Lee Fun Nam Kee: Singapore’s original soya sauce chicken
This review is based off of a restaurant in Singapore during my recent trip. We came here for dinner as a table of 3 adults.
Lee Fun Nam Kee is a local spot near our friend’s house that specializes in soy sauce chicken. Chicken rice is already a very popular dish in Singapore, and a variant of this dish is the soya sauce chicken rice, which has more Hong Kong origins. Based on this soya sauce, Lee Nam created a Singapore soya sauce chicken rice where the sauce is more hearty and thick.
The vibe
It was a pretty decently sized restaurant. The building has this casual indoor-outdoor living feature in the sense that there are big arches instead of doors and windows. What I am basically saying is that there’s no AC so it can still be quite hot, but since we came here during dinner/night time, it wasn’t that bad. They have air fans around the walls/pillars.
Tables are large and spacious, can fit tables of 5 and more. Very casual, you just sit down and order.
Food review
Here is everything we ordered for 3 people. Prices are in SGD but conversion is almost 1:1. Prices are also rounded to the nearest dollar.
Original soya sauce chicken ($6-30)
Of course we must order their original soya sauce chicken. The price varies at $6/9/12/16/18/30 depending on how large of an order you want. I’m not sure exactly what size the one we ordered was (in the photo), but I presume it’s within the $9-16 range since we ordered 3 different dishes to share. We also ordered a smaller side portion of soya sauce chicken, which I assume is the $6:
You can choose what you want as a base – rice or noodle – but we all chose noodle. It comes with a little bit of veggies.
I really liked the soy sauce chicken. I usually don’t really like just white chicken meat without skin, but it was juicy and the soy sauce they pour on top is so good! It’s very savoury and full of flavour, and it does have a thicker consistency that I like. Mixed in with the noodles is also a very good pairing.
Steamed white chicken ($6-30)
Similar to the soy sauce chicken, this steamed white chicken dish is more Hainan style. So it has a lighter taste and no soya sauce. Again, the price can vary depending on how much chicken you want and you can also choose a base for rice or noodle.
I thought this steamed white chicken dish quite good as well, but not as yummy as the soya sauce chicken. I also didn’t think it was as good as the chicken rice we had at Boon Tong Kee, another restaurant we ate at in Singapore a few days prior.
Recommended: Read my review of Boon Tong Kee, the best chicken rice in Singapore.
Special roast duck ($9-48)
Again, this dish has many similar features – you can choose rice or noodle base and comes with some veggies. The price range is a little different – $9/15/24/48.
The duck was a nice change of pace because I feel like we’ve been eating chicken a lot in Singapore. The roast duck presentation was probably the best and looked very appetizing. The soya sauce they put on is very similar (if not the same) as the soya chicken dish. Lots of meat on the duck leg and it is also chopped up for easier eating or sharing. Skin is not that crispy since they drizzle the sauce on it, but that makes it more saucy with flavour.
Poached bean sprout ($6-8)
For our one vegetable dish, we order their famous poached bean sprout dish. The price is either $6 or $8 for a small vs. larger size.
It is a simple dish but kind of a nice garnish with our main dishes. I also like that they added some fried pork skin and green onions so it’s not just literally a plate of bean sprouts.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญโญโญโญ
I was really hovering between 3-4 stars, I think 3.5 is accurate but the good prices made me bump it up to a 4 star. For the quality and portions, it’s really hard to get such authentic Singapore/Chinese food back in Vancouver.
Out of everything we tried, the original soya sauce chicken dish was the best (guess they live up to their reputation!). The white chicken and duck was good as well, but between the 2, I would order the duck if you are already ordering 1 soya sauce chicken. That way you can save your tummy for chicken rice from a different spot that specializes in the white chicken rice.
Lee Fun Nam Kee is a no-frills restaurant with humble hawker beginnings, as with many other popular spots in Singapore. Their menu selection is quite extensive and I really like how you can choose you starch base and how much meat you want for different prices. A very flexible menu.
They are located in a more residential area so if you happen to be close by, I would recommend a visit!