Hawker Chan - now in Bangkok

My jaw dropped wide open when I saw this .

Hawker Chan has now opened its first restaurant in Bangkok ...

...and the queue before the lunch crowd comes in is already like this .

Well , be prepared to stand in line 

The queue moves along at an excrutiatingly slow snail's pace 

We decided to split up and get a table space but what we were not prepared for was ...

...that it would take even longer !

Even up to the point when it was number 27 and ours was number 29 , apparently the person in front of us ( number 28 ) did such a huge takeaway , that I was beginning to get pretty annoyed and very hungry .

Man , they even branded the bottled water , so this better be good or else !

Right , this is it .

My order . I took the wing part .

Before I start , here's a bit on his background . Hawker Chan is a real hawker from Ipoh , Malaysia , who learnt his craft in Hong Kong . He later moved to Singapore and opened a chicken rice stall in one of the foodcourts which ever since his overnight fame requires a 2 hour wait these days just for a plate of chicken rice .

With his background in mind , I shall now begin to evaluate and give you my opinion on whether he is deserving of that award or not .

The rice , is very frankly , very Singapore foodcourt or old Malaysian bus stop style with no oil in it .

Plain , not of an expensive grain , if it were up to us Chinese in South East Asia , where the fragrance or quality of rice grains are of equal importance , he would not make the cut .

Those little beans are not peanuts as they ought to rightly be , but soya beans cooked in soy , which , is quite a shock to me , but still something I can accept and grow to like .

Coming to the sauce and meats however , this is where his forte is .

Sauces are excellent , the usual Hong Kong standard , 

but the skin on the meat ....oh my gawds , ( please , those of you who think any skin equals fats , you and I are not one the same wavelength ).

Where was I ? Oh yes the skin has a celestial gelatinuous texture like nothing that has ever passed my lips before !

That , I savoured every single bit .

Honestly , I do not enjoy chicken meat outside of this region and Bangkok is no exception , thus I hope you notice that I am placing emphasis on the skin rather than the meat , because Malaysian bred chicken meat , is still by far , the tastiest in the region ( Hong Kong's is superior but I don't have access to it as often as I would like ).

Moving on to the wantan dry noodles . They're fine and springy , but one needs to fully get the sauce mixed into with the noodles , like completely because the noodles are plain and the sauce is delicious .

Was such a shame that it was served dead cold and not in the least warm you know ? 

Chilli paste leans more towards Malaysian as there are hints of dried shrimps , much like the sambal hairbee which the Nyonyas make , but then again , his Hongkie culinary training somehow , still manages to emerge in the confluence of chillies and how it tastes overall , much like in those old Kowloon eateries in the past .

Boiled vegies are authentic , they are not supposed to be flavoured , emphasis being on the natural , bitter sweet , left out to air dry , feel of the vegetable .

Char siew , is the bomb , I don't think anyone in Bangkok Chinatown can beat him at this , well , with the exception of whoever is churning out the roast duck in MK , this is good . It is tender , the fat melts in the mouth , sweet , fragrant and fresh . 

Obviously , Hawker Chan is a master at roasting . 

I myself will fight for the black burnt bits because we in these parts , find it a savoury delection , despite now knowing what a carcinogenic risk it is to be consuming such meats .

So when you see the black bits , try not to learn how to eat it or you will be hopelessly hooked !

Here comes the kinks .

#1 

Time factor . If you are in a hurry , you are going to get really angry because in 2 hours ( and it is not even lunch yet ) they only served 42 customers !

# 2

Tables are not cleared fast enough 

# 3

Food served cold despite the horrible wait 

Bill is more than acceptable for any homesick Sinkie , Hongkie or Malaysian because he does food that not only comes up to our palatte , some of it are gems that leave you wanting more .

Would I return ?

Why not ?

But only if I have time to kill or haven't had a decent plate of chicken rice ( which is really difficult to find in Bangkok ) lately .

Yes , his may not be a roast chicken , but braised , but it is completely up my alley and if you ask me , perhaps worth a looooooong beard growing wait over  .

Does he deserve the award ?

Maybe but 100 percent for the soy sauce chicken skin and for me to include the chicken meat in as well , he's go to use Malaysian birds .

Location : Terminal 21 , Bangkok