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| - My continual quest to recreate some of the best Hainanese Chicken Rice dishes I had during my month long vacation in Asia in 2017, brought me to Flock & Fowl. Every chicken and rice dish I had in Singapore (my all-time favorite), Thailand, Hong Kong, and Vietnam were fondly memorable, all with its own unique twists, representative of their countries of origin. Unfortunately, Flock & Fowl came nowhere close to bringing back those fond sensories I long for.
Interestingly, Flock & Fowl does attempt to create its own take on its signature Hainanese Chicken Rice ($14.99). It's more of an nontraditional, but nouveau take on a traditional beloved Asian dish. Everything is made in house, from the ginger and scallion sauce, the pickled vegetables, the chile sauce, and down to even the soy sauce. However, maybe they should continue retooling these recipes a bit before actually serving them. The ginger and scallion sauce, which is often made by home cooks, including myself, was downright bland. Adding some sea salt and more scallions really would've given it the needed oomph. Conversely, their in-house made soy sauce had a distinct medicinal flavor, that reminded me of the potent Chinese herbal medicinal soups my Mom forced down my brother and I when we were little. Any Chinese kid who has experienced this, knows that it's definitely not something you'd want to serve at a restaurant, unless you're trying to sway off customers from ever returning. And why would you want to dip your perfectly poached Hainanese Chicken into something like that?
Now, the all-white Hainanese chicken, served with skin on, was very nicely done. Perfectly moist, though small in portion size, given the price. No complaints here. I also liked the perfectly prepared one hour egg, made in the sous vide.
The rice, which was made from the chicken schmaltz, also tasted bland, as did the watered down tasting bone broth. Typically the broth that accompanies this dish is very flavorful, but again, maybe they need to go back to the drawing board on these two items as well.
Wasn't a fan of the ambiance so much. The dining area was somewhat small and long. It's perfectly fine for a simple lunch if you work downtown, but I definitely wouldn't go out of my way for dinner here. I came from Summerlin, and frankly, was disappointed I made the trip across town.
Oddly, they did something annoying that I've never seen at a restaurant before. When you're seated, you can't help but to see a large bottle of Vero water placed on each of the tables. They look appealing when you're thirsty, as they're in a nice frosty bottle, that look like they may already be chilled. However, I was immediately asked upon being seated if I wanted regular tap water, or if I'd like to purchase the bottle for $4.00. I passed on $4.00 for water, and the waitress quickly snatched up the bottle. **IMO, this was some strange greedy, passive aggressive "sales technique" contrived by the owners to accost an additional $4.00 or more from every table**! I have no problem at all with offering bottled water, as many restaurants commonly do, but I really don't care for that sort of annoying tacky approach of displaying your goods for sale, right on top the table!!
Apparently, the chef here was a James Beard Award Semifinalist. Note, not a winner but semifinalist. Regardless, it says little about the final product served day in and day out. Numerous low-keyed restaurants all over serve phenomenal food in great settings, but never get the recognition and awards because they aren't versed in pumping up the public relations (usually paid for), and playing the political games necessary to "achieve" these kinds of accolades.
All that being said, if you're in downtown and craving Hainanese Chicken Rice, then this may be your only option. Beggars can't be choosers. Personally, if given a choice, I'd opt instead for Spring Mountain any day, or somewhere in Chinatown, where the options are plentiful, much better tasting, authentic, and better priced. My quest continues on...
P.S. Difficult parking during lunch time.
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