There are 3 chicken rice shops in and near Hatyai city that serves up chicken rice that can match up to my pretentiously high standards. One is Mui Kee, the other is the famous one in Thunglung on the way from Malaysia to Hatyai and the last ultimate one I don’t want to tell you. There are many hidden gems in Thailand that are thankfully shielded from the hordes of tourists and food bloggers by the language barrier and their locations being out of the tourist radar.

Miu Kee has been selling chicken rice in Hatyai for more than 30 years. My dad ate in its old shop for lunch almost everyday when he first came to Thailand in the late 70s. He says it still does taste the same. That is one of the most endearing things about Hatyai. Times may have changed but the standard of the food does not. I remember my mom bought a pack of Mui Kee chicken rice and brought it over on the then still running Thai Airways flight to Singapore for me to eat while I was in Primary School. That was the best dabao ever.

The chicken is nice and moist while the skin is sinfully smooth. The boss would debone the chicken completely and slice it up into perfect thin slices. This is so that the thin slices can soak up as much of the wonderful homemade sauce they have in the shop as possible. You have to ask specifically for it, its called the special sauce with lemon or Nam Jim Manaaw. Do not think that you can concoct a second epic sauce yourself with the range of condiments that they have on the table like ground ginger, fermented bean sauce, chilli bits and dark soy sauce. Because I have tried. And I have failed. For 20 years.

The boss speaks chinese, english and hainanese fluently so ordering is a breeze.

Opening hours:-

8:00AM to 2:30PM

Mondays closed.

Location:-

https://goo.gl/maps/d4mo6gEaJeP2

GPS Coordinates: 7.006075, 100.473683