There’s something almost disarming about being served a plate of chicken that looks so… plain.
As Filipinos, we’re used to chicken with a little more oomph: fried chicken with audibly crisp skin that crackles when you bite into it, lechon manok that’s juicy, smoky, and practically swimming in its own juices, and of course, chicken adobo that’s soaked in that savory, tangy sauce.
So when I first sat down at Flock in BF Homes and saw its Hainanese chicken rice, I understood why some Filipino diners might hesitate.
A Brand New Bird
The chicken is pale and delicately steamed, with no crispy skin, no caramelized edges, and no thick sauce coating it. It’s also served cool—another detail that can feel unfamiliar if you’re expecting your chicken to arrive piping hot.
And yet, none of that stopped from digging right in.
“The first thing we would say is not to think of it as just chicken with rice on the side,” say Flock owners Kynna and Mark Chan. “The whole plate matters.”
That was clear from the very first bite.
The chicken itself is incredibly tender, with a soft, silky texture and a much more delicate flavor than the boldly seasoned chickens many of us grew up eating. But then you add a little ginger, chili, soy sauce, or gravy, and suddenly the plate starts to come alive.
The rice plays an equally important role. Already fragrant on its own, its grains sponge up plenty of flavor from both the chicken and the sauces without ever becoming soggy or mushy.
“Once everything comes together, that’s when you really understand the dish,” Kynna and Mark explain.
And I think that’s where the initial intimidation starts to disappear for most people.
Because Hainanese chicken rice isn’t trying to be the kind of chicken we’re already familiar with. It doesn’t rely on crunch, char, or a heavy sauce to make its presence known. Instead, it asks you to notice the texture of the chicken, the fragrance of the rice, and how each sauce changes the bite—all of which are intentional.
There’s More to the Chicken Than Meets the Eye
For Kynna, chicken rice is a taste of home. She grew up in Singapore eating it regularly, and her parents even ran a chicken rice stall when she was young. It was never a special-occasion dish. It was simply the kind of meal you could have whenever you didn’t know what else to eat.
When she and Mark moved to the Philippines in 2024, she found herself missing that familiar version of home.
“There were versions available here, of course, but none quite captured the familiar flavours she grew up eating,” the couple says. “When you’ve had something your whole life, you know exactly what you’re looking for.”
That eventually became Flock, where the couple wanted to bring together the things they had spent years working with in Singapore: food, coffee, drinks, and, perhaps most importantly, hospitality.
They call it their “trifecta”—good food, good drinks, and good service. But when it comes to the chicken rice, they’ve resisted the temptation to make it more familiar to Filipino diners.
“We haven’t adjusted the food to suit the Filipino palate,” they say.
Instead, they’ve chosen to keep the flavors close to that of Singapore’s. They don’t make the dish sweeter, saltier, or heavier just because they’re serving it here. Even the soup is intentionally served without added salt, while the chili stays spicy rather than being toned down.
Understandably, it takes a lot of work to get something that specific right. As a result, Flock’s kitchen starts as early as 6 in the morning, with the chickens carefully cleaned and prepared long before service starts at noon. The cooking itself also requires precise timing just so they can get that particular texture.
Part of that precision is the unusually cool temperature, which is the result of the meat getting hocked in cold water to stop the cooking process. This helps set the skin and natural gelatin underneath it, creating that signature soft and silky texture.
“If you heat it up again, especially aggressively, you start changing exactly what we worked [so hard] to achieve,” the owners explain.
It’s one of those details that might seem strange at first, but makes more sense once you actually understand what you’re eating. And that seems to be what Flock has learned from serving the dish to Filipino diners: sometimes, people don’t need the food changed—they just need a little context.
“At the start, we probably assumed people would understand certain things automatically because they were so normal to us,” they say. “We realized pretty quickly that things like the temperature of steamed chicken, the sauces, or even why the rice matters so much aren’t necessarily obvious if you didn’t grow up eating it.”
So they started explaining and, fortunately, people started to get it.
And after a while, the once curious and confused have slowly turned into regulars who routinely come back for more—which seems like the biggest compliment for a dish that was never meant to be flashy in the first place.
Beyond the Chicken
The rest of Flock’s menu helps flesh out the Singaporean food culture behind the chicken rice, but the dishes still feel like supporting players to the main attraction.
There’s the Salted Egg Pork, inspired by one of Kynna’s favorite Singapore spots, as well as Chili Crab based on her family recipe. The Nonya Achar comes from her grandmother, bringing a sweet, sour, and spicy Peranakan touch to the table.
For something simpler, there’s Kaya Toast made with house-made kaya, crisp toast, and a thick slab of real salted butter. Even the drinks carry a little piece of Singapore, from Flock’s Brazil-and-Yunnan house coffee blend to Milo Peng and Horlicks brought in from Singapore.
But after trying their chicken rice, I kept thinking about the pale chicken, the fragrant rice, and the little bowls of sauce that tie everything together. It may look and sound simple, which is probably why some have furrowed their brows when it first arrived at their tables.
But after having had the opportunity to dine at Flock, I didn’t just leave with a full—I left with a new idea of what chicken could also be.
Flock is located at 98 Aguirre Ave, BF Homes, Parañaque.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hainanese chicken rice is a Singaporean dish featuring gently cooked chicken served with fragrant, seasoned rice and sauces such as chili, ginger, and soy.
At Flock, the chicken is placed in cold water after cooking to stop the cooking process and help set the skin and natural gelatin, creating its characteristic soft, silky texture.
Flock keeps its chicken rice close to the Singaporean version its owner, Kynna Chan, grew up eating. The restaurant does not intentionally make it sweeter, saltier, or heavier to suit Filipino tastes.
Flock’s menu also includes salted egg pork, chili crab, Nonya achar, kaya toast, and Singapore-inspired drinks such as Milo Peng and Horlicks.
Flock is at 98 Aguirre Ave in BF Homes, Parañaque. Beyond Hainanese chicken rice, the menu includes Salted Egg Pork, Chili Crab based on co-owner Kynna’s family recipe, Nonya Achar from her grandmother, Kaya Toast with house-made kaya, and drinks such as Milo Peng and Horlicks.
