Super Chicken 超級雞車

Those whom have passed by North Bridge Road recently might have come across a rather unfamiliar sight around the vicinity of Tan Quee Lan Street and Bugis Junction — it seems that the outlet of Smile Desserts there had recently ceased operations, and in its place now stands a Super Chicken 超級雞車; for those whom recall a more distant past of this particular shophouse, this would be the same unit that used to house the outlet of Nunsongyee which served primarily Korean Bingsu. With an attention-grabbing signboard that makes the claim of the brand being established in 1997 and having 100,000,000+ cumulative sales of chicken chop since, it seems that Super Chicken is a brand with an international presence with outlets situated within China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — their very first outlet that is situated along North Bridge Road is the brand’s very first outpost in Singapore. There has been some configurations done to the space where the entrance of the shophouse is now located along Tan Quee Lan Street rather than facing out towards North Bridge Road. Much like how previous tenants of the space operated their concepts, Super Chicken has dedicated two floors of the shophouse for dine-in operations — much of the space has been redecorated to remove the whimsical decor that Smile Desserts used to have with the space; there is an attempt to go for an ultra-modern look by Super Chicken where most of the walls and surfaces are decked in a metallic-esque grey tone. With neon lightings, seat cushions and some fittings that are finished in a yellow tone, the colours do provide a visual pop to give a lively and fun appearance that helps to attract passers-by. The food menu at Super Chicken seems to revolve around its fried chicken offerings; with items being segregated into an ala-carte and a Value Meal category, much of what they have to offer are similar to items that can be found at stalls serving up Taiwanese street food.

Since the hot-selling item as claimed by Super Chicken in the other countries that they operate from would be their Signature Bone-In Chicken Steak, we found ourselves ordering the same. Super Chicken offers patrons with three different types of flavours for their Signature Bone-In Chicken Steak; the Pepper, Plum Taste and Cumin, whilst also allowing patrons to opt for their desired level of spiciness for the flavours — the four (4) levels of spiciness being Small Spicy, Medium Spicy, Extra Spicy and Not Spicy. For our order of the Signature Bone-In Chicken Steak, we went for the Plum Taste and Medium Spicy options for the flavours and level of spiciness respectively. Whilst the speciality of the chicken steak here does seem to be how the chicken steak comes with bone-in, this fact does seem to be oppose how such Taiwanese-style fried chicken steaks are being served elsewhere; usually served boneless to the convenience of the patrons, we aren’t really sure on the exact reasons why Super Chicken had decided to do theirs with the bone-in. Otherwise, the exterior of the chicken does come with a crisp and light golden brown fried batter that is dusted with plum powder and pepper for an umami note and a slightly spicy kick of flavours; the chicken being reasonably tender inside though we have had juicier fried chicken steaks elsewhere before. Overall, fairly decent an offering.

During our visit, we had also given the Signature Plum Sweet Potato a go as well; whilst some establishments do tend to serve these up in a format similar to sweet potato fries, the Signature Plum Sweet Potato does come sized a little more chunkier here. Dusted with the same plum powder as the Signature Bone-In Chicken Steak that we went for, the umami notes of the plum powder is a classic combination with the inherent sweetness of the sweet potatoes. That being said, the only qualm we have had with this item was the slightly thick fried batter that we found to be a little tiring to chew on. The Salted Crispy King Oyster Mushroom suffers from the same problem as the Signature Plum Sweet Potato where the fried batter is of concern; the mushrooms does come with a bouncy bite and comes dusted with salt for an added saltishness — also wasn’t particularly greasy as well. Super Chicken’s offerings to be really honest are pretty decent, though it would also would not be too wrong to say that the food does not leave much of an impression at the end of the day. Considering the spaciousness of the establishment on its second floor though, Super Chicken does make for a decent spot to hang out should one not be too picky with their food in particular. It does remain interesting to see how Super Chicken would fare in the long run though considering the many other dining establishments around its vicinity.