Whenever we’re in Seoul, we will never miss catching up with old friends over fried chicken and beer a.k.a. chimaek. And one of our favourite places to go is Chir Chir 치르치르 (pronounced as chi-re chi-re), which is a pretty popular Korean fried chicken chain.
Few years back, Chir Chir came to Singapore as well and it has since become one of our favourite restaurants for group gatherings because their portions of food are always so huge and shareable. Great for fried chicken fans like us. ?
During our previous visits, we had tried a number of their dishes and we unanimously agreed that the Nest Snow (chicken tenders with cajun seasoning, topped with a rich cream sauce) and Mac & Cheese were the best. In fact, if it’s your first time coming to Chir Chir, give both dishes a try for a start. The Nest Snow is very different from other regular Korean fried chicken that usually come in standard flavours like Ganjang or Yangnyeom.
Chir Chir has 5 outlets in Singapore. They are located at 313 Somerset, Bedok Point, Chinatown Point, Jem and Bugis Junction. We went to the Bedok Point one since we were in the vicinity.
It wasn’t peak dinner time yet so the restaurant was pretty empty.
We picked the table by the window. Not much of a great view but we loved the natural light.
Decided that we should order different items this time and we were glad to see some new flavours in the menu.
In the end, we still added on a Mac & Cheese because I was so craving for something comforting.
This Mac & Cheese ($9.90) was served up really quick. Steaming hot and cheesy!
Enjoyed this so much because it was so creamy and cheesy but surprisingly, it wasn’t overly rich and cloying. In fact, it was very moreish and it just made us want more and more mouthfuls of it. The macaroni itself was cooked till al dente too and wasn’t soggy at all. Overall, not salty too. So shiok to eat. Highly recommended!
This was the Spicy Toppoki ($15.90) which S badly wanted as she was missing her Korean street food. The sauce was pretty spicy but on a tolerable level for me. I liked the rice cakes that were soft and chewy. There were also sweet potato, spring onions, fish cakes, fried squid and a whole fried hard-boiled egg in it. It was a good dish but it didn’t wow me as much as the Mac & Cheese did.
The highlight of our meal had got to be this Honey Butter Chicken ($28.90). When it was placed on our table, we could get a whiff of honey butter almost immediately. And I must say, it was really tantalising.
The batter wasn’t thick and each chicken piece was so crispy, juicy and moist. Very fresh tasting too as the inside was still steaming hot.
There were potato wedges and fried toppoki too. First time having fried rice cakes and they were so delicious as they had a crispy crust and chewy middle. Wish they would give more toppoki or maybe replace all potato wedges with toppoki instead, haha.
Everything was tossed with this honey butter sauce that was really awesome. A little on the sweet side but we could taste the fragrance of salted butter and aroma of honey too which was like a marriage made in heaven. And I definitely loved the addition of sliced almonds and dried cranberries that added texture and sharpness respectively.
The dipping sauce that was provided was like a sweet (honeyed) mayonnaise. Wasn’t really necessary because everything was already flavoursome.
So inspired. I have to make honey butter chicken one of these days!
This Chir Chir Chi-bap ($32.90) took quite a long while to come, probably because it was made up of a few different elements that required separate preparation. Portion was humongous!
Fried chicken tenders atop a bed of Spanish paella rice in a pool of tomato-based sauce. I thought the sauce would be a little sweet but it was a bit spicy instead. There was grated cheese that gave a nice gooey texture.
The chicken tenders reminded me of Popeye’s chicken – very similar kind of marinade or seasoning. If you like the taste of bolognese, you’ll sure to like this special dish that comes with a fusion touch.
Water is chargeable at $1 per bottle (Dasani brand) which is quite reasonable. However, no ice is provided.
All prices indicated are exclusive of 7% GST and 10% service charge.
Our whole meal was just right for 4 persons or 3 with bigger appetites. I probably could have eaten more but because there were too much fried stuffs plus everything was on the heavy side, I felt a little sickly and had to stop. That’s also why I’ve mentioned in the beginning that Chir Chir is the place for group gatherings because you really need to jio a group of friends to come and share the food in order to try different dishes.
Will I be back? Of course. Without doubt. Anytime I need my KFC again, I’ll be back. ??