The best chicken rice in Hoi An

Reading Time: 11 minutes

Last Updated on 3 years by Tam Le Van

Com ga (Chicken rice) is a must-eat local dish in beautiful Hoi An, alongside with iconic Cao lau noodles, pleasant-tasting Mi quang and cripsy&juicy Banh mi (Vietnamese styled barguette). The most popular type of Hoi An chicken rice encompasses a base of marvelously spiced steamed rice, chicken salad topping and is served with one small bowl of soup.

Chicken rice in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities is varied but people there chiefly use fried chicken. Differently, Com ga Hoi An does not contain much oils and fats in the course of its preparation process. In addition to, garden herbs also are made full use by hands of Hoianese talented chefs to add more greens and taste for the dish.

In this article, HOI AN LIFE informs you of all aspects about Com ga stretching from its ingredients, making process, main types, how to eat like a local and definitely, places you are able to get the best chicken rice in Hoi An. 

See also Hoi An’s local food specialties to know other delicacies in town, best places to try them and guided tours.

Everything you need to know about chicken rice in Hoi An

Born a few centuries ago in Hoi An when the city catered as an major stopping point for merchants on their sea voyage between the West and Asian countries, Hoi An chicken rice (Com ga) boasts about its great harmonization between all components that convince the most demanding customers. It’s also proper to each seasons in the year.

Why is Hoi An famous for chicken rice?

There is no doubt to say that the lion’ share of travellers plan to taste Com ga Hoi An (Hoi An chicken rice) when set foot on the city. It likes a must-do pass on your ticket to dive into a diverse world of Hoi An’s foods. Basically, Com ga is a mixture of three indispensable ingredients within every Vietnamese daily meals. That are steamed rice, chicken and kinds of vegetable. Therefore  the chicken rice easily popularizes and becomes a perfect choice for each one family member. That’s good for us to make the balance between personal taste and need of trying local specialty during holiday trip.

Secondly, Com ga itself gets well-known because of its appetizing taste coming from the talent of Hoianese chefs and its unique recipe. Just about ingredients, local people only use the rice and herbs growed in few certain localities (set as a standard over time). Meaning that Com ga Hoi An will be not ‘authentic’ anymore if lack these things.

Hoi An chicken rice’s ingredients

Chicken

Chicken itself plays the most important role to make a delicious Com ga Hoi An. Therefore there is not difficult to understand that it will be prepared more carefully than any other ingredients. From Hoianese food lovers, the restaurant-ers have to choose 6-7 months old chickens (Gà tơ in Vietnamese) from local farms in the countryside. Chickens raised in city center are often thought that not good enough because of containing much fat. After buy, the restaurants keep, feed and say goodbye daily to guarantee the best ingredient for each day.

Note: Variation of Com ga Hoi An mainly derives from difference in preparing chicken. Rice, green ingredients and soup are often unchanged at all versons.

Rice

Every tasty dish of Hoi An chicken rice needs to have high-quality rice, besides the chicken. Local people share that it should be taken from farmers living in Cam Thanh and Cam Kim island. These are two rice cultivation areas in Hoi An that provide the nicest level of nutrient and the lowest proportion of non-chemicals used during the growing process. Imported rice occasionally will replace local one due to increasing tourists within peak seasons at several restaurants. However, chicken rice makers in Hoi An try to get all the best for Com ga senjoy-ers.  

Green ingredients

Shredded green papaya

Hoi An chicken rice requires a couple of standards for papaya as same as Pho noodle soup. Com ga makers only get green ripe fruit due to if young, it will be very bitter to eat raw. Moreover, the diners may not happy with non-harmonious taste between too ripe papaya and the rest.

Herbs

Herbs are another must-have kind of ingredient for appetizing Com ga Hoi An dishes, together with fresh papaya. Peppermint (Rau răm) is the most popular choice of local people because it brings us great flavours. Additionally, slices of white onion also appear in order to create a perfect combination. 

Note: Green ingredients for chicken rice in Hoi An are all sourced from Tra Que vegetable growing village which well-known for producing qualitied herbs and other greens. Read our article here about this special place.

Additional soup

Most Com ga restaurants in Hoi An serve a small bowl of soup to eat with mouth-watering chicken rice dish. It includes chicken organs and cubes of Tiet ga (boiling chicken blood). Although being hard if try this local style soup but will be a memorable culinary experience.

Process to make Hoi An chicken rice

Com ga makers always boil the entire chicken within a pot for couples of minutes. Unlike anywhere else in Vietnam, Hoianese reuse the broth to cook with rice and spices. That is the reason why steamed rice gets dyed naturally an eye-catching yellow, instead of common white color we see. Locals also think that its taste will be better if do this way of cooking.

In case of boiled chicken, it is chopped into proper-to-eat pieces or shredded by hands. Particularly, the shredding chicken later have a combination with pepper salt (or fish sauce, up to different places), green papaya, white onion and herbs as similar as a salad and then all put on the steamed rice when serve. There is no dout to say that it’s extremely unique across Vietnam.   

Types of chicken rice in Hoi An

Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice)

There are two typical types of Com ga Hoi An: shredded chicken rice (Com ga xe) and chopped chicken rice (Com ga chat). Rice with fried chicken is excluded in this list because of being traditionally unpopular to locals. For that reason, nobody says that it is not a part of their signature Hoi An chicken rices.

At whichever Com ga restaurant in Hoi An, you will be served Com ga xe (shredded chicken rice) if without any special orders. Meaning that you need to tell local sellers what you want to get before everything completed. Food stalls on the pavement also recommends enjoying the dish with homemade drinks such as soy milk, green bean milk, etc. These places locate in abundance on Tran Cao Van and Thai Phien streets as well as in the Night market.   

Com ga chat (Chopped chicken rice)

Com ga chat is another largely selected chicken rice in charming Hoi An. Restaurants selling this pleasant-tasting dish share the similarity that whole chicken is kept until someone order instead of shredding in advance. After chopping, pieces of chicken are set neatly on a plate. Commonly, a half of chicken for a basic request. While Com ga xe likes a salad and put directly on the steamed rice, part of chicken is totally separated in case of Com ga chat. Then diners will dip it in soy/fish sauces mixed with chilli paste&lime or pepper salt and use herbs to add more flavour. In general, the chopped chicken rice’s pricing is more costy than its sister.

Chicken rice restaurants in Hoi An

Restaurants

Com ga Hoi An (Hoi An chicken rice) is one of the most saught-after food specialties for holiday makers coming from Vietnam and different parts of the world. There are two popular choice for a place to eat Com ga: in the restaurant and food store on the sidewalk. In reality, stores on the pavement are still exist and bring us the authentic experience about local cuisine but the food safety we should take note of. Restaurants do something different because of the ingredients sourced from reliable suppliers. Furthermore, your dish of Hoi An chicken rice will be added more things that able to provide a full picture about the specialty. Instagrammers frequently pick these places basing on striking decoration of their foods made.

Interestingly, dozens of eateries are as same as name of the founder (almost ladies). For instance, Mrs.Buoi Restaurant (Com ga Ba Buoi), Mrs.Nga Restaurant (Com ga Ba Nga), and much more.   

Food stores on the pavement

Like anywhere in Vietnam, chiken rice is selled on the pavement in Hoi An as well. Food stores often include small court of every necessary ingredients, a large-sized pot of hot soup standing nearby and several pairs of plastic table and chair. Some of them stands out by its great quality, while the lion’s share of stores deliver middle-of-the-road standards.

Living in a tourist city, local people prefer to going to these points for daily chicken rice. More than that, it costs less than famous restaurants which attract a bunch of travellers all year around. After long day work, people want to enjoy Com ga with a quicker service.     

Best places to eat Chicken rice (Com ga) in Hoi An

Com ga Ty

Address: 27 Phan Chu Trinh Street
Opening time: 11 a.m to 11 p.m daily
Contact for reservation: (+84) 787 661 943

Bordering the North direction of Hoi An Ancient Town’s protection area, Phan Chu Trinh Street boasts about its long list of top chicken rice restaurants, including renowned Com ga Ty, Com ga Ba Buoi (Mrs.Buoi Restaurant) and Com ga Ba Nga (Mrs.Nga Restaurant). If have no idea about where you should go to try Com ga, just come to this street for convenience.

Unlike indoor space restaurants nearby, Com ga Ty give us the outdoor seatings lining an alley that perfect for tasting delicious Hoi An chicken rice during hot days. That’s interesting when you take a seat and enjoy one of the yummiest Com ga in the city, motorcycle moves with honks within your reach. People around you often are local people making your time&experience at here less ‘touristy’. There is no difference between the restaurant and all others, it still serves Com ga xe as well as Com ga chat until sold out daily. At the moment, Com ga Ty is a ‘perpetual member’ of restaurants catering the best chicken rice in Hoi An.

Com ga Ty prices

Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice): around 30.000 VND (1.3 USD).

Com ga dui xe (Shredded chicken drumstick rice): around 50.000 VND (2.2 USD).

Com ga dui chat (Chopped chicken drumstick rice): 50.000-80.000 VND (2.2-3.4 USD).

Cao lau with pork: 30.000 VND (1.3 USD).

Com ga Ba Buoi

Address: 22 Phan Chu Trinh Street
Opening time: 11:00-21:00 daily
Contact for reservation: (+84) 905 767 999

Standing as one of the restaurants serving the best chicken rice in Hoi An, Com ga Ba Buoi nearly gets known by every Vietnamese tourists basing its on strong social media presence. Particularly, it’s holding on hands some hundreds of food lovers visiting day-to-day and thousands reviews they rated on both of TripAdvisor and Google map at the moment.

Taste of chicken rice at Com ga Ba Buoi is really excellent from steamed rice until shredded and chopped chickens. Although Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice) wins anywhere in Hoi An, but Com ga chat (chopped chicken rice) absolutely is the best seller of this restaurant. The founder-Mrs.Buoi shares to us that she wants to recommend more that one because people will have more chance to try her chicken which well-selected from local farms.      

In addition to, Com ga Ba Buoi is owing two stores at Phan Chu Trinh and Dao Duy Tu Streets making your choice more flexible than others. The quality generally is kept in same standards at all places. Meaning that whichever close to you, just pick that to enjoy Mrs.Buoi’s tasty chicken rice. On the other side, second store at Dao Duy Tu helps us avoid the crowd during peak tourist seasons.

Note: Keep in mind that Com ga Ba Buoi is usually overloaded causing many people have to wait for the service at its outside. Reserve in advance and come in the right time will make you have a good experience. It does not allow to bring outside foods into the bargain.

Com ga Ba Buoi prices

Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice): 35.000 VND (1.52 USD).

Com ga chat (Chopped chicken rice: 35.000 VND (1.52 USD).

Goi ga (Chicken salad): 80.000-140.000 VND (3.4-6 USD)

Com ga Hien

Address: 593 Hai Ba Trung Street
Opening time: 11 a.m to 9 p.m daily
Contact for reservation: (+84) 787 661 943

This family run eatery brings us one of the yummiest chicken rice in Hoi An. Less strongly presents on social medias but flavour of Com ga Hien absolutely is a competitor to reputable Com ga Ba Buoi. If like to have a dish of amazingly tasty chicken rice and also avoid tourist crowds, the restaurant will be an ideal place.

At 593 Hai Ba Trung Street, Com ga Hien’s equipments include several metal tables and plastic chairs to serve us. As the best seller here, Com ga xe (shredded chicken rice) is prepared directly by the restaurant owners, a couple of husband and wife. The salad to top Com ga is mixed up by shredding chicken, Tra Que herbs, pepper salt and spices. People love the eatery due to its toothsome steamed rice impressing anyone from the first bites.

Com ga Hien prices

Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice): 25.000-35.000 VND (1.1-1.52 USD).

Com ga Xi Hoi An

Address: 47/2 Tran Hung Dao StreetContact for reservation: (+84) 768 422 428
Opening time: 11:00-20:00 daily 

Alike Com ga Ty, every fan of chicken rice will have the experience to eat pleasing dishes when be on a seating lining along the alley at Com ga Xi Hoi An. But it’s less tourity. In general, taste of Com ga here contains the characteristics special for the city. Lots of natives pick this mecca to have lunch/dinner to try one of the best chicken rice in Hoi An without a visit to busier businesses nearby. For that reason, Com ga Xi Hoi An provides us the balance between where to find the nicest place and how to eat like a local.

Com ga Xi Hoi An prices

Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice): 20.000 VND (2.2 USD).

Com dui canh chat (Chopped chicken drumtick and wings rice): 30.000 VND (1.3 USD).

Com dui ga chat (Chopped chicken drumstick rice): 70.000 VND (3 USD).

Others: Chicken wings salad-25.000 VND (1.1 USD), Chicken drumstick sald-70.000 VND (3 USD).

Long Com Ga Chicken Rice Restaurant

Address: 53/16 Phan Chu Trinh StreetContact for reservation: (+84) 908 906 052
Opening time: 11:00-22:00 daily 

Positioning at a winding alley of ‘Chicken rice street’ Phan Chu Trinh, Long Com Ga offers perfect oasis to escape from crowd. Although it has the spacious space inside fitted for standard meals, but outdoor metal tables and wooden chairs are still set up to keep its atmosphere as similar as all authentic Hoi An’s chicken rice restaurants. Especially, you will not worried about fighting for the seating when travel with childrens/kids because the establishment consists the bulk of it. Moreover, Com ga Long also serves Char siu dishes that not found in anywhere else in town. By the effort over decades, it’s rated by both local and experts as one place we may get one of the best chicken rice in Hoi An.

Note: If travel in days hot like an oven, check out Long Com Ga. It is one of few air-conditioner-equipped chicken rice restaurants within the city that ideal to cool down and admire yummy specialties.

Long Com Ga Chicken Rice Restaurant prices

Com ga xe (Shredded chicken rice): 35.000 VND (1.52 USD)

Com ga dui luoc (Chopped boiling chicken drumstick rice): 120.000 VND (5.2 USD)

Com ga xa xiu canh (Char siu chicken wings rice): 70.000 VND (3 USD)

Com ga xa xui dui (Char siu chicken drumstick rice): 120.000 VND (5.2 USD)

Goi tron dui va canh ga (Chicken drumstick and wings salad): 150.000 VND  (6.5 USD)

Drinks: Fresh water-10.000 VND (0.4 USD) and pricing of other kinds starts from 15.000 VND (0.6 USD).

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Tam Le Van

Tam is a tour leader and passionate traveler who has beautiful memories over 50 provinces of Vietnam. During the time Corona virus spreads out globally, he decides to become a blogger to share his experiences.
Contacts for work: Levantam0906@gmail.com or (+84) 968009827

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