Food

[Kota Bahru, Malaysia] Ann Loke Cafe 安乐饮冰室

By Elin Chow - Wednesday, December 09, 2020








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Photo By: Elin Chow

Ann Loke was started back in 1953 as shop selling ice cream and sundaes. But as time changes, the shop has also changed from selling ice cream to Hainanese chicken rice. Today, it is a well-known and popular shop selling Hainanese chicken rice in Kota Bahru.


Over the years, Ann Loke has gathered a big crowd of loyal customers. The shop is constantly packed throughout the day. There is usually a long queue at the family owned chicken rice shop. Even though the small shop is run by a Chinese family, it is surprisingly well- loved by all ethnic groups in Malaysia. The shop is frequented not only by Chinese, but also by a lot Malays and Indians.

In most of the other states in Malaysia, you will rarely see our Muslim friends eating in a Chinese restaurant. But it seems that this is quite a common sight in the Muslim dominated state of Kelantan. 







The main highlight here is fried chicken. I would highly recommend anyone to order this if you are eating here for the first time. The shop offers different parts of fried chicken. My husband and I ordered two servings of fried chicken thighs to share. It is usually served with a few cucumber slices,  homemade chili sauce, a plate of aromatic rice and a free bowl of soup at a startling price of only RM 4.50.

All the fried chicken here are freshly deep fried on the spot to ensure its crispiness. The chicken are always fresh and warm because they are constantly fried in small batches. They actually get sold out pretty fast, so sometimes you have to wait for a while for your order to be served. 





The chicken are fried to a perfection until the skin is deep golden brown and delightfully crispy. Before serving, the chicken parts are nicely chopped up and drizzled with a bit of soy sauce. The sauce does make the crispy fried chicken becomes a little wet and less crispy. But it adds a hint of saltiness to it. 

The chicken is fragrant and tasty. The meat is firm, tender and juicy with a layer of thin and slightly crispy golden brown skin. I like that they were very light and not greasy. 

Oh, did I mention that their homemade chili sauce was awesome too? Personally, I feel that chili sauce is one of the most important aspect that makes a good plate of chicken rice. Their chili sauce was sour and a little spicy, which goes perfectly well with their fried chicken.


For soup, I would highly recommend anyone to pay an extra RM 1 more for their Sup Kacang (Peanut soup) instead of the free regular one. It was very tasty and hearty. The flavorful soup is slowly simmered with chicken feet and lots of peanuts to bring out all its wholesome goodness. So delicious, so warm! 

Other than fried chicken, Ann Loke also serves steamed chicken or soy sauce chicken. Their steamed chicken is quite popular as well, but sadly I did not get to try it. There were also a few side dishes like marinated boiled egg and fried long beans that you can order to eat with your chicken rice. 

This was definitely one of the best fried chicken rice I had so far. For those who are craving for Chinese chicken rice in Kota Bahru, I would recommend you to try this shop out. Not only the food are good, the the price is affordably cheap as well.

Ann Loke Cafe 安乐饮冰室
No.1183C, Jalan Ismail
Bandar Kota Bahru
15000 Kota Bahru, Kelantan
Hours: 9.00 am - 4.00 pm daily
Closed on Friday

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