KFC Cambodia

Cambodia boasts only eleven branches of KFC. Ten of these are clustered in the capital Pnomh Penh, we decided to head to the provincial town of Siem Reap to see what KFC in the provinces was like.

Located in a grand Colonial building on the main commercial artery in Siem Reap KFC's air conditioned interior provided welcome respite from the tropical heat outside. Although we arrived outside of the lunchtime rush somewhat disappointingly our only fellow diners were other westerners, suggesting either the cuisine or the price hasn't swayed local diners.

Although the official Cambodian currency is the Riel, in practice everyone uses US dollars, to the extent that the menu is also in dollars.

There were some interesting choices and so we went for a Waikiki Burger and a Zinger Max burger. This was the first time I'd seen Pineapple on a burger since in Australia at the turn of the century on a burger I used to love. I was heartened by reference to 'Chicken Fillet' due to having had bad experiences in Asia in the past with brown meat.

We ordered and after quite a considerable wait were presented with our food:

And here on in started the disappointment. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that pineapple ring is on the bottom.... the opposite of how this should have been constructed. Still, I thought, at least all of the ingredients are there. I tucked in, to find that 'Chicken Fillet' was (and I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here) a mistranslation of  'slimy brown bits of chicken'.

I ate as much as I was able but was left feeling truly unsatisfied. The only ray of hope.....  the unimaginably dirty 'Cheezy Wedges' slathered with that luminous fake squirty cheese that probably wouldn't set in a freezer and looks disgusting but if you're in the mood tastes incredible!

KFC Cambodia has to be praised for its extensive and interesting menu and with the right Chicken this could be great, but right now this doesn't cut the mustard.

KFB Asian Odyssey Part 4: India

And so we reach the final stop on our travels: India. Land of ancient history, maniac autorickshaw drivers and more types of animals wandering the streets than you're likely to find in most British zoos.
India is intense in many ways, so it came as a welcome relief to spot the Colonel's smiling face while strolling down Jaipur's busy MI road.

The restaurant itself was similar to other branches we've encountered around the world - mostly clean, decked out in the usual red hues and air conditioned (something of a rarity in India). 

We walked up to the staff at the counter and ordered a Chicken Snacker with a 7Up and a Zinger Burger meal, both upgraded to include cheese.

First up: the Snacker. Similar in appearance to a Mini Fillet from back in the UK, the Snacker was a wallet friendly 39 rupees (39p) (15R extra for cheese).  The good news ended there though. We were presented with a squashed burger accompanied by some limp lettuce and mayonnaise. According to my fellow reviewer, the chicken itself was 25% meat, 75% batter. Not a great start.

The Zinger Tower, sadly, fared no better. As with Thailand and Hong Kong, the meat was of the leg rather than breast variety. As we've previously discovered though, this in itself isn't necessarily a
negative thing. The burger comprised the chicken itself, some lettuce, the cheese we added and some mayonnaise. No spicy salsa in sight. And as we'd grown accustomed to: no hash brown.

Flavour was sorely lacking. In fact, the strongest flavour came from the cheese rather than the chicken. And without that salsa or any trace of a marinade on the meat, the Zing was utterly absent. The real lowlight was yet to come. The fries were among the worst we've ever encountered at a KFC. Luke warm and clearly left for far too long under a heat lamp, they were chewy, depressing imposters for the much maligned KFc fry.  Oh and to make matters worse, there was a small piece of plastic in the bottom of the packet (see below). 

Were it not for the fact that we were in a huge rush and really really didn't want any more fries, we'd have complained and demanded replacements. The only saving grace for the meal was the price. We paid a very wallet friendly £3.32 For all the food that day.

Taste: 2Value: 4Overall: 3


Epilogue
And now comes the time for reflection. What exactly have we learned from our gastronomical voyage across Asia? Well the most obvious conclusion is that the KFC in the UK beats the socks off anything we sampled. Yes it's more expensive and yes we frequently bemoan the <<lack of innovation but when it comes down to it, we should count ourselves lucky that's it's almost universally delicious. For now,  our voyage to locate the globe's most finger licking chicken shall continue.

KFB Asian Odyssey Part 3: Thailand

We're going to start with an apology. Despite a valiant effort, we're
ashamed to report that we were unable to sample KFC in Vietnam due to
inaccurate closing times listed on the website. No amount of pleading
with the confused security guard was going to change his mind.

In light of our failure, we decided to get KFC immediately upon
arrival in Thailand. As luck would have it we came across The Colonel
in Bangkok's old DMK airport. Having sampled KFC before in Thailand we
felt it only right to try something new this time.

Behold the Twister Crispy Nachos (and behold its slightly Cheesestring-esque chicken in the promo standee above). We've seen nachos added to the mix
on previous occasions but never before in a Twister. Contents were as
follows: 2 chicken pieces covered in what tasted like Original Recipe
coating, lettuce, a BBQ like sauce and nachos.

As with previous Thailand experiences the chicken here was seemingly
of the thigh meat variety but strangely tasteless. The BBQ sauce was
nothing to write home about and the lettuce was...well, lettuce. The
nachos fared a little better, adding some much needed flavour and
crunch. Overall though, we were disappointed by this limited edition
offering as we've sampled much better in the UK (interestingly the
fries were similar to the new, thinner UK type).

At 89baht for the Twister itself (around £1.80) we didn't really feel
it offered particularly great value for money. The only real saving
grace was that a fellow reviewer sampled the Zinger Burger which we're
glad to report was given a big thumbs up.

Taste: 4
Value: 4
Overall: 4

KFB Asian Odyssey Part 1: Japan

As you'll have realised from our previous coverage of Thailand,
America, China, New Zealand, Germany and a whole lot more, here at KFB we like
nothing better than to explore the offerings of different KFCs around
the world. With that in mind we set off on a 3 month tour of
Asia to report back on how the Colonel goes about his business on the
other side of the globe. First up: Japan.

Having eaten enough raw fish in Tokyo to bore even a penguin we were
almost at the end of our collective tether. And then a moment of
divine inspiration - what should whizz past us on the street but a KFC
delivery moped. Yes you read that right: delivery. There was only one
thing for it: time to order some take out. Unfortunately the fact that
we don't speak a word of Japanese made this slightly troubling and we
settled for finding the nearest outlet in the Ginza district.

Much like Thai KFCs, Sanders stands proudly outside most branches in
Japan. Rather than adopting the thai 'prayer' greeting though, here he
has his arms outstretched as if to say "Where in God's name am I?".

We walked into a very small branch and began to peruse the menu. Not
being able to read anything meant we ordered the burger that most
closely represented the Zinger Tower. First impression: small. Smaller
than a regular meal in the UK that's for sure. For only 500¥ (£3.40
ish) though we weren't about to complain.

As you may be able to tell from the above photo, the fries here are
very chunky. This is especially interesting given the rent decision in
the UK to thin out the fries to make them more McDonalds like. We're
glad to report however that they were hot, crunchy and delicious.

And so the main event: the mystery burger. Again smaller than a
typical UK Fillet Burger (a Japanese version of which did seem to be
on the menu), we were slightly alarmed at the orange glow of the
coating which didn't seem to be original recipe.

Here's what we think was inside: normal KFC cheese, mustard/wasabi
mayo, spicy salsa and raw onion slices. The latter in fact turned out
to be a real highlight, complimenting the moist chicken very well and
adding a new depth of flavour to the burger. Another new element was
the bun which looked and tasted like the 50/50 style white/wholemeal
bread you can buy back home. An excellent decision from the Colonel
here as full on wholemeal would undoubtedly have overpowered the
carefully balanced other flavours.

Overall we very much enjoyed our meal but would make one suggestion:
add a hash brown - always a winner.

Taste: 6.5
Value: 7
Overall: 7.5

Oh and one more thing: on the way out we noticed these bizarre
leaflets. If anyone can translate do let us know. We assume it's
perhaps a recipe you can make using the chicken from KFC - we
certainly didn't see anything like this on the menu.