KFC Vietnam

At KFB we never like to let our fans down, and so it was with much regret earlier this year, after the promise of a Vietnam KFC review we were unable to visit the intended branch due to inaccurately posted closing times. KFB was determined to make up for this crushing disappointment (trust us, it was worse for us than for you) and resolved to go back there.... and so we have! KFB recently visited Vietnam's flagship Hoan Kiem branch in Hanoi to sample their wares. Mindful that we'd let you down we then went on to visit a KFC in neighbouring Cambodia to see how it compared.

KFC has been in Vietnam for 14 years having opened its first branch in Ho Chi Minh city, better known as Saigon in 1997. Compared to some Markets we've visited this makes KFC vietnam positively middle aged and we hoped that with that maturity had come distinction and refinement.

From the outside, housed alongside a global financial institute in a grand colonial building boasting balconies with commanding views over the central lake it certainly looked the part.

We entered into what was a small vestibule containing the tills and the entrance to a stair well that took us up to the restaurant. We were greeted by two smiling team members with a good standard of english who make for a pleasent transaction. The whole meal cost me nearly two hundred grand (dong that is, the Vietnamese currency of which there are about 33,000 to the £)

We made our way up the stairs into the main restaurant which extended over a further two floors. We were confronnted with a food pick up area, although as we weren't visiting at peak time and our food was not yet ready, with broken English the staff let us know they'd bring it over to us. We took our seat on the balcony and watched the chaos below whilst we waited for our food.

We didn't have to wait too long before it was served to us on bespoke KFC plastic crockery with raised plastic ridges to neatly compartmentalise our food with a scoop of mash and gravy in one, fries in another and our burger in a third. Drinks were served in branded glasses (which I sincerely regret not bringing one home) and there was a perfectly presentable condiment station.


Asians in general seem much less squeamish about colour , presentation and texture of meat than us in the West and are happy to strip a carcass to the bone. I am unhappily at the other end of the scale, A cross that is in fact very bearable in the UK due to our delicious chicken breast fillet burgers. However, when in Asia on business I've frequently felt how I imagine vegetarians may feel in Texas, picking carefully at my food and taking tentative bites to see if the food is palatable. Unfortunately again in Vietnam as elsewhere in Asia even the burgers consisted of hunks of the dark meat lumped together into a patty shape and fried in original recipe.

I shan't dwell on the burger although it was clearly the weak link in the meal, there were redeeming features. Shoestring fries that were nicely browned and crispy were accompanied by a smooth mash and tasty gravy. And he best part of the meal? Pudding - egg custard tarts based I assume on the Chinese copy of the Portuguese colonial treat 'Pastel de Nata' that now seems to have spread across the whole of East Asia from the original Portuguese enclave of Macau. These were hot, fresh, crispy and delicious.

In comparison to the west the prices were very reasonable with two meals and pudding being about half the cost you may expect to pay in the UK. In comparison to the local prices, this was maybe a little pricey, but bear in mind this is a city where you can buy a beer for 15p!

KFC vietnam

Value 5 /10
Taste 4/ 10

A long way to go!

KFB in Australia: Hash Brown Double review

perfect

adjective

ˈpəːfɪkt/

1. 1.

   having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be

Perfect may well be how one might describe the famed Double Down - an innovation so significant we've dedicated several posts to it. You can't improve on perfection of course. At least that's what we thought until we saw the incredible Zinger Double Down King from South Korea. Eagle eyed readers though may have spotted another interesting product in that article: the Double Down Maxx which added a hash brown to the mix. Well we're pleased (not to mention very excited) to announce that a very similar product is now available in Australia: The Hash Brown Double.

We sampled the Hash Brown Double at the Bourke St branch in Melbourne. Something for connoisseurs to note: you're given the choice of fillet or Zinger varieties. We opted for the latter and added a pot of gravy for good measure (we also received free large fries owing to an serving error that caused a delay). The cost was $10.95 without the gravy.

Let's break the 'burger' down for you: sandwiched between two Zinger fillets you'll find two slices of cheese, a slice of Australian style bacon and the all important hash brown. Supercharger sauce is the lubricant of choice.

Construction was solid with the cheese acting as the usual binding agent. The packaging acts as a handy hand guard of sorts to help with grease transference but wasn't hugely effective. On first bite the cheese taste was most dominant which was a worry. The saltiness of the bacon however soon helped cut through the cloying initial flavour and made for a nicely balanced mouthful.

As we've often noted, the hash brown is a very welcome addition and adds an extra element of texture. It was crunchy and piping hot here as it should be. If we had to make one suggestion though it would be that we'd replace the Supercharger sauce with the salsa found in the UK Zinger Tower to help further cut through the otherwise extremely rich flavours.

Overall the Hash Brown Double was a very tasty and filling if not mind-blowing addition to the menu out here in the land down under. Perhaps we'd bigged it up too much before the sampling but the addition of the hash brown wasn't as revolutionary as we'd hoped.

Finally, a word on the gravy. Though it passed the standing chip test with flying colours it was of the stodgy, peppery variety similar to that found in KFC Hong Kong and elsewhere and really wasn't very tasty.

Taste: 6.5

Innovation: 6

Value: 8

Overall: 7.5

Korean Double Down Wows with Triple Meat Combo

KFC fans will have undoubtedly already heard of the legendary Double Down, a conceptual product released in 2010 that replaces the bun element of a burger with 2 chicken fillets, sandwiching a delicious filling of bacon, cheese and sauces in it's midst. When it was released, we were so jealous that we went to great lengths to recreate that DD experience, before eventually managing to secure a full review. And it was superb. Surely, then, nothing could top this insane meat feast?

Incredibly, KFC South Korea have done just that. The product in question is the Zinger Double Down King, which features 2 chicken fillets, 1 beef burger patty, plus bacon, cheese and sauce in some kind of sexy three-way meat sandwich. Yes, that's right readers, the holy trinity of chicken, beef and pork has at last been combined into one revolutionary fast food offering. "Wait a minute, beef?? I hear you cry. Yes! Beef!

Last year, they also impressed with the Double Down Maxx, sandwiching a hash brown inside the comforting embrace of breaded chicken. What will they think of next??

So how does the Zinger Double Down King taste? We're in the process of booking our flights to Korea to give it a whirl, but in the meantime we can't help but wonder if we could recreate this monster here in the UK, with a little help from a fast-food clown-based rival chain...look out for a special feature coming soon!

KFB in Australia: Kentucky Jack review

Here at KFB we're big fans of innovation and the addition of new ingredients as you'll notice from our coverage of the recent pulled chicken range in the UK and specials such as the Nacho Stacker. It was with some excitement then that we came across the Kentucky Jack limited edition burger in Australian KFCs.

Let's break it down for you: we've got an Original Recipe chicken fillet surrounded by crispy fried onions, two slices of white cheese, bacon, coleslaw (yes, IN the burger) and smokey BBQ sauce.
When we first unwrapped the burger we were worried - 'juice' from the slaw has seeped out into the wrapper and bun leaving some very soggy edges. Construction was otherwise solid - KFC UK should take note that bacon out here in Oz is most certainly NOT of the streaky variety (something that we felt marred the Big Daddy somewhat). Cost-wise it was cheaper than the Zinger Stacker by a couple of bucks, probably owing to the lack of the extra chicken breast.

And so onto the tasting: the first bite was full of real contrast - sweet (BBQ sauce) but salty (bacon), crunchy (onions, slaw) but soft (bun). There's a great balance of flavours going on in here. Even the cheese, which is Australia is of a white variety, packed some real punch.

There was something about the flavour though that we couldn't just put our...tongue on. Something that took this reviewer back to childhood school lunch halls. It was a certain tang, it was...SKIPS! For readers who aren't from the UK, Skips are prawn cocktail flavoured tapioca-based snacks (which taste a lot better than they sound). And somehow the Kentucky Jack was very reminiscent of this flavour profile. If we had to guess we'd say it was the combo of the crispy onions and the BBQ sauce. Do note however that despite sounding like an odd addition to a burger, we thoroughly enjoyed this throwback taste.

And as we've come accustomed too here at KFB we do have to ask the key question: would it be better with a hash brown? Actually for once, given all the contrasting flavours and textures going on, we're not sure it would.

Value: 7
Flavour: 8
Overall: 7.5

KFB in Australia: Zinger Stacker review

Welcome, KFB readers, to the land down under. I've been sent on special assignment to the other side of the world so expect a special series of Aussie KFB posts coming your way. And be sure to check out our previous Australia write-up here.

Upon arrival in Melbourne I was excited to find not one but two special edition burgers on the menu. The intriguing sounding Kentucky Jack (complete with coleslaw and crispy fried onions) will be covered in a separate review but for today our focus is on the Zinger Stacker. Let's address the elephant in the room first: yes the Zinger Stacker features TWO Zinger fillets in one burger, bringing it up to Double Down levels of chicken provision. But unlike its well-known American cousin, this bad boy is sandwiched, quite literally, in a bun. Other ingredients include 2 slices of cheese, spicy salsa, lettuce and Supercharger sauce. I opted for the combo meal which set me back $10.95 (about £5.90 at current exchange rates)

As you can see in the above photo, construction was solid, with the white cheese binding the fillets to both each other and the bun. 

The first bite was a good one - this is a whole lot of chicken. Compared to the UK Zinger fillets though I couldn't help but find the chicken slightly lacking in flavour and kick. The Supercharger sauce is the same as has been found in the UK and is a kind of richer, tasty mayo. The lettuce was unremarkable. 

The spicy salsa, as seen in the above photo was less chunky than the UK equivalent and mustier in taste. It was also quite sweet but not in an unpleasant way. Sampled by itself it had a decent kick which was sadly lost in among the other ingredients.

Overall, and as we've frequently noted, this burger was missing something and that something was a hash brown. In fact, I'd go as far to say that I'd rather they swapped the additional fillet with a hash brown or in some kind of dream wonderland, added a hash brown to the two fillets on offer here. That variety in texture and flavour is very important. 

A quick word on the fries: it was as if I'd gone into some kind of time machine and emerged in the UK back in the depths of 2013, for the fries on offer in Australia are of the thicker and slightly floppier variety we were so accustomed to in the UK. They were hot, fresh and came in a strange carton rather than a paper packet but were nothing to get overly excited about. 

Taste: 6/10
Value: 7.5/10
Overall: 6.5/10