Jade’s Chicken (옥‘s Chicken)

Initially known as Waker Chicken, I don't think it would be wrong to say that Jade's Chicken was one of the early pioneers responsible for making Korean fried chicken known and accessible in the heartlands.

Jade has been run by a Korean family when they first started. Business was initially on the slow side when they first started but they soon caught the public imagination with a slew of media publicity. I used to be a regular customer but the queues and wait got so maddeningly long and frustrating that I pretty much didn't really bother. They got so popular that they expanded to various locations in kopitiam and hawker centres but the quality-wise, they could not match the OG. Not long after, the OG became known in its current form as Jade Chicken whilst the expansion outlets retained the Waker Chicken name.

The OG's Korean fried chicken was one of the best in Singapore when I last had it so I was really looking forward to having it. It's still good tbh but the standard seems to have slipped a little. The batter is still shattering crisp but the chicken's marination didn't seem to go through. The sauce also seems a little more diluted these days. Either that or they may have tweaked the recipe a little!

Jade's chicken is still enjoyable and the queue is a lot shorter now. I will definitely be back to support the ahjussi!