Chicken Star — Restaurant in Bishkek City

You walk in and the environment is great. I came in starving and was excited for a good meal since I had heard such great things. I’m sure my experience was an anomaly. The server didn’t correctly enter my food into the computer so I had to wait 1.5 hours. For the first 30 minutes I was easy going. They explained the problem and it was no big deal. After more and more people were served their food before me, despite ordering far later, I became a bit frustrated. If they had identified the issue then you think they would have put the order in correctly after. I waited for another full hour before my food came out, even though they assured me it was going to be just another 5 minutes. The food was so good though. Definitely the best I’ve had in Bishkek. I’m sure with normal service this would be a great experience. They also didn’t tell me that sauces cost extra and encouraged me to try some. So my bill was way more expensive than expected. Kind of upset about that and the fact that they didn’t take anything off the bill for the incredibly long wait. Essentially, the only negative aspect was my server. All of the other servers apologized for the wait and seemed to be doing their job well. Was really disappointed there was no discount or complimentary coffee, but I guess they don’t value...

I got into this restaurant without knowing it is a Korean restaurant. I picked one of their chicken offerings and it was excellent. Despite indication it was for two people, it was not. There was a part of the breast, half of the chicken wing and a drumstick. In addition to chicken I wanted to order grilled vegetables, but I was told it will take very long time to make it. Instead, I ordered a Greek salad and a glass of draft beer. The advertising for the restaurant indicated the range of the average bill. When I got the bill, it was exactly the double of the indicated maximum average price. Even though, by the American standards, it was not overly expensive, but by the local standards it was too high. It was the price you would pay for 3 large prices of lamb baked in the clay oven, served with vegetables. Also, I ordered some bread, which I could not get for 15 minutes, until after my salad was already gone. The waitress apologized for the delay, though. Since all staff there spoke English, I assume, the menu in English and prices were specifically adjusted for foreigners. But the taste...

KFC upgraded.

This place serves some really good korean fried chicken and korean food.

First, the tteokbokki. Now this wasn’t really authentic tteokbokki, but rather their version of a contemporary rice cake dish. The Chicken Star version was closer to an Indonesian Gado Gado — coming with vegetables and a spicy peanut sauce that went well with the rice cake.

Next, the fried chicken. You get a choice of whole cut chickens or the chicken breast (and others). We tried the 2 spiciest levels, and both were great. Be warned, however, that the spiciest level is indeed SPICY. It’s the same as the double-spicy budak.

Upon successful “completion” of the spiciest level, the staff will reward you with some alternative milk cocktail that soothes your tongue.

Lastly was the grilled cauliflower. This was a bummer. Honestly a little too hard and undercooked.

Beer was good too.

All in all, a...