Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Now Cooking - Four Fingers Crispy Chicken

Jakarta is definitely a foodie's city of choice. Every now and then a new establishment pave a way into the already diverse culinary universe, while another roll up their sleeve and gone. Four Fingers is one of those that I hope to stick around. Why? I just like to see how it played out. Food place with chicken wings as their signature dish was once an uncharted water, until Kamikaze Chicken opened their first store last October, and just recently this month, the first Four Fingers franchise is up and running. Before we start, in case you want to see my write up on Kamikaze, here it is, click.
















My first impression of this food place was cozy, and youthful. You can see their grafitti boldly covering the walls, and their lovely eames chair added a hint of sophistication. The atmosphere somewhat resembles the parent store in ION Orchard, Singapore. Oh, you have to know that Four Fingers or widely known as Bonchon in Singapore is one of the local hits. You'll find it quite packed on lunch / dinner time and they ran out of their favorite chicken wings early. After missing the opportunity to try their wings a couple time, I wouldn't miss it the soonest I knew they opened in Epicentrum, Kuningan. And so last weekend I rushed there for a quick bite.

I ordered the 6 mix set with garlic soy and spicy wings and drummettes, also the chicken burger as recommended by the waitress.



































My impression of the chicken wings? Ordinary. The soy garlic was quite salty and feels a little 'in between'. Its like they were half-hearted in showing the taste of the garlic. The spicy chicken on the other hand also tasted like ordinary hot sauce. I just can't help to compare with Kamikaze. I gotta say I prefer Kamikaze with their pepperish hot sauce really kick my taste bud to a level of enjoyment, while Four Finger is not to par with the hype.

























 The deep fried chicken however was real crunchy. On the down side, the seasoning was skin deep. Yep, nothing goes past through the meat other than the oils.



































At the time, the Chicken Burger started to look more tempting than the wings and the drummettes. The thick piece of boneless chicken fillet was well seasoned. The bread was airy and soft as well. It was only the added layer of curry-tasting sauce on the inner part of the bread that made it taste weird. It felt improperly squeezed in. Weird. The only defense I can think of is that probably they changed the recipe, test it in Jakarta, see how well its accepted and decide whether to use this recipe for their yet another fresh franchise in India. O well. And so I decided to eat the buns and the chicken separately. It was better that way. Oh, the seasoned french fries doesn't add anything extraordinary to the flavor. Just a little note for you Biters. ; )

Overall, my belly was satisfied, but not wide-grin-ly happy. If you know what I mean. Would I come back? Maybe, for a little variety. Now I'm getting curiouser and curiouser to try Bonchon in Singapore and see if the original is any better than the franchise in Jakarta.

Anyone tried the original in Singapore? Feel free to drop a comment. =)

Smile on, Shine On

Fellexandro Ruby
Food Blogger & Photographer
@Wanderbites

23 comments:

  1. Whoa haven't visited Jakarta for 7 years and lots of new places come up. I'd rather go to kakilima & wartegs though :D

    From your review, seems like they paid more attention to decor, rather than the food. Typical.

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  2. My head! BAHAHA I thought I was out of the frame. Anyhoooo, "...their lovely eames chair added a hint of sophistication" cieeeh Rubynya, you're starting to love EAMES CHAIR! yiha! :P But eh, I kinda want some more of their soygarlic chickenwings, so good, well, for me. Oh, if only they do delivery service!

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  3. wahh mengecewakan ya? kentang gorengnya jg ga spesial yah?

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  4. @CHRISTINEWU: YOU GOT IT RIGHT. Oh, and dont mention kaki lima and wartegs, I LOVE 'EM. Go back here, and I'll take you to the best kaki lima at BOGOR.

    @ANDREA: Make a Facebook page "100.000 PEOPLE FOR FOURFINGERS DELIVERY" hehehehe

    @ANAKJAJAN: Well, mungkin masi baru. Semoga improve nantinya. =)

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  5. Ini review jelas banget dr point of viewnya Fellexandro Ruby, pemirsa. I went there the second time with my other friends, mereka suka tuh. HAHAHA. Now im craving for more :9 And I think they use lotsa msg.. tenggorokan lgsg ngga enak gitu abis makan. :\
    @Ruby: LETS MAKE THAT PAGE! =P

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  6. Can't wait to go back to Jakarta this summer, I've heard from my parents that there are so many new malls with new food courts and restaurants ;). Thanks for the food review, love the look of the well seasoned French Fries...!

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  7. Word on the street is that Bonchon US is filing a lawsuit against 4 Fingers Singapore for breach of contract. 4 Fingers originally had the rights to Bonchon for 6 countries: Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and India. Interestingly, Bonchon decided to open their own outlets in Thailand and the Philippines without the 4 Fingers name. Also if you notice, the Indonesian outlet has no mention of Bonchon anywhere except on its packaging, probably because it was printed in Singapore and they're just trying to use up old stock. Their website, gimme4fingers.com, has also dropped the Bonchon brand.

    I've had Bonchon in the US and 4 Fingers doesn't even come close to it in Indonesia or Singapore. 4 Fingers probably bought the Bonchon franchise, learned as much as they could, decided to drop Bonchon and instead franchise their own brand. However, seems like they couldn't copy Bonchon's recipe after Bonchon terminated their agreement.

    I also heard that the original Bonchon is looking into opening an outlet here in Indonesia. I agree with you that 4 Fingers does not live up to its hype. It's all overly marketed with no product to back it up. It will be interesting to see an all out Chicken Wing War. For now, I think Kamikaze wins hands down!

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    Replies
    1. I actually visited the BonChon Chicken in Jakarta. It was one of the best I ever tasted. It's nice and crunchy! Is this what you meant?

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    2. BonChon Chicken (THE ORIGINAL) presently have 3 stores in operation; Grand Indonesia, Living World and Karawaci Supermall. From the interview with one of the sources; said BonChon outlets will soon be opened at Citi Walk, Gandaria City, Kemang Village, Central Park and Kelapa Gading. They are targeting to open minimum 10 stores before end of this year.

      I tried the BonCon chicken and the taste blew my mind away, very delicious, non grease, crispy, tender and juicy. I tried Four Finger Chicken .... Bonchon Original is much much better than Four Finger. Four Finger is not even come close.

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  8. @COOKING GALLERY: Yes! You'd never ran out of foodplace to try out in Jakarta. I'll see you soon then =)

    @ANONYMOUS: Awesome behind-the-scenes info! Keep it coming. =)

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  9. RUBS, thanks for covering this "black horse" they actually position themselves as anti-KFC. And damn straight boy they deliver!

    I haven't tried the Jakarta branch, but they sure impressed me in Singapore outlet. KUDOS!

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    Replies
    1. HEY THERE! Thanks for visiting. You should know there's another Bonchon in Jakarta. Just as Yanti mentioned below. I checked them out the other day, in one word, su*ks. haha

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  10. Hey guys,

    The real BonChon just came to Indonesia. I passed Grand Indonesia and it's at the 5th floor sky bridge. It's next to Grand Suki and KFC.

    Wow it was amazing. The food is so delicious. The chicken is juicy, crispy, tasty, and so delish :) You all have to try it. I've lived in New York for 5 years and I'm a huge fan of BonChon. Honestly, I think BonChon taste better here- weird, but so true.... My friends said so too!

    In my opinion, it's wayyy different that four fingers. A zillion times better.

    Hope that helps! Gotta try it buddies.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Yanti, thanks for the heads up. I went there straight away last weekend for a trial. Unfortunately, I had quite the opposite of what you describe =(. The sauces could have use more flavor. Now I'm curious on the one in NY.

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    2. Really Fellexandro? I agree with Yanti; The sauce was so good!! I went there yesterday with my family and it was so tasty.

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  11. The food may be nice (to each his own), but the service sucks and their promos are misleading

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  12. We have Bonchon in the Philippines, I love it! :) all I can say is its delish, and sometimes I crave for it. :) there's a four fingers branch that opened too, so Im excited to try that as well. :)

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  13. @FashionistArchitect: Hi Rach, thanks for visiting, let me know when you've tasted the two and see if one is better to you liking. ;)

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  14. So far, I've tried two Korean style fried chicken restaurant in Jakarta. Chicken Phong at Kelapa Gading Square (this is real Korean style) & OMO!Chicken at Central Park (previously opened at Gandaria City). Their dish was terrific! While Chicken Phong offering wide variety of chicken dish (nude baked, teriyaki, BBQ, fried, open oven), OMO! is like 4Fingers (burgers, chicken strips, etc.) but in another level of deliciousness.
    You should try these two restaurants & review them in your blog! ^^

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    Replies
    1. @ANONYMOUS: WOW! Thanks a lot for the heads up. I'm interested with Chicken Phong. Just by the name itself, it seems to offer something different. Aight' will give it a try and post here. Tune in, eat out! =D

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  15. At last, someone who doesn't think the world of 4fingers. I've heard all the praises and got curious, so I tried it once twice and even the third time, wasn't impressed at all. Once my chicken wings even still have some chicken feathers unplucked! I prefer Kamikaze for the fried chicken and Pizza e Birra's Diablo for spicy wings. Haven't tried BonChon, but not really interested.

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    Replies
    1. Agree, I'm a fan of Kamikaze's wings myself. Next on the line is a tiny lesser known small resto in Sunter named Pollo Loco who happens to have a delicious wings with a rather wet sauce.

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