KFC New Zealand: 2015 Review

Avid readers will recall that back in the heady days of 2011, Paulbot published a review of KFC NZ as part of his celebrated world tour series. 4 long years had passed though and we felt it only right that we travel once more to this far flung land to provide you with an update.

This time we opted to visit a branch in the South Island adrenaline capital Queenstown, a town known chiefly for being the home of extreme sports such as bungy jumping, skydiving and jetboating. The branch, situated on one of the main high streets, was a two level affair with the welcome addition of an outside balcony area affording spectacular mountain views - a first as far as we can recall.

We opted for the bacon avocado burger, chiefly because it wasn't something we've encountered before. In addition to the OR fillet, we were presented with avocado, bacon, crispy onions, lettuce, tomato and creamy aioli. First impressions were positive:

Once we bit into the burger though we were disappointed to find that the fillet was very much on the small side compared to offerings from the UK and nearby Australia - something that Paulbot mentioned in his previous review. This (rather major) issue aside, the burger was pretty tasty if not exactly mind-blowing. The bacon was packed with flavour and definitely complimented the avocado well. We weren't huge fans of the crispy onions, something we've previously experienced in Australia's Kentucky Jack burger. 

The disappointment of the size of the fillet, combined with some pretty average fries combined to make something of an average meal, though the benefit of eating outside with a fantastic view can't be overlooked. Perhaps next time we should try the Hawaiian Zinger burger, though given the fact that it has pineapple in it, perhaps not.

KFC's of Europe - KFC Belarus

When researching my trip to Belarus; a country popularly labelled as Europe's last dictatorship; I was unable to determine whether or not there was a KFC here. A google search turns up little but a number of articles expressing the opinion that a KFC will be opened sometime in 2015. The other results are in cyrillic script and as this in not a strong suite of mine we were going in blind.

In the late September sun, having strolled round most of the capital's main thoroughfares and having seen no evidence of one existing I was suddenly bouyed by a glorious sight:

However this led to a further problem. Belarus is not blessed with many gifted English speakers so we were on our own. Apart from the delicious looking burger, featuring - look closely - a base of gherkin slices; the thing that excited me most about this billboard was the clue to this branches whereabouts in the bottom right corner.

Having spent a few days in the city I had learned to discern signs for the city's metro system and could even navigate it. I followed the billboard's instructions and travelled to the very end of the line.

And ended up at this very busy intersection with no KFC in sight:

I looked around in earnest I asked passers by who gave me blank looks and finally (due in part to a less dedicated travelling companion - Not a member of the blog writing team) I conceded defeat and went back to my hotel defeated.

Since my return I have researched again and there appears to be a fully fledged website and evidence that the branch is exactly where I was. I could see no evidence of either any building under construction or an open restaurant.... I am hoping that the cyrillic text in the billboard said 'Coming Soon' but know this Colonel... I tried

If anybody who reads the blog goes to this branch we'd love to know more.

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.

Kentucky Fried China

After having visited the only KFC in the whole of Mongolia, it was time therefore to revisit arguably KFC's biggest and most important market........China. We hopped on a train and 33 hours later, we were there - Beijing, where we were soon to encounter the most radical menu item ever!

Emerging from Beijing central railway station KFC appeared to be in rude health. From my standpoint outside the main entrance I could see no less than three separate branches!

What better way to celebrate our arrival in the world's fastest emerging superpower than a visit to a multinational chain owned by its economic rival?... we went in to be confronted by a fairly conventional restaurant, layout wise, but a fairly unconventional menu. Chicken featured, of course, but so did many other weird and wonderful creations.

On this occasion we went for a 'Dragon Twister' - KFC's take on the famous Peking Duck: a wrap including fried chicken, cucumbers, spring onions, and duck sauce. The second choice was a 'Shrimp Burger' - consisting of four King Prawns set into some kind of potato patty; it was pretty good although looked fairly bland.

I should have clocked that a Shrimp Burger meant there were non-chicken menu items available, but what I found in the next branch we visited truly astounded me...... A KFC Beef Burger:

Although this isn't going to win any beauty contests, the six ultra thin beef patties fused together to form one burger provided a surprisingly juicy offering with some mushrooms on top giving a nice extra bit of sophisticated flavour you'd not find in the West.

KFC China confounded my expectations and turned all received wisdom on its head. In my two branch visits I didn't even order a chicken product (though I did try my PA's). Whilst I enjoyed trying and reporting on the strange menu items, to state the obvious... it just ain't chicken. That said, if the stats below are anything to go by they're doing something right. 




KFC CHINA OVERVIEW

To understand the staggering magnitude of this operation, take a look at the below from YUM Brands, the KFC Parent company:

KFC was the first quick-service restaurant chain to enter China in 1987. Today, KFC is the number one quick-service restaurant brand in China with more than 4,400 restaurants in more than 850 cities. In fact, we open more than one new KFC every day in China. In addition to Original Recipe chicken, KFC has an extensive menu featuring beef, seafood, rice dishes, fresh vegetables, soups, breakfast, desserts, and other products that appeal to Chinese consumers’ tastes.

KFB last visited China in March 2011, and looking at the figures above you'll see they've added over 700 new restaurants since then.... a phenomenal rate of growth.

And the list of superlatives continues:

Clifford Coonan of The Irish Times describes KFC as "by far the most pervasive symbol of Western culture in China". This is evidenced by the below picture of a KFC I visited at Badaling, where you can just see China's famous Great Wall in the background:

Ninety percent of Chinese sites are company owned, in contrast to just 11 percent internationally.

In 2008, Novak (Yum Chief Executive) said that he envisioned eventually operating more than 20,000 restaurants in China.

McDonalds, the arch rival boasted only 1705 restaurants in China in 2012 so KFC has clearly stolen the march on its old foe.

KFC Mongolia

2013 was a momentus year for the 2.7 Million Mongolians on this planet, for they were endowed the special honour of being the 120th country to host a KFC restaurant.

The first branch of the planned four in the capital Ulan Bator opened a stones throw from the central square in summer this year amid riotous scenes, where crowds of hungry would be diners mobbed the single entrance to the modern restaurant:

KFB gave the store a few months to deal with the inevitable teething problems such a stretched supply chain would bring and headed over there in September to check it out.

The store itself was large and modern and apart from some of the localised livery using the cyrillic alphabet there was no indication that you're in central Asia. The tables, chairs, tiles and lighting etc all conformed to the current YUM brands spec.

The restaurant was doing a brisk business with many well heeled Mongolians enjoying dining out at a fancy foreign restaurant. They operated a system whereby you placed your order at one till, took a numbered receipt and waited at another counter for your order to be prepared and handed over. A large plasma screen allowed you to see which numbered order was ready.

The queue to order moved swiftly, and no sooner had we tried to utter our first apologetic sounding 'Do you speak English' our server, no doubt alerted by our clothes and skin tone flipped over the counter top menu card to reveal and English language version of the menu.... a nice touch I thought.

With a favourable exchange rate of 2500 Mongolian Tugruks to the pound a basic meal came in at about £3. whilst not cheap by Mongolian standards this is one of the cheaper KFC's KFB has enjoyed in the world.

However, that was where the so far great experience began to falter. After an efficient order process we were confronted with a wait of 15-20 minutes before our order was ready. I am prepared to concede that the idea of fast food being a new concept in Mongolia (remember there are no McDonalds) could be responsible for what we perceived to be slow service but the frequent glances at watches by other hungry patrons inclines me otherwise.

The menu was fairly limited so we opted for a pair of Zinger Burgers which came in packaging much less red and minimalist that its European counterparts and still sporting the 'Finger Lickin' Good' slogan. When our food was eventually prepared we tucked in enthusiastically, only to be greeted by disappointment.

The burger was formed from various cuts of chicken meat and not a whole fillet. Despite the busyness of the restaurant, nothing really seemed hot and fresh.

Had I been served this elsewhere in the world I'd have been seriously disappointed, however when location is taken into mind with this branch being many hundreds of miles (which in this part of the world means over 24hrs hrs travel time) from its neighbour thus causing supply issues, and the fact that many of the staff will never have eaten a KFC and be unaware of what a really good one is like I have to conclude that this was a reasonable attempt.... albeit one with much room for improvement.

KFC Russia

Question: When is a KFC not a KFC?

Answer: When it's in Russia and in a partnership with local restaurant chain called Rostik's, thereby relegating the famous acronym to the end of the name and usurping the Colonel with, of all things, a figurehead who is a Chicken.

With Russia being an alien market to US based Yum brands they entered into a partnership with Rostik's who were familiar with business practices and legal issues in Russia, allowing the chain to expand rapidly with a minimum of bureaucracy.

I am however glad to inform you, that this is mostly in the past and thankfully the colonel is back where he belongs ruling the roost so to speak. Having completed a friendly takeover  all of the 164 Rostik's - KFC are being re-branded as simply, KFC a process that was scheduled for completion mid 2012.

To find out how KFC is standing on it's own two legs and managing in Russia now it's put all of its eggs into one basket, KFB visited Moscow.

With Over 80 locations in the city, I had assumed it would be easy to spot a branch without research. It wasn't as easy as I had presumed, but we did eventually find one a stone's throw from the Kremlin and Red Square although buried in a subterranean shopping centre so not immediately apparent.

The unit itself was nothing to look at, being similar in every respect to many mall based branches found throughout the world. The menu too closely mirrored the fayre that can be found throughout Western Europe. However, where they have localized their product offering was the use of the Cyrillic alphabet on Menu's and packaging featuring Fillet Burgers, Twisters, Box Master's but sadly no 'Towers'.

Opting for a Box Master and something we'd not seen before, a 'Bigger' burger we tucked in:

 The Box Master is was a carbon copy of one you might have got elsewhere in Europe whilst the 'Bigger' burger conjured up images of the Big Daddy and was a as a result somewhat disappointing:

Fashioned with only 2 mini fillets, some cheese and a splodge of mayonnaise its only saving grace was its final ingredient, the liberal use of fresh cut tomato, yet even this couldn't save it from mediocrity.

Pricewise...... Whilst Moscow itself is not a cheap city, visitors from the UK and western Europe should notice the price of a meal to be £\€1 cheaper than back home and the quality good. a burger consists of good quality white meat and your meal can be enjoyed with a beer.

KFB enjoyed their trip to Russia, and although not blown away by what they found, this was a solid offering and with the food in Russia generally dismal... KFC here has a bright future.

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.

The lengths people will go to to get KFC!

A great story published recently by the Guardian newspaper:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2013/may/19/kfc-smugglers-of-gaza

KFC Croatia

Wracked by a brutal civil war less that 20 years ago, Croatia is slowly finding its feet. It's popularity amongst tourists grows year on year, yet one thing that hasn't developed at the speed the people would like is the number of KFC outlets in the country.

At the time of KFB's visit, this country of 4.2 million people all had to share just 1 KFC! To put this staggering fact into perspective, that's like us here in the UK having only 14 KFC's (thankfully we have closer to 800).

Things are however moving in the right direction with a further 2 branches having opened although still all in and around  the capital, Zagreb.

The country itself is oddly shaped, with Zagreb in the north whilst some of the nations other largest cities Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik are all on the coast to the south. Some people would have to drive 375 miles to their closest branch, (and I moan about 10 miles).

The first branch, and one that KFB visited was in the Arena Centar, a few miles south of the city centre and  less than one year old when we visited.

The branch was obviously very recently built and so well appointed on a par with other western European outlets. Sadly as you may see from the picture it shared space in the food court with a McDonalds

We opted for an Impressively named 'Grander' Burger that KFB have sampled in the past, and whilst it was good, it was clear that this was a country still learning how to produce the very best that the colonel has to offer (something which I'm always very happy to say, the UK has gone a long way towards achieving.)

The grander itself was a fillet, mayo, lettuce and toasted bun

Essentially this was a good effort and with the news that two further branches have opened in recent months, a sure sign of strides in the right direction!

http://www.croatiaweek.com/kfc-in-croatia-one-year-on/


And in case you were wondering, lack of KFC on a country can have serious effects on the population, in  the town of Mostar in next door Bosnia, a country still not home to a single KFC, people were literally throwing themselves off bridges in depair!