Big Dot Chicken @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

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I can never resist the lure of fried chicken hence when news of this month-old stall at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre reach my ears, I knew I had to head down for a look.

A joint venture by three entrepreneur friends, Big Dot Chicken is a social enterprise aimed at helping the unemployed by offering them jobs and providing on-the-job training to equip them with the necessary skills required to run their own stall one day. They do not need any F&B background nor even have to pay any franchising fees.

Impressed by the noble cause behind its inception, I support this business wholeheartedly. If this business module indeed works, it can help someone in need to make a living.

On the day of my visit, I dropped by the stall fifteen minutes before the advertised timing of 11am and guess what? An elderly uncle was already seated at the table in front of the stall, enjoying his fried chicken.

The menu here is simple enough.

They serve fried chicken in three different combos:

Combo A (chicken thigh with fries) $3
Combo B (chicken drumstick and chicken wings with fries) $4
Combo C (chicken thigh and chicken drumstick with fries) $5

The chicken parts are available ala carte too. A chicken thigh is priced at $2.50, chicken drumstick at $2 and a chicken wing at $1.50.

Apart from fried chicken, the stall also serve heart-shaped waffles for $1 and wafer ice cream for $1.50.

I decided to have the Combo C however, do take note that it is self-service here. I was told to help myself to the pre-fried chicken which are laid out neatly in three rows inside the food warmer.

The top row are the chicken thighs, the middle row are the chicken drumsticks and the lowest row are the chicken wings.

I grabbed a disposable box by the side and picked my chicken parts using the tongs provided.

I handed the box to the lady in the stall and she filled it up with fries.

The fried chicken are available in two flavors: original and spicy. I do not know if it is a marketing gimmick but it is hard not to correlate the chicken here with those from the finger-lickin' good place.

That is a bold and risky move to put themselves on par with the fried chicken giant.

To be fair, they did not say that.

I did.

But, as mentioned earlier, if you are going to associate your fried chicken with the words "original" and "spicy", be prepared that people will link the two together.

I picked the original for both my chicken thigh and chicken drumstick. I have no idea how long the chicken parts have been sitting in the food warmer but I assumed not that long as they are still hot to the touch.

After taking a bite, I realized the batter is just a thin layer on the skin. If you are expecting a loud crunch with every bite, this is not it.

Also, the marinade tastes quite uneven with some areas saltier than it should. The marinade did not penetrate to the thicker parts so the inside is still a little bland.

I wonder what happened during the marinating process? Were the chicken parts thoroughly massaged?

What's comforting is that the chicken parts were fried just right. They are juicy and moist with no streaks of blood on the inside.

As for the fries, it came lightly salted just the way I like it. They were thicker than the usual shoestring fries so it is a little puffy on the inside.

Actually, I am a little curious as to why they wanted to serve pre-fried chicken instead of cooking upon order?

Saving time and manpower crunch is one thing but I believe most people would baulk at the idea of having fried chicken that has been "left out in the cold" (even if they are stored in the food warmer)?

But if you think about it, you can have the pick of the crop by choosing the largest piece of chicken available.

Well, since they have just started out, I do not want to be too critical but there is definitely room for improvement.

Do give them some time to gather feedback and improve on areas that needed attention.

I wish them success so they could outreach to those who can benefit from their program.

Big Dot Chicken is Muslim-friendly as they are awaiting for their Halal certification.