Food Picks: Popular Vietnamese chain Chickita serves tender flame-grilled chicken
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Chickita opens its first Singapore outlet at City Square Mall on Dec 20.
PHOTO: CHICKITA
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SINGAPORE – Vietnamese chicken chain Chickita, founded in Ho Chi Minh City in 2019, officially opens in Singapore on Dec 20, bringing with it the same flock of juicy birds, tasty sides and inventive sauces that made it such a hit in its home town.
The star of the show is, naturally, the chicken – slathered with hot sauce and grilled over an open flame. It arrives at the table on a big blue plate adorned with little else, stamped with diamond grill marks that promise strong, smoky flavour.
Get it whole ($37.90), as a half portion ($19.90) or in parts – a quarter leg, quarter breast and one boneless leg cost $10.90 each, while chicken tenders are available at $8.90 for five pieces.
The meat can be served plain – as plain as it gets by Chickita standards anyway, as the chicken is marinated for 24 hours – or doused in one of six sauces. On the milder end of the spectrum is the original lemongrass-lime leaf-chilli concoction first whipped up in founder Asif Mehrudeen’s home kitchen.
For something stronger, opt for the Sexy sauce, infused with roasted red chillies that add a lick of firepower. Or turn the heat all the way up with the Dynamite, a formidable blend of chillies and spices that slowly but surely seizes your taste buds.
Sides can be added at an additional $4.90 or bundled into one of several combos (from $13.90). Highlights include the sweet potato fries, sprinkled with a little sea salt, and the signature rice, a house speciality that recalls the fragrant, fat-fried, broth-soaked grains in Hainanese chicken rice.
As the rest of the menu proves, the chicken is a versatile bird. Here, it is turned into sticky “ribs” ($10.90), tacos ($12.90), salads ($12.90), burgers ($14.90) and wraps ($13.90).
It has not quite found its way into the dessert menu just yet, though. The range of sweet treats at Chickita – vanilla ice cream with crushed Oreos, raspberry or passion fruit puree (all $4.90) – remains small and slightly too sugary.
Where: 04-33 City Square Mall, 180 Kitchener Road chickitasg.com
MRT: Farrer Park
Open: 11am to 10pm daily
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