Eat Gai

Essex Market has a lot of stalls to choose from but Eat Gai is one of our go-to favorite. We love ordering their Pineapple chicken. It's a Hat Yai Southern Thai Fried chicken with pineapple & ginger rice served in pineapple shell! The presentation is so cute. The chicken was crispy and juicy, seasoned to perfection with a blend of spices. The pineapple pieces in the ginger rice is a perfect complement, adding a burst of sweetness from the pineapple and a hint of ginger. We love the chicken so much that we also just ordered the Thai Fried chicken itself. Something about the chicken it is so soft, we we believe is the use of turmeric that paired with other spices has the chicken bold and full of flavorful. We didn't stop there we also ordered the Fried chicken Bahn MI as well. This was our first time trying Fried Chicken Bahn Mi, It was delicious taking the chicken into a sandwich with some greens, cucumbers, and sauce. We do suggest asking for more sauce due to the fact the its a little in the dry end when chewing so the sauce helps with that. Other then that it was fulfilling.

(Copied from my yelp review) Hainanese chicken craving sated and then some. I think the name is a mix if English and maybe Chinese? I think Gai might be pinyin for chicken. Anyway regardless this place serves amazing hainanese chicken and rice. The rice ERMAHGERD! Yeah its so good I mometarily lost my command of the English language, its a ginger infused rice cooked in chicken broth and its as magnificent as you can imagine. I could honestly just eat bowls and bowls of the rice non-stop with no sides. But luckily I didn't have to cause in Hainanese chicken and rice; the rice is the side dish and the chicken is the main star. So let's talk chicken, bawk bawk. Ahem, I mean to say the chicken also spectacular, it was not at all overshadowed by the amazing rice. Instead the flavoring of the rice further enhanced the chickeness of the chicken. I'm at a lost of words to describe the chicken. The dark meat was so juicy and tender I could honestly just eat 2 whole birds on my own. One minor issue though was that the white meat sections were a bit dry to me however that was one a minor inconvenience because they provide not one or two but THREE dipping sauces. One is like a spicy garlicky soy sauce, another was a slightly sweet soy sauce and then something thats like a salsa verde. All which compliments the white meat so amazing its like a symphony of flavors. My personal favorite is the garlicky one. Oh and if you order the extremely affordable meal ($9.75) it even comes with a free soup, though its more like a clear broth but hey its nice to get something free and if you're like me you would be glad to have something to drink when you inevitably choke from inhaling the meal too quickly. Now if you are still peckish after all that, I would also recommend a order of the Shazam Spicy Wings. Now I will say its not quite exactly a thunderbolt hitting you when you have these wings (unlike Captain Marvel [DC]). Rather the spiciness is more like a slow burn that increases to a roaring fire the more wings you eat. (Wait maybe thats the SHAZAM!) The fried wings are amazing crispy and juicy with hints of curry powder and I think shichimi pepper, cause I definitely detected hints of sour amongst the heat. So do yourself, your stomach, your taste buds and your wallet a favor and like the name of the food stand Eat Gai.

Highly recommend!!!! Tasty and authentic Hainan Chicken Rice. Highly recommend. They have very good source made up by ginger, garlic, sesame oil and some others. Also the ginger rice is very good! But the Thai tea is a little bit too sweet.

Eai Gai recently opened a small rest in Essex Market. Essex market is spacious, clean place with a variety of food, and drinks. Very easy to access using the subway, walking or biking. I tried Hainanese Chicken & Rice, it comes with three sauces on the side: Worcestershire, sweet and spicy. It comes with a free chicken soup which was also very good. I also had a Thai tea, very refreshing for a sunny day. Good place and great price

Friendly and helpful service. Chicken and rice was terrific! While the boiled chicken by itself seemed somewhat plain, as a dish, the moist flavorful (described as fatty, but overall seemed pretty healthy) was great! The sauces added spice and depth. The gizzard and liver was appreciated. You can order extra liver or gizzard and we got some of the pickles extra for 50cents. The gizzards are boiled, soft and juicy and go well with the sauces. Take out was packed and travel well.

Their Hainan Chicken looks really good on Yelp but it turned out to be a great disappointment. Chicken is way too over cooked, tasted like rubber and the rice is soggy, the whole chicken over rice is a disaster. Don't!!!

Inside of Essex market, the popular option is the Hainanese Chicken rice, it comes with 3 sauces and a broth, chicken itself is a bit bland though.

Khao Man Gai very very tasty! Guys, you are awesome! I remember the Thailand!