Special Hainan Chicken 和记海南鸡饭 — Restaurant in San Leandro

The Hainan chicken was quite tender and juicy with firm texture but not much flavor to it. It's better than a lot of other Hainan chicken places in the bay and you can't beat the price for around $14. The ginger scallion sauce didn't have much ginger or scallion taste to it other than being salty. So now you have bland chicken and salty sauce but it's not as bad as it sounds since the texture of the chicken was good and juicy.

The fried chicken gizzard was prepped right and appropriately sized. Not too much breading and the right amount of crunch and flavor. The fried tofu was okay and nothing special about it so I would skip it if it's your favorite dish. The braised duck was decent and kind of bland but the texture wasn't mushy which is common for ducks.

The lemon tea was watered down Lipton black tea with slices of lemon tossed in there. It's not the authentic kind with ultra concentrated three types of tea leaves base and lemon juice infused syrup. The kind with rich lemon and tea flavor without the bitterness and roughbess in the mouth. But that's almost impossible to find in the bay unless you make it yourself. I would skip this drink if lemon tea is your thing.

The service was good, everything came out orderly and fast. They have room to combine the tables for party of 6 or more. Parking is plenty in the plaza. This place offers good value in this price range for lunch and quick dinner. At under $15 a meal, this has to be one of the top Hainan chicken restaurants in...

My recent visit to Hainan special chicken left me utterly disgusted and outraged. The level of service I received was not just incompetent but shockingly disrespectful.

After settling the bill, I encountered outright rudeness from the waiter when attempting to adjust the tip I had left. To add insult to injury, the owner herself intervened, insisting that tip adjustments were only possible with cash payment. Furthermore, I was informed of an alleged issue with the tip I provided, which is completely unacceptable.

It's abundantly clear that this establishment has no concept of basic customer respect. Even the owner's parting comment suggesting I "bring the food home next time" was a tone-deaf insult, given the circumstances.

I refuse to subject myself to such appalling treatment again and will actively discourage anyone I know from patronizing this unprofessional and disrespectful establishment.

Avoid Hainan special chicken...

Greenhouse is getting a plethora of new Chinese restaurants and 和记 is the newest on this list. They took over the former Urban Ka-Re spot diagonal from McDonald's. Easy to spot on the right as you enter Greenhouse from Washington Ave. Parking is easy and plenty as the plaza never gets too busy.

Currently they have a grand opening special for their signature Hainan chicken lunch box - only $9.90 (originally $15.50) and comes with a small salad, the special Hainan chicken rice and a soup. The chicken is tender and delicious! Cooked perfectly and juicy - it gets my chicken loving family's approval. We also tried their chiu chow braised duck and the flavors weren't as prominent as we'd like. On their menu they serve much more than Hainan chicken. There's chiu chow appetizers and a craft your own noodle bowl option. Excited to see this place open and try more of...