Oppa! Fried Chicken

Came by this foodcourt several times and was attracted to Oppa Fried Chicken due to its bright orange signboard, the really enticing pictures of their chicken on the menu, and the multitudes of takeaway boxes churned out with chicken. Came by specially to try but left with a sour taste in my mouth.

Biggest issue: My one order of Honey Butter Half Chicken ($13+$3) took 40min to be ready. When I ordered at 6.47pm, the staff said that waiting time would be 15min. After about 20min, I went up to check on my order and was told it would be ready on 5min. But it was only another 20min later that my chicken was ready. Throughout this 40min, I saw other dine-in customers get their food and multiple takeaway boxes being sent off - perhaps my order was just way back in the queue but my gripe was that they seemed to receive their food really quickly (I was seated right in front of the store and observed the staff going back and forth delivering food to the other customers) and that I was the only one frustrated by the waiting time.

To be fair, the staff was apologetic about the wait and he explained that they had to fry a new batch of chicken when I asked. Whatever the real reason was, the long wait time marred my eating experience. But the chicken, being from a new batch, was hot and crispy and juicy, although the honey butter powder wasn't to my taste. They allow mixing up to 2 different flavours, although the pricing doesn't make sense - for e.g. if I wanted just Honey Butter it's $13+$3 but if I wanted to mix Honey Butter and Soy Garlic it'd be $13+$3+$2, even though technically you're getting less sauce compared to if you just choose one.

To his credit, the staff did perform some service recovery which helped to alleviate our 40-min-wait hunger. However, I am still hesitant about going back for fear of a long wait time again. Perhaps in far future when this bad experience is less fresh in my memory.

The island had most definitely been seeing a wave of establishments serving up Korean fried chicken within the coffeeshops situated in the heartlands lately. Apart from the already relatively well-known Waker Chicken which has been expanding its operations all over different neighbourhoods around the island, there are also other more indie brands that have set up shop such as that of Basasak Chicken at Upper Serangoon Road and Jade’s Chicken 옥‘s Chicken at Toa Payoh. Oppa Fried Chicken is one of the newer additions to the local dining scene; having only opened for slightly less than a year in December 2022, Oppa Fried Chicken is located in the coffeeshop at Blk 31 Kelantan Lane — the same coffeeshop also houses an outlet of Ipoh Tuck Kee 怡保德记炒粉 as well as Fan Shu Dried Sole Fish Pork Noodle 番薯扁鱼肉脞面 in its premises. Oppa Fried Chicken does stand out from its neighbours considering how attention-grabbing their orange-coloured signage is — there is not doubt that the bright-coloured signage provides a really strong contrast against that of the other stalls in the same coffeeshop. Primarily serving up Korean fried chicken, Oppa Fried Chicken offers the fried chicken in either half portions (i.e. 8 pieces) or whole portions (i.e. 16 pieces) — patrons can also go for various flavours for their chicken as well. For those looking for something to share, Oppa Fried Chicken also offers items such as Korean rice balls as well as a limited variety of fries to go for as well.

We were rather spoilt for choice in deciding which flavours of their fried chicken are we intending to try — it turns out that Oppa Fried Chicken actually allows for patrons to opt for a maximum of two (2) flavours for both the Crispy Original (Half) and the Crispy Original (Whole). After much deliberation, we went for the Sweet Spicy Sauce and the Honey Butter flavour — both of which incurring an additional price as an add-on at $2 and $3 respectively. With the Crispy Original (Half) coming in a portion of eight pieces of chicken, opting for two different flavours means that four pieces of chicken will be of one particular flavour, and the remaining four pieces of chicken will be of the other flavour. What we really appreciate here is how they have taken the effort to serve the fried chicken of different flavours in two separate baskets — some attention-to-detail that is being taken care of here. Oppa Fried Chicken serves up boneless Korean fried chicken for patrons to their convenience — there is no need to deal with chicken bones here. Both flavours were actually pretty stellar; the fried chicken itself is fried upon order and actually served piping hot — the golden-brown batter being all crisp while the chicken is nothing short of being juicy and tender. The Honey Butter version sees a good sprinkling of honey butter powder and an extra drizzle of honey on the fried chicken — said to be their best-seller item, we just could not get enough of the sweet-savouriness here; so addictive that we actually wiped out all that honey butter powder left in the basket even. Meanwhile, the Sweet & Spicy version sees the fried chicken drenched in a thick and dense sauce; it is also sprinkled with sesame seeds over the top. The red-coloured sauce carries that same sweet and spicy notes that one would expect — a flavour profile similar to Gochujang that comes with fiery punch; one that would do well for those who are tolerable to moderate elevens of spiciness.

Despite being a relatively new addition in the F&B scene, Oppa Fried Chicken does seem to be an establishment that knows what they are doing. Being situated in a coffeeshop where there is a sizeable drinking crowd, we liked how Oppa Fried Chicken does seem to provide its patrons with an interesting option for food to go with the beer that the drinks stall of the coffeeshop serves up. It seems that the folks behind the concept has also very much thought through about their offerings here — serving their Korean fried chicken boneless does seem to allow for easy eating; something that feels pretty thoughtful especially considering how one is less likely to want to deal with the chicken bones whilst drinking as well. Other than their fried chicken, we had also given their Tuna Rice Balls a try; the last time we have had an item similar to this would be at Masizzim — a Korean restaurant operated by the same folks behind Chir Chir at 313@Somerset that is best known for their Korean stews. We would say that Oppa Fried Chicken’s Tuna Rice Balls are rather similar to that which we had tried at Masizzim several years ago — a fun and interactive dish where patrons will be issued with disposable gloves to mix all the ingredients and shape the rice and the condiments (think tuna, kimchi, mayonnaise, seaweed strips and rice) into balls; something different as compared to other establishments serving up Korean fried chicken in the heartlands. With prices of the Korean fried chicken starting at $13 for eight pieces and $25 for sixteen pieces (the variance would depend on the number of sauce add-ons one is going for), we would think that the prices of the fried chicken is pretty reasonable to share amongst a few pax though the chicken pieces here does come a bit smaller especially since it comes boneless. Overall, a spot which we do not mind dining at within the area especially if those Korean fried chicken cravings do kick in — a spot worth considering to dine at if in the area.