Sep 21, 2014 10:32 AM
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Fried Chicken – unhealthy, wasteful, disgusting. Many such words have been thrown towards fried chicken in the country, and a lot of it has to do with people’s perceptions of the largest fried chicken chain in the country – KFC.
But is fried chicken a really bad thing? To me, it’s just one more of a brilliant range of chicken dishes for non-vegetarian lovers. On the one hand you have tandoor and tikkas, on the other, Andhra chilli and chicken 65. But for me, few things beat the feeling of sinking your teeth into a piece of breaded and crumbed fried chicken. As comfort food, it ranks among my top 10.
Five Star Chicken
Five Star Chicken competes against KFC in the sense that they primarily and ONLY serve fried chicken(similar to KFC’s Hot n Crispy range), but they are smart. They realize that no one will purchase from them if they go head-to-head and charge the same rates, so they compete on price.
Five Star Chicken outlets are mostly take away places. You do not get sitting. You pack your chicken and enjoy it in your home / office / car.
Indiranagar Outlet
The outlet I frequent is Indiranagar, as it is close to my house. Though the MG Road outlet is another popular destination. The outlet is like a hole in the wall, and strictly for takeaway. It is open from 11 AM in the morning till 10PM, like most other outlets. Five Star Chicken has over 73 outlets across Bangalore, so there is a good chance you will find one in our locality.
The Food
Vegetarians. Stay. Away. Unlike KFC, Five Star Chicken does not cater to the vegetarian clientele at all. Almost all times, bar one, are based on some type of Fried Chicken. There are primarily two variants of chicken which are the most popular. They are Thai and Masala flavours. Both are similar to KFC’s Hot n Crispy range, i.e. the chicken is coated with a crunchy braded batter and deep fried. This results in a lovely first bite which crunches in your mouth, followed by soft succulent chicken within.
The masala tastes very similar to KFC’s Hot n Crispy chicken and is the most popular flavour requested. The thai is milder, and its initial crunch is not very nice. So I always go in for the masala.
There are are also boneless chicken items on the menu, like chicken nuggets and fingers. They come skewered on a stick and are generous for the price, but they taste rather anaemic and bland in comparison to the main Fried Chicken dishes.
The USP – Price
No one in their right mind will pay KFC like prices for a place without any seating or service. So it’s a good thing that Five Star Chicken prices itself very competitively. Seriously, I could not believe the pries when I first saw them. Both Thai and Masala flavours cost Rs. 39 for a wing piece and Rs. 4 for a regular piece. They add VAT and service tax to that figure, so the net amount would be Rs. 45. There are no charges for parcelling the items.
In comparison, a KFC Hot n Crispy plate with two chicken pieces costs Rs. 150(before tax), in comparison to Rs. 90(after tax) for two similar pieces at Five Star Chicken. Similarly, the boneless variants are also much cheaper than their KFC equivalents. Three boneless chicken strips cost Rs. 105 in KFC, while a similar quantity costs just Rs. 40 at Five Star Chicken.
Verdict – Chicken on a Budget
Five Star Chicken is tasty and delicious, especially for people who love their fried chicken. But their biggest USP is their price, which makes it one of the cheapest non-veg you can get in Bangalore.
