Healthy Chicken @ 87 Wellington Street, Central

Quick and healthy choices for eating out while I am on the run, this is what I have missed ever since I returned to Hong Kong from New York. New York was full of places where there are salad bars with healthy veggies and sides I could pick from to accompany a main dish of my choice at affordable prices. The best part of these places is that the entire process cost me less than 10 minutes because everything is ready made! It's so hard to find such places in Hong Kong though, places here are either healthy but expensive, or affordable but unhealthy, and preparing our own food does not really go hand in hand with Hong Konger's busy lives.

Just a few days ago, I found a problem solver in the Central area which just had their grand opening last week!

Healthy Chicken, located just by the escalator has brought me back the convenience I used to get in New York, a wide variety of veggies and sides to choose from after choosing a chicken main!

They have  2 types of beans: black and pinto; 3 types of rice: brown, tomato, and spinach; 2 types of cheese: white cheddar and monterey jack; and a ton of veggies including GUACAMOLE! They also have a five types of sauces ranging from different levels of spiciness.

They offer different types of chicken at different portion sizes, I was pleased that they offer chicken legs and chicken wings separately since they usually have to come with the breast. Skinless chicken breast which would be the most healthy choice is also available.

A variety of healthier options of drinks including the less common coconut water!

I got a quarter chicken meal, and intentionally chose the breast when I was offered breast or leg, as the breast is the true test of whether the chicken is made moist or not. Normally we only get to choose one type of rice but as this was the first time I was having a meal there, they were kind enough to let me sample all three of them so I know which one I like next time. Also had all the veggies on the list, and some pinto beans (buried under the salad), but I opt out the cheese as I am not a big fan of it. Chose the yellow sauce which was listed as the most spicy option.

The chicken was actually really moist and I did not even need the sauce to enjoy it! I only took one bite with the skin but it was crispy and completing worth indulging if I did not have a competition in 2 weeks! All 3 types of rice were amazing and I will defintely have a hard time choosing only one on my next visit. The texture of the brown rice was very different from the tomato rice and spinach rice. The brown rice was drier just like how it is in Chinese fried rice, while the spinach and tomato rice were very creamy and sticky, the rice really absorbed the flavours as well. The sauce though, was not as spicy as I expected, I guess that would suit the preference of the locals better. It was a great meal mixing everything together, a great boom of flavour and texture combining the chicken, the salad, the beans, and the rice. I will for sure be a regular customer here before I get fed up with chicken (I don't think this day will ever come lol).

Another great thing about this joint is that they list the calories of their food items on the menu which is rather rare in Hong Kong! I think it is a smart move though given the health awareness in Hong Kong is rising in recent years. The values are also pretty accurate.

Here is an approximate breakdown of the meal I had from my judgement:

Calories: 500kcal (I did not have the skin of the chicken)

Protein: 55g (primarily from the chicken and some from the beans, veggies, and rice)
Fat: 5g (only minimal amount of fat from the 1 bite of chicken skin I had)
Net Carbohydrates: 60g (complex carbs from the beans and rice which were perfect for my post-workout)
*net carbs does not include fiber as fiber cannot be digested by human bodies and thus provides no calories for us
Fiber: 10g (from the beans and veggies, beans actually have a ton of fiber in them if you did not know!)

Another thing worth noting is that although this joint seem to mainly cater to take-aways, they do have a few seats available and they even have 3 stations with chargers for different electronic devices, awesome for today's ridiculously short battery lives! Sometimes I do miss my indestructible Nokia 3310.