Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm Tasted and Tested – Spicy and Tangy Roasted Goodness

The Chicken Rice Shop has expanded their tried and tested menu of favourites with a new addition that once occupied their seasonal menu dubbed the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm.

A play on the word awesome, this new roast chicken option comes with a tangy, spicy sauce and will biome a permanent option in their menu alongside their perennially popular roasted, steamed and soy sauce chicken meal options. We dropped by for a visit and managed to enjoy their new Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm meal – here’s what we think.

What is Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm

If you’ve eaten traditional ikan bakar, you’ll be somewhat familiar with the flavour and taste profile available here and the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm uses much of the same medley of spices over a roasted chicken that’s also served with a side of tangy, spicy sauce with a relatively high viscosity and moderate spiciness. If you can take bird’s eye chilli straight up without flinching, this should be little more than a piquant interlude on your taste buds.

The largest set for the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm at the Chicken Rice Shop serves four hungry diners – not pictured is the Penang Rojak and Chicken Rolls.

For our field test, we were invited over by The Chicken Rice Shop to test their new Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm which is currently available a la carte in quarter, half and whole chicken options as well as a solo meal, meal for two and a huge meal for four option. 

For our taste test, we had the largest option which catered to four diners and consisted of a half serving of Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm, a quarter of their classic roasted chicken, a large serving of Nyonya Pai Tee top hats which contained turnips in a crispy shell, a large serving of Penang Rojak, their popular Chicken Rolls and a side of Pak Choy with Oyster Sauce with a dollop of oyster sauce as well as four bowls of rice and accompanying bowls of soup.

The Rojak at the Chicken Rice Shop has the classic dark shrimp paste slathered over a variety of mix fruits

Another view of the Meal C set for the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm at the Chicken Rice Shop

If you aim for something a bit spicier, you can swap out the Pay Choy with Oyster Sauce for a large serving of blanched Ladies Fingers with chilli crisps on top. Dubbed as Meal C, this is available at RM99.90.

The large meal set came with a set of Nyonya Pai Tee top hats – a perennial favourite

I traditionally am averse to spicy food but the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm had a level of spice that was very tolerable while the dipping sauce itself was a bit spicier but still manageable without breaking into a sweat.

If you love the sauce, you can add another serving for RM4.90. The meat was well roasted and was both flavourful and moist with the sauce helping to add a bit of extra zing to it though the strong flavour tends to overwhelm the standard issue chicken rice served with it. You will likely order an additional bowl of rice and likely more sauce though as it’s surprisingly addictive after several bites. 

The accompanying dipping sauce for the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm looks set to be a popular favourite. It’s a bit on the spicy side but delicious with the chicken itself.

As part of the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm meal promotion, you can order the So-Yammy drink which consists of soy milk with a dollop of marmalade blended as well as blue pea flowers extract and nata de coco to create a colourful, flavourful way to cleans the palate after all the savoury notes in our meal.

The So-Yammy drink (left) can be ordered at just RM3.90 when you order the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm set meals

On its own, the drink costs RM10.90 a glass but if ordered with the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm meal, it costs just RM3.90 which is pretty good value. All in, it’s a pretty tasty meal alternative to the standard soy, roasted and steamed chicken options at The Chicken Rice Shop and adds more variety to the menu.

At present, the Ayam Bakar Oh-Semm is available in the aforementioned meal options but The Chicken Rice Shop will add them as a permanent addition to the menu alongside their staples in the near future which is a welcome option indeed. For more details, check out tier official site at https://www.thechickenriceshop.com/