Boon Tong Kee, Singapore’s celebrated 40-year-old Hainanese chicken rice institution, has officially launched its first Hong Kong branch in Causeway Bay, bringing its Michelin-recommended signature dishes to Deng Lung Street.
The highly anticipated arrival of Boon Tong Kee marks a significant moment for Hong Kong’s vibrant dining scene, offering authentic Singaporean cuisine steeped in history and culinary acclaim. Established in 1979 in Chinatown as a modest hawker stall before opening its first formal restaurant in 1983, Boon Tong Kee—often hailed as “Singapore’s First Hainanese Chicken”—has expanded to eight successful outlets in its home country. Hong Kong diners can now experience the traditional flavors that earned the brand a Michelin nod, focusing particularly on its famously tender White Cut Chicken.
Bringing Singapore’s National Dish to Causeway Bay
The new Hong Kong location, situated at Shop 4, G/F, V POINT, 18 Deng Lung Street, provides a central hub for enthusiasts of Southeast Asian cuisine. The restaurant operates daily from 11:30 am to 10:00 pm, catering to both lunch and dinner crowds. To celebrate its launch, Boon Tong Kee is offering a limited-time takeaway promotion featuring a special single-person lunch set, available until further notice.
At the heart of the Boon Tong Kee experience is the White Cut Chicken. This signature dish is renowned for its smooth, succulent texture and delicate flavor. The dish is traditionally enhanced by a trio of house-made condiments, allowing diners to customize their meal: a zesty chili sauce for heat lovers, a rich black soy sauce perfect for deepening the chicken’s umami and mixing with rice, and a refreshing ginger paste that highlights the chicken’s natural sweetness.
Accompanying the chicken is the essential side dish: Chicken Oily Rice (Khao Man Kai). Prepared using fragrant, distinct Thai jasmine rice, the grains are cooked in a savory chicken broth infused with rendered chicken fat. This technique ensures the rice is aromatic and flavorful without being greasy, resulting in perfectly firm, separate grains.
Beyond Chicken: Must-Try Side Dishes
While the Hainanese chicken rice is the main draw, Boon Tong Kee’s menu features other authentic Singaporean and Southeast Asian favorites:
- Crispy Fried Tofu: A side dish praised for its textural contrast, featuring a thin, delicate crispy exterior that yields to a remarkably soft, silken interior.
- Prawn Toast (Har Toasts): A delicious fusion dish, this Hong Kong-inspired English afternoon tea staple is reinvented with a generous prawn paste filling sandwiched between bread slices and deep-fried until golden and crunchy, offering a satisfying, bouncy bite.
- Sweet and Sour Pork (Gula Rou): This classic dish strikes a perfect balance between sweet and sour, maintaining a satisfyingly crunchy texture throughout.
For smaller dining groups, the restaurant also offers a set menu, such as the two-person dinner set for HKD 298. This typically includes two bowls of oily rice, the choice between Sambal Kangkung (water spinach with sambal chili paste) or garlic stir-fried morning glory, and crispy tofu or sweet and sour pork.
Beverage options provide refreshing regional variations, including traditional drinks like chilled Homemade Barley Water, Luo Han Guo Longan Tea, cold brewed Osmanthus Oolong Tea, and refreshing Hand-Beaten Lemon Tea.
Boon Tong Kee’s expansion into Hong Kong underscores the growing appetite in the city for authentic, heritage Asian cuisine. Its presence in Causeway Bay, a district known for intense culinary competition, is expected to draw substantial crowds eager to sample Singaporean food royalty.