Hainanese Chicken Rice

Last week I tried a new hk cafe place for lunch. Very small and packed place run by young people with cool English music posters on the walls. Their menu is pretty appealing, more on the pricey side, reminds me of more Westernized items like Firefly/Dickens.

海南雞飯 4/5
Rice - flavor packed with oily & salty goodness
Chicken - average, meaty and tender
Sauces - this was the highlight for me! Ginger oil sauce, a sweet-thick soy sauce, and fresh garlic sour red sauce (too bad soup is covering in this pic) I usually just eat the ginger sauce with the rice, but this time I really love the other two sauces, so flavorful, different and fresh.

Baked Pork Chop Rice

Of course at all new cha chaan teng, we have to try the baked pork chop rice. The sauce is sweet and different from the usual tomato sauce. However the rice tastes like it's leftover rice - soft, bland, loose, small grain.. and my dad reckons it is. Also the milk tea could have more flavor..

Shared a Cuttlefish & Seaweed Noodle and Shrimp Congee with my sister. She thought both were okay, but I thought the shrimp was too hard and not 'springy/bouncy' (爽). The noodles were alright but so disappointed that there were only a couple thin shreds of seaweed (where can I find noodles with actual sheets of seaweed?) The cuttlefish balls were dense and not 'springy/bouncy' (彈牙).

Dad's staple dish - Baked Pork Chop Rice. (I think $8.99, add $2 for soup and drink)
The rice was good and I like the onion strips but the sauce was too sour. [I think the best is Blue Ocean]

Overall not too bad but pricier than other places eg. $8-9 for just the rice vs. the same price at other places includes a drink and/or soup.

 Steak and Rice (Lunch combo)

 Hainanese Chicken Rice - Rice was plain but different with the crispy topping (dried almonds? garlic?). Chicken pieces were large, meaty and tender. Overall good, but no distinct Hainan flavor even with the sauces.
*07/25/2012 Today's Hainan Chicken Rice was much tastier than usual! Both the chicken and rice were oilier and more flavorful*

Baked Pork Chop Rice - I like that the sauce has a subtle tomato flavor without being too red, thick or heavy, and it included peas, carrots, corn and fresh tomatoes. The cheese was perfectly melted and pork was tender and pre-cut. Probably one of my favorite baked pork chop rice... although the texture of the rice was a bit 'chewy' and the pork is not as juicy as the restaurant next door.

With a wide menu selection of the standard cafe dishes along with Malaysian, Taiwanese and Japanese influences, Blue Ocean is a promising hk style cafe. The white/grey/black interior with blue accent wall gives it a bright and clean 'blue ocean' feel. Good taste and value for money. Dinner combos start from $7.99 and come with soup and drink.

*Update: Five months later, this cafe has become my weekly dinner spot. I wonder if they recognize me by now; they should give me VIP discount or free drink/soup. New items I tried: Japanese style Fried Chicken Rice with Egg (Donburi style) and Pork Bone Soup Taiwanese Squid Ball Noodle - both taste good but don't come in a combo. *


Japanese Style Fried Chicken Rice w. Egg - better than I expected! The chicken was hot, crispy outside,tender inside (was worried it would be hard and dry with little meat) Rice was good with the sauce and onions. The only thing is that it could use more egg - I could only see and taste remnants of fried egg when it should be more scrambled egg to mix in with the rice. $7.99, no combo.