I try Peter Yu and Simonboy's chicken rice, here's whether it's worth the one-hour trip to Yishun

By now, you would have probably heard that local actor Peter Yu and influencer Simon Khung—also known as Simonboy—have opened a spanking new F&B venture called Singabola Chicken Rice. 

Famous celebrities were seen at the stall's grand opening on Monday (June 2), including director Jack Neo, and actors like Henry Thia, Tang Miaoling and Dawn Yeoh. 

Peter told reporters in a previous interview that he decided to start the business with Simon and their business partner, Winson Ng, because of his "love for chicken rice". 

He also revealed that while he doesn't know how to cook the dish, a chef was hired and will "continue to conduct taste tests to improve" the food served.

The stall is located in Yishun and as I live at the other end of Singapore, it takes me more than an hour to get there by public transport. 

But I was really curious about how the chicken rice tasted. So, I decided to make a trip all the way there to try it. 

The stall is housed in container-style coffeeshop Lepak One Corner by Yassin Kampung. 

It isn't hard to miss it either—just look for Simonboy's face that's plastered all over the storefront.

When I visited the coffeeshop at 9.20am on a Wednesday, I was the only customer there. 

So if you want to avoid the crowds and are lucky enough to have a flexible schedule, you can try coming down on weekday mornings. 

Singabola's menu features the usual chicken rice stall suspects like roasted chicken rice, steamed chicken rice, chicken noodles and chicken hor fun.

There is also the option to get one quarter of a chicken or a whole chicken. 

The menu's highlight is the Singapura Chicken Rice Ball ($6.50). I ordered that and a plate of Steamed Chicken Rice ($4.50). 

The Steamed Chicken Rice came with an extremely generous portion of rice but I found this somewhat disproportionate with the amount of chicken provided. 

Taste-wise, the rice was fragrant, and the chicken was silky, tender and juicy. 

I also really appreciate how the soup wasn't the usual watery and salty concoction that you get at some chicken rice stalls. 

Singabola Chicken Rice's rendition came with chunks of carrots and radish too, which I thought was a nice touch. 

Overall, while it was a decent plate of chicken rice, I'll be frank and say that nothing about it stood out so much that it would warrant me going all the way to Yishun just to eat it. 

But if I were in the area, I wouldn't mind getting it. 

The Singapura Chicken Rice Ball, on the other hand, was definitely more memorable. 

I've tried chicken rice balls before from Hainan Chicken Rice Ball, and I expected the ones here to taste similar. 

It was quite a different experience. 

Chicken rice balls are typically just made with just rice and nothing else. 

But the ones here have chicken rolled into them. I was also surprised that they managed to fit an entire half-boiled egg inside. 

That's not all—the chicken rice ball is also fried so that it maintains its shape. 

This gives the exterior a crispy texture that I quite enjoyed. 

The entire dish isn't just crunchy though. The rice under that fried layer has the same soft, slightly oily texture as your regular chicken rice. 

All in all, I found myself enjoying this a lot more than I had anticipated myself too and I wouldn't mind making a detour to eat it or if I were already in the area. 

Address: 1001 Yishun Industrial Park A, #01-1001, Singapore 768743
Opening hour: 9am to 9pm 

ALSO READ: 26-year-old woman taking over parents' hawker business after their retirement

melissateo@asiaone.com