality of the food was definitely worth it.
Food: 9.5/10
Service: 8.5/10
Value: 8.5/10
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