Korean Fried Chicken has taken Singapore by storm, with its irresistibly crispy exterior and juicy, flavourful meat.
As more and more Korean eateries pop up across the city, each brings its unique twist to this beloved dish.
From classic soy garlic to fiery hot and innovative fusion flavors, the options are endless.
This DFD guide explores some of the best spots in Singapore to indulge in Korean Fried Chicken:
88 Chicken 팔팔치킨
The Venue Shoppes #01-24, 2 Tai Thong Crescent, Singapore 347836
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 10:30pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Opened by a Korean chef and his wife, 88 Chicken proudly carries the flavours from Hanguk. It is supposedly as authentic as it gets. The star of the show is the fried chicken.
Three choices are available: the original 88 Fried Chicken, 88 Yang Nyeom Chicken, and 88 Soy Sauced Chicken. There are also Fried Boneless Thighs ($22/$38) and Fried Wings ($20/$36) as alternatives.
Half ($19) portion comes in 7 pieces of regular chicken parts. Big groups should get the Whole ($34) portion instead. As I bit into the chicken, the batter had an audible crunch.
Unlike typical Korean Fried Chicken, the thin skin had a light crisp and subtle savoury taste. The meat was relatively succulent. The dish is also served with a honey mustard and a soy sauce.
Yang Nyeom Chicken is the complex union of sweet and spicy that gives it its fame. For more flavour without the kick, Soy Chicken would do good, and it is at the same price as Yang Nyeom.
Read more at: 88 Chicken 팔팔치킨 (The Venue Residences and Shoppes)
Daily Beer 생활맥주 – Singapore
212 Telok Ayer St, Singapore 068645
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 11pm (Sun – Thurs), 11:30am – 12:30am (Fri – Sat)
Daily Beer 생활맥주, a popular Korean Fried Chicken brand based in Seoul, has recently opened its first international outlet in Singapore. It can be found at 212 Telok Ayer Street, directly across from Amoy Street Food Centre.
Established in 2014, Daily Beer operates over 370 locations in South Korea and is known for its lively, youthful atmosphere.
The menu highlights include the Korean Fried Chicken, celebrated for its crispy exterior and juicy interior, achieved through a double-frying technique.
The Singapore menu mirrors the quality of its Korean counterparts but at a higher price, with options such as boneless chicken and wings available in different flavors.
These include the spicy “Angry Bird Red,” a sweet garlic soy “Black,” a crunchy cornflake-covered “Crunch,” and a spicy “Kimchi” seasoning.
Read more at: Daily Beer (Telok Ayer)
BHC Chicken
Marina Square #02-332A & #02-332F, 6 Raffles Boulevard, Singapore 039594
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
BHC Chicken, which name stands for “Better & Happier Choice”, can be found at KINEX, Marina Square, and Taste Orchard.
Look forward to BHC Chicken’s crowd favourites here, such as the Bburinkle Chicken, Gold King and Macho King.
The Bburinkle, with its crispy fried exterior coated in cheese and vegetable seasoning, is a must-try, especially when paired with the complementary Bburing Bburing dip.
Those craving a touch of heat should opt for the Hot Bburinkle. The Macho King, a savoury indulgence coated with aged soy sauce and honey-based oriental sauce, is a tantalising choice for the palate.
Read more at: BHC Chicken Singapore (Marina Square)
88 Pocha
26A Lor Mambong Singapore 277685 (Holland Village)
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 3pm, 5:30pm – 12am (Mon – Fri), 11:30am – 3pm, 5:30pm – 11pm (Sat – Sun)
88 Pocha is a Pojangmacha 포장마차 (Pocha 포차) that opened at Holland Village at the Lor Mambong stretch.
You can find Korean Fried Chicken ($15.88 for half, $28.88 for whole) here as well.
These crunchy chicken pieces, slathered with a sticky and spicy yangnyeom chilli sauce with a hint of sweetness, were succulently juicy.
Read more at: 88 Pocha (Holland Village)
Jade’s Chicken (옥‘s Chicken)
125 Lor 1 Toa Payoh, Block 125 Johnson Eatery #01-523, Singapore 310125
Opening Hours: 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 8:30pm (Mon, Wed – Sun), Closed Tues
Affordable Yet Tasty Korean Fried Chicken At Toa Payoh
Just less than two years ago, the same spot was known as Waker Chicken. Now, Jade’s Chicken is the branding at this place, although everything else looks the same.
Whatever it is, Jade’s Chicken is still run by Koreans and offers the same affordable and tasty fried chicken spot that draws long queues on busy days.
The fried chicken comes in Half ($15) or Whole ($29), with the former getting you 7 pieces and the latter getting you 14 pieces. Ask for Original Crispy, Sweet Spicy, Soy Sauce, or Honey Butter.
Their Soy Sauce Korean Fried Chicken is considered a crowd-pleaser. Delicately crispy on the outside, the chicken remains incredibly juicy and tender on the inside.
Marinated in a balanced blend of sweet and savoury soy sauce, the chicken is double-fried and super ‘saucy’ – drenched in more sauce than usual.
The Honey Butter flavour becomes the most popular for a good reason. Apart from how the honey butter powder looks like snowflakes on the chicken, its delicate flavour accentuates the taste of the chicken very well.
Read more at: Jade’s Chicken (Toa Payoh)
Ahtti Korean Restaurant
2 Venture Drive, Vision Exchange, #02-43, Singapore 608526
Opening Hours: 12:30pm – 2:30pm, 5pm – 10pm (Mon – Sat), Closed Sun
Ahtti 아띠식당 is a Korean casual restaurant specialising in Korean Fried Chicken located at Vision Exchange, Jurong Gateway.
They offer Original Fried Chicken, Gan-Jang Salted Sweet, Yang-Nyeom Sweet & Spicy, Honey Butter, Cheese Butter, to even Chilli Padi.
Diners can choose from Boneless, Wings & Drumlettes, or Bone-in.
The Korean Fried Chicken came in a crispy, golden-brown batter, that retained its crisp (even after some time of photo-taking).
The pieces came wrapped with a light and crunchy batter, yet not as oily as it seemed.
Take a big bite into the tender yet juicy chicken meat, and you may produce ASMR-worthy crunching sound that is addictive and therapeutic to the ears.
Surprisingly, the batter managed to retain the moisture and tenderness of the meat even after deep frying, giving the piece a nice contrast to the crispy batter on the outside.
Waker Chicken
40 Holland Drive, Singapore 270040
Opening Hours: 11am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Waker Chicken is actually launched by two native Koreans living in Singapore – Noh Tae Woo and Kim Jinho, and is a brand owned by Kim’s uncle in Seoul.
They roped in Singaporean Muhammad Sharidan to offer Korean Fried Chicken at more affordable pricing.
On the menu are four main flavour – Original Crispy ($13 for half, $25 for whole), Sweet Spicy ($14, $27), Soy Sauce ($14, $27), and Honey Butter ($15, $28). Half consist of 7 pieces, while whole has 14 served in a basket.
The stall uses larger chickens at 1.3kg – 1.4kg compared to the usual 700g – 900g smaller birds, which are seasoned and brined overnight to achieve more flavour-packed meat.
I was recommended the most popular Honey Butter ($15 for half, $28 for whole) which was fried about order (about a 20 minutes’ wait), and indeed crispy on the outside without being too oily, while the meat within was succulent and juicy.
Oven & Fried Chicken
16 Chun Tin Road Singapore 599603 (opposite Beauty World)
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 12am (Mon – Sun)
Some introduction of the concept to let you have a clearer understanding of its menu: The Korean chicken bistro is made up of two separate brands: Okkudak and Ssal Dak.
Okkudak serves Roasted Chicken which is first marinated then oven baked to retain its natural flavours; and sauced versions where the chicken is further stir-fried with spicy or Jambalaya sauces.
On the Ssal Dak side (which items we are more familiar with), the chicken is fried with 100% rice flour instead of wheat for a crispier texture.
Thus, you will see ‘Fried Rice Chicken’ on the menu.
With rice flour used to coat the chicken before frying, there seems to be a thicker and dry-crispy outer layer. Even when I used hands to eat it (no gloves given), the fingers and lips didn’t’ feel greasy at all.
Jinjja Chicken
Bugis Plus #01-11, 201 Victoria Street, Singapore 188067
Opening Hours: 11am – 8:30pm (Sun – Thu), 11am – 9pm (Fri – Sat)
Jinjja (which is a colloquial way of saying “really?” in Korean) is found at Bugis Plus and other malls including The Clementi Mall, Westgate, Northpoint City, Jewel Changi Airport.
With the operational and cooking techniques sourced from a famous (but shall remain unnamed) fried chicken shop in Korea, some of the flavours such as the seasoning of the food are adapted to suit the local palates.
The signature food is the Jinjja Chicken that would come in the form of wings or drumlets, in portions of half or whole. Sauces available are Soy Garlic, Yangnyeom (spicy and sweet) and Monster (numbing chilli).
Crispy on the outside with tender flesh on the inside, I enjoyed the flavourful and well-sauced Soy Garlic Chicken.
The wings were evenly coated with a layer of savoury sauce with a touch of sweetness, yet did not ‘steal’ away the crisp of the outer skin. Also, you would realise that the chicken parts were moist yet not fatty.
Goobne Chicken
Downtown East #02-324, 1 Pasir Ris Close, Singapore 519599
Opening Hours: 11am – 9:30pm (Mon – Sun)
If you have watched the hit Korean Drama series “Business Proposal 사내 맞선”, you would not miss the Korean Fried Chicken store Goobne.
Goobne Chicken 굽네치킨 is one of the most popular oven-roasted chicken brands in Korea, and the brand was previously endorsed by Korean celebrity group EXO.
Not a single drop of oil added during the cooking process, and it is marketed as having less transfat, carbohydrates, sodium and calories.
After the chicken is roasted, there would supposedly be a crunchy outer layer with juicy meat.
The signature is the Goobne Original, coming in Wings, Half, Boneless, and Whole.
While I did not experience that “crunchiness”, this was good, well-marinated, moist, juicy chicken.
Kko Kko Nara 꼬꼬나라
68 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088489
Opening Hours: 12pm – 1am (Mon – Sun)
Unlike the other restaurants where the focus is Fried Chicken, Kko Kko Nara is a typical Korean restaurant with the usual Korean fare, which happens to be very known for their Korean Fried Chicken.
Interesting to know: The self-taught Korean owner used to rummage through rubbish bins of restaurants back home to find out what was used to make these fried chicken.
The Fried Chicken comes in Original, to sauced ones including Soy Garlic, Yangyum (sweet and spicy), Spicy Garlic, Cheese Sprinkle, to Honey Shiock.
For those who love variety, get the Combo Chicken Set which has 9 pieces with 3 different favours – original, sweet and special garlic soy sauce chicken.
I liked the garlic chicken best, which was evenly marinated and tasty on the outside. Tried on various occasions, and didn’t seem consistent enough.
O Chicken & Beer
52 Boat Quay Singapore 049841 (Raffles Place MRT)
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 11pm (Mon – Fri), 5pm – 11pm (Sat), Closed Sun
Perhaps you do not know there is this Korean Fried Chicken restaurant along Boat Quay.
Korean fried chicken varieties served here include the Original Fried Chicken, Boneless Fried Chicken, Soy Sauce Fried Chicken, Carbonara Chicken, and spicy Yang Nyum Chicken.
Noted that there were more than the usual boneless chicken options, and I ended up ordering a Soy Sauce Fried Chicken which only had a boneless version indicated.
The chicken was great – crispy while partly juicy on the inside, adequately covered with addictive-sweet soy sauce but not overly drenched such that it would become soggy.
Couldn’t really majorly fault this, though I wished for bigger pieces.
4 Fingers Crispy Chicken
Orchardgateway #01-04/05, 277 Orchard Road, Singapore 238858
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
4 Fingers is one the most popular Korean Fried Chicken fast-food style brand among the youths here.
What makes 4FINGERS popular is its use of fresh local chicken, natural herbs and spice, and none of the artificial flavourings or additives.
Its specialty: the 4 Fingers Crispy Chicken Wings and Drummettes coming in flavours of soy garlic, spicy or mixed.
Fresh chicken is cooked to render out the fat to create a crackly skin, then hand-brushed with a house-made sauce to coat the skin for maximum flavour.
The seasoning was very tasty and you would want to slowly lick the sauces off the skin.
Note: quality between branches differ quite a bit so sometimes the chicken wings felt like they went for an extended sun-tan session, and were dry.
Woorinara Korean Restaurant
19 Lorong Kilat #01-02 Singapore 598120
Opening Hours: 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 11pm (Mon – Sun)
The one that many Korean Fried Chicken fans talked, located at Lorong Kilat (near Bukit Timah).
There is a huge variety of styles offered, from Fried Chicken, Cheese Fried Chicken, Soy Chicken, to more unconventional Cheese Yum Yum Chicken, Yum Yum Garlic Chicken, and Cheese Yum Yum Garlic Chicken. (Yum Yum refers to chilli here.)
The chicken pieces are twice fried to create that extra crispy skin, then tossed in a sauce of choice.
NeNe Chicken Singapore
The Star Vista #01-24, 1 Vista Exchange Green, Singapore 138617
Opening Hours: 11am – 10:30pm (Mon – Sun)
The name “NeNe” shouldn’t be difficult to remember, and simply means “Yes! Yes! in Korean.
The fried chicken here is Halal-certified, fried to golden brown and coated with a variety of sauces. There are dips of Swicy (sweet and spicy), Freaking Hot, Soy, Honey Mustard, Green Onion, Cheese, and Garlic.
Their secret is through the batter-dip process where oil does not seep into the chicken meat, hence keeping the meat juicy and the batter crispier.
For individual diners, there are 2-piece Chicken Meals (starting from $8); while sharing sets of Whole Chicken and Tenders are available.
Bonchon Chicken 본촌치킨
Wisma Atria #01-37/38, 435 Orchard Road, Singapore 238877
Opening Hours: 11am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Bonchon Chicken seems to be enjoying greater fame overseas than our Singapore unit.
Their chicken is deep fried twice – so the skin becomes crunchier and the meat less greasy when compared to the usual American fast food fried chicken. It feels kind of pricey though.
Diners can get a Original Recipe Chicken, Spicy Sauce, Soy Garlic, or Half & Half.
The spicy sauce is made of red chilli peppers dried and grounded into sweet and smoky gochugaru.
The skin came off in pieces, with the sauces nicely enveloping it, though the batter and meat somehow wasn’t exceptional – could be juicier and crunchier.
Plus point, the chicken didn’t leave too much of that greasy stains on your fingers even if we used hands directly.
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