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.

KFC Trilogy Box Meal - Quick Review

Just in time for Christmas, this period's Time Limited Offer (TLO) is a real gift. It's not the first time that we've seen the Trilogy Box Meal, and with its trilogy of  chicken items being akin to the Holy Trinity, the festive period is the perfect time for it.

For £5.99 you get a Zinger burger, Small Popcorn Chicken, a Mini Fillet (tiny in my case) Fries, a drink, a regular Side (Gravy) and a dip (2Hot4U). Tower up for 50p and you have a feast that will well and truly fill you up.

I ordered this at 6:45pm on a Tuesday night at the Goldenhills branch in Stoke-on-Trent. After a short wait I was presented with a treat, although I did have to remind my server about my dip.

At my table I discovered a well constructed Burger with a hot fresh fillet, (although the bun had only been shown the toaster and was a touch cold) a very tasty and fresh Mini Fillet (However this was tiny and I considered complaining), excellent crispy fries, decent Popcorn Chicken and an acceptable gravy (good consistency, but lacked taste)

Although this TLO does lack innovation it is more than made up for by sheer brute volumes of chicken

Value 8/10
Taste 7/10

Merry Christmas

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!