Tian Tian Chicken Rice: Menu, Outlets and Opening Hours

EatMaxwell Food Centre19 January 20266 min read

Visited in January 2026. Verified by an STB-licensed tourist guide.

A Maxwell Stall Since 1986

TL;DR

Worth it? Yes. Go for the rice, and go before the lunch queue

Location: Maxwell Food Centre, stalls 10 and 11

Getting there: Maxwell (TE18)

Spend: S$5 to S$10 a head on our visit

Must try: The steamed chicken rice

Good to know: The queue is long at lunch. Closed on Mondays

Tian Tian chicken rice in a blue and white paper box on a tray, with a small dish of chilli sauce beside it — Our steamed chicken rice, with the chilli sauce in its own dish.

The Maxwell Stall With the Queue

Tian Tian Chicken Rice is the stall under the long blue signboard at Maxwell Food Centre, and the one with a queue in front of it. It has sold Hainanese chicken rice here since 1986.

We ordered the steamed chicken rice. The chicken was tender, and our favourite part of the plate was the rice. The one thing we did not enjoy was the wait.

Customers queueing in front of the blue Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice signboard at Maxwell Food Centre — The queue at stalls 10 and 11. The board at the front carries Anthony Bourdain’s line about the rice.

How the Stall Started

Madam Foo Kui Lian started the stall in 1986, selling Hainanese chicken rice at Maxwell from family recipes. She brought in her husband, Li Zhi Qing, who was working as a lorry driver at the time. Their daughter, Li Mei Yun, took over as the second generation in 2009.

The long queues date from the early 2000s. Today there are six Tian Tian outlets across Singapore.

The dish is older than the stall. It probably grew out of a chicken rice from Hainan, an island off the southern coast of China, made with Wenchang chicken. Hainanese immigrants brought it to the region, where it took on local influences.

What Goes Into the Plate

A plate of chicken rice has three parts: the rice, the chicken and the chilli sauce. Ours came in a paper box with a braised egg and slices of cucumber.

The Rice

The rice is the part we liked best. It was fluffy and fragrant, with enough flavour to eat on its own.

The flavour comes from how it is cooked. The grains are fried in chicken fat first, then cooked in chicken broth. At Tian Tian the rice is stirred throughout the cooking so that it fully absorbs the stock.

Hand lifting a plastic spoon of chicken rice above a Tian Tian paper box holding chicken and a braised egg — A spoonful of the rice, with the chicken and the egg behind it.

The Steamed Chicken

The chicken comes chopped, with a light, savoury sauce poured over it. Ours was tender and moist, with a thin layer of jelly under the skin.

After blanching, the chicken goes into an ice bath to lock in the juices and set the texture. The usual dressing for chicken rice is a mix of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Tian Tian boils its own from a secret recipe.

Close-up of sliced steamed chicken with sauce on top of rice in a Tian Tian box, with a plastic fork — Sliced steamed chicken over the rice, with the sauce poured on top.

The Chilli Sauce

The chilli sauce comes on the side. It is spicy and tangy with a strong garlic kick, and it cuts through the richness of the chicken and rice. The usual recipe blends chillies, chicken broth, garlic and ginger.

We poured it over the chicken and mixed it into the rice. Use everything on the plate. That is the whole point of chicken rice.

Hand pouring chilli sauce from a small dish over chicken rice in a Tian Tian paper box — Pouring the chilli sauce over the chicken.

Fork mixing chilli sauce into chicken and rice in a Tian Tian paper box, with cucumber at the back — Chicken, rice and chilli mixed together.

Bourdain, Ramsay and the Michelin Guide

The front of the stall shows off its record. A board by the counter quotes Anthony Bourdain, who said in 2008 that the chicken rice was so fragrant and delicious it could be eaten on its own. A poster beside it recalls 2013, when Tian Tian cooked against Gordon Ramsay in the Singtel Hawker Heroes Challenge and won.

In 2016 the stall was one of 34 places given a Bib Gourmand in the first Michelin Guide Singapore, the award for good quality, good value cooking. It still holds one. The inspectors’ note is short: expect a long queue, and the chicken is worth the wait.

The Tian Tian Chicken Rice Menu

These are the prices on the board at the stall in September 2026, with GST included. The small set is roasted chicken only, so order a medium if you want it steamed. When we visited, a meal came to S$5 to $10 a head.

On the menu	Price
Chicken rice set, small (roasted only)	S$5
Chicken rice set, medium (steamed or roasted)	S$6
Chicken rice set, large (steamed, roasted or mixed)	S$9
Half chicken, for two to three people	S$17
Whole chicken, for four to six people	S$32
Extra drumstick	S$5
Vegetables in oyster sauce	S$4, S$6 or S$8
Braised egg	S$1

How to Order and When to Go

Chope a table before you queue. Chope is the local word for reserving a seat, and it is what Singaporeans do. If the tables are full, ask to share one. People are fine with it, and we do it all the time.

Then join the queue at the sign marked A. You order and pay at the cashier there, and collect your food with the receipt. The queue gets long at lunch, from about 12pm to 2pm, and can stretch out of the food centre and along a covered walkway. We waited 15 to 20 minutes, on a day when the queue was moderate.

Before you queue

Arrive before 11.30am to get ahead of the lunch crowd.
The stall is closed on Mondays. From Tuesday to Sunday it opens at 10am, and the last dine-in order is at 7.30pm.
For a group, order half a chicken to share, or add a drumstick.

Getting to Maxwell Food Centre

Maxwell Food Centre is at the junction of South Bridge Road and Maxwell Road. Maxwell station (TE18) on the Thomson-East Coast Line is directly beside it, across from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

The building was a wet market until 1987, when it was converted into a food centre. There are more than 100 food stalls inside.

Other Tian Tian Outlets

There are five more Tian Tian outlets. Opening days differ from one to the next, so check the one you want before you go.

Jewel Changi Airport, #B2-243/244. Daily, 10am to 10pm. This is its flagship store.
Simpang Bedok, 10 and 12 Jalan Pari Burong. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 8pm. An air-conditioned restaurant.
Clementi, 450 Clementi Avenue 3. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 8pm.
Lucky Plaza, level 6, 304 Orchard Road. Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 7.30pm.
Bishan, 11 Clover Way. Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 7pm.

Do These as a Pair

Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice is a few stalls away. Order a plate from each and decide which you prefer. Read our Ah Tai Chicken Rice guide.

The Verdict: Is Tian Tian Chicken Rice Worth It?

If you have not had chicken rice before, Tian Tian is worth the queue.

Every part of the plate was good, and the rice stood out. This is a plate that shows you what good chicken rice is. We have no favourite between Tian Tian and Ah Tai, a few stalls away, but we find Tian Tian the more consistent of the two.

The wait is the cost. If food is not a big part of your trip, it may not be worth it to you. Come before the lunch crowd and it is shorter.

We only ordered the steamed chicken rice, at the Maxwell stall. We cannot speak for the roasted chicken or the other outlets.

Go early. Add the chilli.