An NYC food stall is selling a plate of chicken and rice for $17. In Singapore, the same dish goes for $2.50. We put them to the test.

Rachel Askinasi,Marielle DescalsotaOct 14, 2022, 11:05 IST

Manhattan vs Singapore chicken rice.Rachel Askinasi/Marielle Descalsota/Insider

Chicken rice, the national dish of Singapore, is known for being cheap and delicious.
In New York City, the dish costs eight times more than it does in the city-state.

Singapore's unofficial national dish has come to New York City, but it's come with at least one big difference: the price.

Singapore's Hainanese chicken rice.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

In Singapore, many locals dine at hawker centers, or open-air food stalls. Kopitiams, or coffee shop-style hawkers, are commonly found in residential areas.

Kopitiam-style hawker in eastern Singapore.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

Marielle, Insider's visual features reporter in Singapore, visited her local kopitiam on a weekend evening.

Kopitiam-style hawker in eastern Singapore.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

Like most kopitiams in Singapore, there was only one stall serving up chicken rice.

Roasted chicken ready to be served.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

As chicken rice is typically cooked and prepared before stalls open for service, Marielle got her dish in no time.

Chicken rice stall in Singapore.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

In Singapore, cooks will often serve more rice than chicken. In this kopitiam, the rice was fluffy and lightly flavored.

Chicken rice with sambal and kicap manis.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

The chicken was fresh and succulent.

Close-up shot of a strip of chicken.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

The sauces are Marielle's favorite part of chicken rice.

Kicap manis.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

Marielle also picked up an iced lemon tea from the local kopitiam for one Singapore dollar and 30 cents, or about $0.91.

Lemon tea from a kopitiam-style hawker.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

While Marielle has eaten hundreds of plates of chicken rice and usually enjoys it, it's rare for her to be wowed by the chicken broth soup.

Eating chicken rice in Singapore.Marielle Descalsota/Insider

Manhattan's Urban Hawker is on the retail street level of an office building in Midtown.

Urban Hawker in Midtown Manhattan.Rachel Askinasi

Rachel arrived at Urban Hawker at 1:15 p.m. on a Friday, and the lunch crowd was in full swing.

Urban Hawker was packed during our visit, and it seems to follow the same layout as other Urbanspace food halls.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

At Hainan Jones, the stall serving chicken rice, customers were lined up and ready to dish out their $17.

The line and menu at Hainan Jones.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Rachel could smell the roasted chicken even from a distance.

There were plenty of chickens ready to be carved.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

The dish came with a serving of chicken that had been poached and then roasted with an oil baste, as well as rice cooked with garlic, shallots, stock, and pandan. It was served with raw cucumber slices, a cherry tomato, a bowl of soup, and two dipping sauces.

Rachel's meal from Urban Hawker.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

The dish came with a serving of chicken that had been poached and then roasted with an oil baste, as well as rice cooked with garlic, shallots, stock, and pandan. It was served with raw cucumber slices, a cherry tomato, a bowl of soup, and two dipping sauces.

The rice had a hint of sweetness from the pandan and umami from the stock it was cooked in, but it didn't taste salted.

The rice component of Rachel's lunch.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

The New York City chicken rice with one small container of each sauce, so Rachel asked for extra.

The dipping sauces were a highlight of the meal.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

To drink, Rachel got an iced earl grey lemon tea from Kopifellas at Urban Hawker for $5.75.

Iced lemon tea from Urban Hawker's Kopifellas.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

This was Rachel's first Singaporean chicken rice experience, and, for the most part, she was delighted by it.

She loved the soup and her iced tea.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Overall, Insider's reporters enjoyed their respective meals.

Manhattan vs Singapore chicken rice.Rachel Askinasi/Marielle Descalsota/Insider

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An NYC food stall is selling a plate of chicken and rice for $17. In Singapore, the same dish goes for $2.50. We put them to the test.

Singapore's unofficial national dish has come to New York City, but it's come with at least one big difference: the price.

In Singapore, many locals dine at hawker centers, or open-air food stalls. Kopitiams, or coffee shop-style hawkers, are commonly found in residential areas.

Marielle, Insider's visual features reporter in Singapore, visited her local kopitiam on a weekend evening.

Like most kopitiams in Singapore, there was only one stall serving up chicken rice.

As chicken rice is typically cooked and prepared before stalls open for service, Marielle got her dish in no time.

In Singapore, cooks will often serve more rice than chicken. In this kopitiam, the rice was fluffy and lightly flavored.

The chicken was fresh and succulent.

The sauces are Marielle's favorite part of chicken rice.

Marielle also picked up an iced lemon tea from the local kopitiam for one Singapore dollar and 30 cents, or about $0.91.

While Marielle has eaten hundreds of plates of chicken rice and usually enjoys it, it's rare for her to be wowed by the chicken broth soup.

Manhattan's Urban Hawker is on the retail street level of an office building in Midtown.

Rachel arrived at Urban Hawker at 1:15 p.m. on a Friday, and the lunch crowd was in full swing.

At Hainan Jones, the stall serving chicken rice, customers were lined up and ready to dish out their $17.

Rachel could smell the roasted chicken even from a distance.

The dish came with a serving of chicken that had been poached and then roasted with an oil baste, as well as rice cooked with garlic, shallots, stock, and pandan. It was served with raw cucumber slices, a cherry tomato, a bowl of soup, and two dipping sauces.

The rice had a hint of sweetness from the pandan and umami from the stock it was cooked in, but it didn't taste salted.

The New York City chicken rice with one small container of each sauce, so Rachel asked for extra.

To drink, Rachel got an iced earl grey lemon tea from Kopifellas at Urban Hawker for $5.75.

This was Rachel's first Singaporean chicken rice experience, and, for the most part, she was delighted by it.

Overall, Insider's reporters enjoyed their respective meals.