Hot Star Large Fried Chicken

The very first time I read about Hot Star was in an article published by ABS-CBN news.  The line "chicken bigger than the average Filipino's face" immediately caught my attention, so that very weekend, I ventured out to the newly opened Blue Bay Walk in Macapagal Avenue to try it out for myself.  

It was in the middle of the afternoon when we arrived in Hot Star.  The restaurant has a fast food setup, so the ordering is done at the counter.  I initially had my eye on their BBQ Large Fried Chicken and their chicken skin, only to be told that both were unavailable that day.  BOO.  Oh well, at least they helped me narrow down my choices to the other two available large fried chickens.  

Black Gulaman Ice Crush

While waiting for our order, we sipped on the black gulaman ice crush.  I thought I'd be chewing on gulaman pieces, but it turns out that this is really just a gulaman flavored ice blended drink.  And it was waaaaay too sweet.  

Original Large Fried Chicken

Our number was finally called, and boy, yes, the article wasn't kidding when they said that the chicken was bigger than an average face!  I wish I could have said that we were spellbound by it, but the size was the only thing we found spellbinding.  Everything went downhill from there.  Why?  Here's why:

a.  Tastewise, the original large fried chicken tasted like the normal chicken chops that you'd find in fast food restaurant and Taiwanese milk tea shops.

b.  We found the batter too thick and the texture a bit gummy (from the Tapioca flour), which we didn't like.

c.  Hold on...  Is that...?  Bones?  I thought we were getting chicken fillets!  Okay, my bad.  They didn't actually say fillet, but it's quite surprising to see a huge piece of chicken bone. (see exhibit A below)

Exhibit A

Crispy Large Fried Chicken

After the disappointing first chicken piece, we were hoping that the second one would give off better results.

Exhibit B

After we tried the original, we knew better.  So before chopping up and biting into the Crispy Large Fried Chicken, we looked for the part where the actual fillet ends and the photo above is what we came up with (exhibit B).  We were shocked that HALF of the supposed LARGE fried chicken was actually bones.  Uh oh.

Exhibit C

And here's a cross section of the chicken.  See how thin the actual chicken is?  Yup, it's mostly breading and I have the pictures to prove it (exhibit C).  

Overall I have to say that our experience in Hot Star Large Fried Chicken was disappointing.  The price would have been a good value if only the whole chicken piece did not include bones.  But since it does, then it's not worth it.  The batter was thick and the actual chicken fillet was thin too.  1 out of 5 stars.

Hot Star is at Blue Bay Walk, Macapagal Avenue cor, EDSA, Pasay City