BHC Chicken Singapore @ Marina Square — Restaurant in Singapore

I read all the reviews with disgust.

2.6-7 star just because you can’t wait a while longer, can’t get a seat, can’t takeaway till a later month - what are you paying for? 5 Star Michelin Food?

I finally plucked up the courage to join the queue at BHC. Finding it was hard. This was at the former TCC joint just outside the former Muji - tenants changed rapidly in Singapore.

Now let’s move into the review of the place. We joined the queue and expected it to be longer but no, it moved relatively fast. Within a min, a staff came by to check how many people we have. We were a party of 4 and he explained they have many big groups today, for party of 2 it will be easier. Great, expectation management made. The snaking queue maintained at 60 pax but we moved along in just 15mins flat. Not too bad.

We surveyed the people eating. Everyone wore a smile on their face and there was chatter and it was orderly. No black faces, no one making things difficult, no hoarding unlike cafes.

Our contactless payment and order were made from our seat. We chose a set and within seconds, our drinks arrived.

In 5mins, our Kimchi fried rice and their famous Bburkinkle cheese balls arrived.

The fried rice had the right colour and Kimchi flavour. But it was hard to locate the cabbage and we only found a bit of carrot. So it leaves us to wonder if there this was the real deal. It’s a basic 9.90 carb dish. It would have sealed the deal if the ingredients was part of this dish.

Cheese Ball. What sorcery is this? A magical blend of cheese, onion and garlic seasoning can take control of your life. It’s addictive, seductive, and it turns everyone into a ‘ball licker’. Crispy and chewy like a mochi forms the outer crust and the moment is breaks apart, the melted warm cheese flows out with a life of its own, waited for you to stretch its potential to the limit before it snaps involuntarily and creates a mess where you have to lick it up again. Such is a ritual we observed. (See video of the cheese balls experience)

Full (Macho) Chicken Choose your coating of the chicken. Macho King is a familiar concoction covered in aged soya sauce and a honey-based sauce. I was surprised that the full chicken was well-cooked through all parts. And guess what, every part was tender, bouncy and juicy. Unlike some establishments, you will find the chicken breast a bit hard, but this was perfect. We took a while to finish, but the tenderness retained all the juices without sacrificing the crusty batter which stayed crispy throughout.

At all time, the attentive staff came by to help us clear the table because they needed to turn it around for the long queue. What’s there to complain about the wait people? If you cannot wait, have your instant noodles at home.

For a 2.6-7 star rating, BHC is still commanding the long queue. People are still willing to wait. And for those who tried it, majority of the probably don’t leave a review.

This is a place for big group. Beers and fried chicken and the familiar Korean taste makes a good outing.

And yes, I will come back again because I don’t just read the reviews, I see the physical queue as evidence that this place is...

firstly, the staff were quite unaware with their surroundings. we stood in front of the store for a good 5 minutes and was finally let in. when we went in, there were at least 3-4 empty tables available with staff wandering around aimlessly.

the tables and chairs are placed too close to each other. patreons are sitting really near and we can literally listen into each other's conversations. not ideal atmosphere for dining.

the food was mediocre and the price was not justifiable. there is no option for small groups of people as the portions we had to buy were way too big and costed a lot as well (one chicken 30+ excl gst and service charge)

we ordered the chicken and rabokki platter (48++ gst and service charge, totalling to around 60)

chicken was juicy, which i was pleasantly surprised with at first. however, as i kept eating it, we felt like there was a weird unpleasant aftertaste that we couldn't put our fingers on. [edit: we realised that it had a 'smelly oil' taste that occurs when they don't change the oil they fry the chicken with often] the white 'cheese' sauce that came with it tasted awful with the chicken and we barely touched it at all.

next, the rabokki was a mix of tteokbokki, instant ramen, one boiled egg and some fishcake. tteokbokki was alright, chewy and firm, yet the ramen was soggy and overcooked. the sauce that came with it didn't fully coat the noodles at some places which was odd. boiled egg had weird black spots, which the manager said 'it was from the factory' so can't be helped. sauce was bland and tasteless.

to my horror, i found a shard of plastic in my rabokki from the platter. when we were trying to call for assistance, a lady saw us, looked me directly in the eye and just walked past us. terrible service. eventually, a guy tended to us and called for the manager.

the manager is the only saving grace of the shop. he was really understanding about the situation and agreed to give us a refund for that.

will probably never...

Food was alright, but super pricey for fried chicken. $130ish for 3 people. The customer service was poor, staff were inattentive, unhelpful and/or forgetful. We didn't get any cutlery or utensils with our food and had to go get it ourselves when we couldn't get the staff's attention.

High foot traffic past the dining area also means you are on display like zoo animals at feeding time so the ambience at a local hawker centre is more authentic, charming and preferable.

Secondly, major usability issues with their online ordering system and menu, the copy looks like it has not been checked by a human that descriptions actually make sense.

Ordered the Kimchi fried rice (the description doesn't mention it comes with a fried egg) so we added 2 eggs - one each. Their ordering system somehow interprets this as 2 eggs per order of fried rice?! So we actually ended up with 6 eggs with our order rather than 1 each!!?

We tried to explain the issue and confusion to staff but they blamed us for the mistake instead and would not allow us to return the items. Perhaps staff who received the order thought we were bulking for bodybuilding competition?! 🤔

They also force you to pay up front for your food, so when there is an issue or mistake like such as this the customer has already paid and they won't refund you. What they don't seem to realise is that poor customer service results in poor reviews and will cost more than a few eggs when people don't have good things to say about their experience and don't return.

I won't be returning as for these prices there are so many other better options available in terms of quality of food, ambiance and customer service.

Oh I almost forgot, you don't even supply you with tissues to wipe your hands and condiments like ketchup and mayo (fries anyone!!?) don't seem to be available - just what you want when spending $130++ on a meal.

Yet it has so many glowing 5 star reviews with spectacular superlatives to describe the...