Whether the chicken is poached in a flavorful stock to give you a smooth, springy skin and tender, moist flesh, or roasted until it caramelizes to a crispness and gorgeous deep brown, a well-made chicken rice is hard to turn down. Despite being one of the most popular and ubiquitous foods in Malaysia, tracking down great chicken rice can be challenging but not impossible. Here are the 10 best chicken rice in the city that chicken rice lovers must try at least once! (The restaurants are listed in no particular order. Some of the establishments below are not halal.)

1. Restoran Choon Yien @ P.J. Section 17

Found along the same row as of the My Elephant Thai restaurant and Food Foundry cafe in the Happy Mansion flats. Within this kopitiam there are only two stalls, one selling noodles and the other chicken rice. The chickens here are roasted to a golden brown and then bathed in a shallow pool of soy sauce-ish condiment. Serve this with savory, aromatic chicken rice and some garlicky, sourish chili sauce. Things can't tastier than that.

2. Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice @ Restoran Yat Yeh Hing

Open since 1992, as one of P.J.'s favorite chicken rice stalls, it normally gets packed come lunchtime. It is best known for its poached chickens. What makes its version stand out is the trick of plunging the cooked chicken in cold water to halt the cooking, which prevents overcooking and keeps the skin springy, yet tender at the same time. Meanwhile, the chili condiment served is addictively spicy and hot, with a lovely sourness from the lime and a sophisticated spike from the grated ginger — another sign of a chicken rice done well.

3. Wong Meng Kee @ Pudu

If you know how to get to the Shaw Parade, you will be able to track this stall down. It is in a corner kopitiam along the row of shops behind the shopping center. The stall owners serve arguably the best chicken rice in town. So, it's unsurprising that this place becomes crowded during lunch hours — and it gets worse on weekends!

4. Restoran Satellite Ipoh Chicken Rice

Don't let its simplistic façade deceive you. Make yourself comfortable in its humble, homey setting and savor its Ipoh-style chicken rice — perfectly poached chicken with silky, springy skin and tender, moist meat showered judiciously with soy sauce, alongside rice noodles or rice as well as plump, juicy, crisp bean sprouts. Nothing has changed much over the years, thankfully.

5. Restoran Prosperity Bowl

"We don’t want to be the biggest but the best (on the market)!" That is the award-winning restaurant's mantra, and it certainly has done it. A visit there would not be complete without its signature poached village chicken. Bathed in a shallow pool of soy sauce, the meat is lean, yet tender and succulent. Whether you want to have it with rice or rice noodles, it is your call.

6. Chicken Rice @ Jalan San Peng

Hidden in the row of sheltered stalls just opposite the Pudu LRT station. It sells irresistibly tasty poached chickens whose skins are smooth and bouncy while meat is succulent. Enjoy it with fragrant rice or rice noodles and shrimp (a pairing that is akin to that of the one of the Ipoh hor fun), and if you want to, bean sprouts! Just remember to arrive here before noon if you want to avoid the crowd.

7. Loke Yun @ Ampang

Just a little walking from the Ampang LRT station and Ampang Police Station is this second-generation chicken rice restaurant, which has been around since 1971. Must-order is its beautifully poached kampung chicken, whose glistening skin screams springiness and whose meat juiciness and tenderness. Perfect accompaniments to have on the side are the fragrant, savory, chicken-y rice, pungent chili sauce, and warm gingery dip. Few caveats, though: minimum order is half a chicken, and don't expect roast pork and cha siu here. These folk truly specialize in selling just Hainanese chicken rice.

8. Hoe Fong Chicken Rice @ P.J. Sea Park

Reputed as the place with the best fried chickens rice in P.J., this restaurant has been around for more than three decades! Its version is unlike any other: utterly crispy and lightly caramelized on the outside, yet moist and tender within! Serve this over the proprietor's buttery, fluffy chicken rice, alongside some chili sauce and a teeny mound of minced garlic, and you're in for a treat.

9. Nasi Ayam Kam Kee @ Jalan Sultan

This famous institution near Petaling Street has been serving up lip-smacking Hainanese-style chicken rice for over half a century! The combination of silky and tender poached chicken, "oil rice," pungent and garlicky chili sauce, as well as minced ginger is simply classic and irresistible. Open 10 a.m. daily, you are advised to come early, as everything normally sells out by lunchtime.

10. Bus Station Chicken Rice @ Pudu

This chicken rice stall has an interesting name called Bus Station, because the stall used to be located near Pudu Bus Station. Now it is housed in Sweet Garden Coffee Shop, offering the same mouth-watering Hainan Chicken Rice. The 40-year-old stall is now operated by the second and third generation. If budget is not a constraint, opt for the free range chicken with smooth skin and firm flesh. The chicken is drizzled with special black soy sauce to enhance the taste. Find out more Best Chicken Rice Restaurant Find out more Best Chinese Restaurant