Hotties Fried Chicken - 美式辣炸雞 — Restaurant in Taipei

For the sake of clarity I’ve been here twice already and the food had been great. Yesterday not so much.

I didn’t wan’t to write this review but how they handled the situation was beyond ridiculous. Let me just list out my frustrations.

It took more than half an hour for all the food to get to our table. There was no pickles with the set menus? I recall they used to give some but the waitress told me that I had to order it a la carte. Problem is that it’s not even on the menu. The fries portion is out of whack. It’s about the size of a McDonalds small if you get Set A and if you get set D it’s like a McDonald’s medium. For 330NTD I didn’t expect to get cheated out on potatoes. Idk how they control there portion sizes but something wasn’t right. Anyways I wasn’t full after my set menu this time. A la carte drumstick and thigh came out bloody and obviously raw. I barely took a nibble and the blood was pooling on the surface of the meat. I tried to not make a fuss about it by asking the waitress to just heat it up more without mentioning it’s raw. She took it back to our table to inform us that ‘it’s not raw’ and ask if we would still like it heated. I was jaw dropped. I didn’t even mention it was raw and for her to confront us after I already sent it back is incredibly impolite and insulting. You think we don’t know what a raw drumstick looks like? We ordered the spicy chicken tenders with our set meals but it was clearly less spicy than the mild spicy a la carte thigh and drumstick. For this to be so out of whack is absurd. This was like there main selling point. No straws even though they fill your cup to the brim with ice. Would you like some soda with your ice? How about the uncomfortable feeling of ice on your teeth?

Anyways I didn’t want to write this review but how the waitress handled the raw chicken situation really bothered me. That was incredibly...

FOOD: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The quality of the food was good overall. The chicken was not dry and oily. It came out hot and fresh with light seasoning. The crisp of the chicken was perfect.

Selection of drinks was limited but it's all you can drink. A lot like Costco style.

SERVICE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ There wasn't much service provided by the staff that was on duty. The restaurant has a kind of DIY service style, much like other fast food restaurants like MCD (go to the counter to order yourself, pick up the food when your number is called, clean up yourself after your meal etc...) However the staff that we did encounter were friendly and always helped us with a big smile.

CLEANLINESS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️ Overall the restaurant is clean. However when we went they just opened so not sure if they just started the day so it's that clean or not.

PRICE: ⭐ I think price wise is the biggest down fall. For the portion that we received I think it was pretty expensive compared to other places in Taiwan. The CP is not worth the food and quality you get...

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Would I visit this restaurant again? Maybe once in a blue moon again, as the price is the biggest wall...

Wow. Fried chicken with a southern nod, but elevated with impeccable execution. I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only does this place have an adorable slogan "thicc thighs save lives", but their chicken is on point, and perfectly geared for an adult palette. The tenders are firm, yet juicy. Lean, yet fried to perfection and perfectly crisp. The exterior makes a loud crunch, AND won't take off the roof of your mouth. For a spice lover that likes to huff and puff but not cry in public, the 大辣 is perfect and well-balanced. All of the sauces are delightfully thick and house-made with bright, acidic, spicy, umami, and sweet punches to the mouth! And hey, for a fitness geek, I appreciate the chicken breast too. I'll be back soon 💕💕

Edit: after more than a year of coming here for the occasional treat, I still think the chicken itself is absolutely exceptional, BUT it would be great if their fries didn't have sugar sprinkled in the seasoning... (Weird). Also the Mac and cheese is kind of bland and grainy. Could use some work there. Nonetheless the chicken is the star of the show and what I continue to...