Love at First Bite: Hot Star Large Fried Chicken

I have heard a lot of good reviews about a Taiwanese fried chicken place a few months ago but I was never motivated to go as fried chicken is just fried chicken for me. Nothing special. But I guess I was destined to cross paths with this establishment when V recommended that we have dinner here last Sunday.

Hello, Hot Star Large Fried Chicken.

The restaurant is on the second floor of the building with Engine 46 at the ground floor. The place isn’t that big but spacious enough to accommodate more than 10 groups of hungry diners (mostly students on weekdays).

The food is pretty affordable too! The Original Large Fried Chicken and the Crispy Large Fried Chicken are priced at PHP110 while BBQ Large Fried Chicken is at PHP125. Just add PHP35 and you get a cup of rice and drink. V and V2 got Almond Ice Crush while I chose Black Gulaman.

I loved my drink! Though I wasn’t allowed to drink anything cold yet, I still drank it. It was yummy! It was like Black Gulaman shake! I had a few sips of almond and as a person not fond of the Almond Jelly dessert, I didn’t like the drink either.

We were amazed with the size of the chicken. It was huge (but flat). After giving V and V2 a bit of mine, I started munching on my Crispy Large Fried Chicken. I’m not so sure if I was just hungry but the chicken was pretty good. The skin was seasoned well and it sure was crispy. It was slightly buttery.

Restaurant Discovery: Zarzuela

The intense summer heat is getting crazier and crazier to the point that we just hibernated the whole Holy Week. No wonder my sister's getting whiter... uh, paler. Well, you get my point. But come Easter, we decided to go out and our eyes had a hard time adjusting to the brightness of the sun.

We were planning to go to Megamall but since the line to the parking lot was crazy, we opted to go to Shangri-La instead as M wanted to see the new wing too.

When we arrived, I already know where to eat as Frannywanny, P, and I were able to roam around the area a few nights ago.

Hello, Zarzuela. By its name alone, you could easily say that it's a Filipino restaurant.

While checking the menu, I got attracted to the less healthier choices. I ordered Krispy Binagoongan (PHP359), Gising Gising (PHP239), Chicken Fried Adobo (PHP299, all chicken; PHP329, pork and chicken). I got intrigued by the appetizer Fountain of Youth (PHP199) so I ordered that as well.

Singing for Chicken

It seems that Hainanese Chicken is becoming more and more popular in Manila. Almost all malls have at least one restaurant offering this dish and Shangri-la is not an exemption.

Sing Hainanese Chicken restaurant is one of the newest restaurants in Shangri-la and we were excited to dine there.

It was already past 8PM and the place was still packed so we thought that it must be a good place to have dinner.

We ordered Hainanese Chicken Rice Topping (PHP180), Roasted Hainanese Chicken Rice Topping (PHP180), Vegetable with Oyster Sauce (PHP150), and Chicken Lumpia (PHP150). I also had Pandan Gulaman Juice (PHP60) since it sounded interesting.

The first two dishes that arrived were the Hainanese and Roasted Hainanese Chicken Rice Topping. The first thing I noticed was the restaurant removed all the bones. (Yipee!) It was served with lettuce and cabbage.



It looked pretty much like the other Hainanese Chicken I had before. The taste though was different. Cooked with soy and sesame oil, it was a bit bland… actually too bland. I dipped it in a lot of ginger and I still could not taste it. The Roasted Hainanese Chicken tasted a bit better as there was more flavor.

As for the rice, it was quite salty and oily. It complements the chicken’s lack of flavor though. I was just not used to it.

The Vegetable with Oyster Sauce was quite good. Sing used fresh vegetables. It was a sweet yet light side dish. I liked the chopped onions best.

As for the Chicken Lumpia, it reminded me of the Bangus Lumpia of Bangus. (Isn’t it weird that there are just so many dishes that tasted like chicken?) I liked it but it was a bit dry.

Oh, for the Pandan Gulaman Juice, it was your typical gulaman… with green gulaman and a hint of pandan.

Sing Hainanese Chicken is located at 6th Floor Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City