Hot Star Large Fried Chicken - Richmond

I ordered the Popcorn Chicken Bento, which cost around $12. However, I noticed that the portion size has shrunk. My 9-year-old son managed to finish it all by himself. Additionally, the chicken was a bit dry.

The chicken was fantastic, as was the Yuzu Soda. However, the French fries were quite disappointing—undercooked and lacking seasoning. I'm not sure what went wrong since it wasn't very busy at the time. I wouldn't order the fries again. I recommend sticking with the chicken and their drinks; those were definitely worthwhile! Oh, and the automatic tip added for dining in made me laugh!

I picked up my mobile order at this restaurant, but it seemed to be closed with all the lights off, even though it was supposed to be open for another hour. The bag I received felt very light, and the contents didn't seem quite right. The Popcorn Chicken was only about a third of the bag's volume, while the yucca fries were a decent size. The overall taste was just average, and the chicken felt either old or over-fried, making it hard to justify the price. I understand that restaurants may need to raise menu prices to keep up with inflation, and I’m okay with that. However, from a consumer's perspective, if I leave feeling unsatisfied, I’m less likely to return.

The hot cheese fried chicken. It was crispy, cheesy, very creamy and juicy!! The meat itself was strongly spiced and salty, so I recommend you to buy/ bring a drink. Luckily, I ordered the rose-blue soda with my chicken. It was quite refreshing and helped to cut the fatness of the meat as it was somewhat oily. The whole rose was up, so I didn't taste much of it until the end. Unfortunately, the cheese was inside on one side of the chicken, so the other half had no. There were also about 15 minutes waiting for my food as it is made to order!

We tried their spicy hot cheese and Korean-style fried chicken and they were delicious. The prices are sky-high and are many times the price of such chicken sold in Taiwan night markets, and wait time after ordering was over 20 minutes. Two pieces of chicken cost us a whopping $27.28, including GST. Photos Sanjib Dutta