For a limited time only (til June 30th, but hopefully they’ll extend or make this a regular item), Wee Nam Kee is serving up the Wagyu, Kobe and Kurobuta of chicken – the imported Yellow Chicken from Malaysia.
You might have heard about Wee Nam Kee’s Yellow Chicken and thought it’s just a fancy, overrated version of the regular poultry we enjoy. When they invited us to get a taste of this, along with other Wee Nam Kee dishes, we can guarantee that it’s far from your ordinary chicken.
Yellow Chicken vs Regular Chicken
The Yellow Chicken owes its color from all the fat it has as a result of a secret diet primarily composed of corn (Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma comes to mind). As you can see from the photos below, the Yellow Chicken is remarkably larger, plumper and the skin is thicker. And, of course, the regular one is pale compared to the yellow color of this premium chicken.
Wee Nam Kee imports these yellow chickens from Malaysia and they serve it in two (2) ways: Hainanese or steamed, and roasted. We got to try both. And though they’re equally delicious, I preferred the roasted yellow chicken.
How was it? The yellow chicken is notably juicier and very tender, succulent actually – a word you usually use to describe pork or steak. You can even see (and taste) the jelly-ish fat right underneath the skin, which makes it flavorful. The chicken meat is also densely packed. Definitely high quality chicken meat. The roast yellow chicken’s skin was crisper because it’s thicker than usual. I love it! 🙂
We then compared it with the regular chicken, and Ken noticed that the strings or meat fibers of the yellow chicken were smaller, giving the meat its smooth texture. It almost feels like it’ll melt in your mouth.
Just like any Hainanese chicken, Wee Nam Kee offers these accompanying condiments for your enjoyment: dark soy sauce, pounded ginger and chili sauce. I prefer ginger and soy sauce, but you can go for whatever combination you prefer. They also serve this with Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice (Php 40/cup), which they cook in chicken stock, making it more flavorful. 🙂
Right now, the yellow chicken is available only at Serendra in Bonifacio Global City, and Glorietta 2 in Makati, where we dined in. You can order Wee Nam Kee Yellow Chicken in three (3) serving sizes: small (Php 388), medium (Php 768), and large (Php 1,488). You can also choose to order half steamed and half roasted.
We’ll see if Wee Nam Kee extends or makes this a regular item on their menu. But, just in case, if you’re curious and want to have a taste yourself, we’re sure you can order this any time from today ’til June 30th.
Other Wee Nam Kee Dishes
Aside from the Yellow Chicken, Wee Nam Kee offered us a taste of their other popular dishes, starting off with the Sambal Kang Kong (Php 199). It’s kangkong (water spinach) cooked with shrimp paste and other spices, making this a flavorful appetizer or side dish.
My favorite among all the dishes was the Honey Crispy Squid (Php 350). It’s the perfect pulutan for me. Crisp and sweet. Mmmmmm! 🙂 As soon as I had a spoonful, I wanted to order beer (maybe I’ll try to make my own version of this at home. Hmmm….).
As we started eating the first dishes served to us, a very familiar aroma wafted through the air. It’s from Wee Nam Kee’s Cereal Prawns (Php 395 for 4 pieces). Ken liked this, but I’m not a big fan. Or maybe I just preferred prawns cooked in certain ways. 😉
Next dish was the Seafood Crispy Noodles (Php 315), with mushrooms, shrimps, fish fillet, crab sticks (I didn’t notice, otherwise I would’ve avoided eating this. I didn’t have any reaction though, thankfully), squid, and vegetables. This one, I enjoyed, which is probably the reason why I was too full at the end of our meal. 😀
We both love sweet and sour pork, so when I saw the Marmite Pork Ribs (Php 270), at first glance, I thought it was the same dish. I haven’t had Marmite before, but I heard it’s a popular condiment/sauce in Malaysia. Upon research, I found out it’s a yeast extract, a by-product of the beer-making process ( probably why we loved it? 😀 ). This Marmite sauce perfectly complemented the tender and juicy pork ribs it comes with. We enjoyed it very much. 🙂
Oh, by the way, for our beverages, Ken ordered their house-brewed iced lemon tea (Php 55), and I got the Mango Mint Smoothie (Php 105), which was delightfully refreshing.
For dessert, we first had a taste of Wee Nam Kee’s Mango Sago Pudding (Php 185). It’s made with a layer each of mango jelly, tapioca pudding and panna cotta.
I would’ve preferred the mango pudding to be a little sweeter, but I guess I was already biased between that and their 3 Flavor Chocolate Truffle Buchi (Php 88).
This was the last order of Buchi that they had available, so I was thankful we got to taste it. I love all three fillings – white, dark and milk chocolate. Of course, my favorite was the dark choco, but they’re all quite lovely. 🙂
Ken and I had to share each Buchi, so I cut them in half and the chocolate fillings oozed out of each one. I wanted to use my fingers to lick and enjoy the chocolate fillings, but I remembered there were other people around me. 😀 I definitely would recommend you order this Buchi. We were told this is their most popular dessert.
Overall, we very much enjoyed our lunch at Wee Nam Kee and we’re looking forward to trying their other dishes, particularly their rice toppings, and other meat dishes. There are dishes we’d order again, like the Yellow Chicken (of course), Honey Crispy Squid, Buchi and the crispy noodles, for sure. 🙂
Don’t miss the Yellow Chicken Festival at Wee Nam Kee! Let us know what you think of the yellow chicken at the comments section! 🙂
Wee Nam Kee
Glorietta 2, Ayala Center, Makati (11am to 10pm, daily)
Contact #: (02) 478-8477Serendra, McKinley Parkway, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig (11am to 10pm, daily)
Contact #: (02) 822-7095Facebook: Wee Nam Kee Philippines
Twitter: @WeeNamKeePH
Wee Nam Kee Menu
Click and navigate through their menu below.
this is one overrated resto, P300+ for a quarter chicken and that’s not even with rice and almost P100 per piece of ceral prawn. oh cmon
You should try their barley juice
its probably the only thing that keeps me from coming back to that place
Me and my mom ate here at their branch at Trinoma. We ordered their sauteed beef fillet w/ sate sauce and cereal prawns despite my mom’s displeasure with the beef which was sweet to her taste. The prawns were toasty tasty.