KFC Basingstoke - The Mall Shopping Centre — Restaurant in Basingstoke and Deane

This KFC needs new management immediately!

I've ordered from this place countless times in the past, partially because I hate myself, yet my most recent order was the straw that broke the camels back. I'm usually in the malls a lot and opt to stay away from this KFC branch because of multiple bad experiences such as dealing with greasy chicken, stale chips and dry chicken wings.

This lunchtime's order was a lot different. I ordered some boneless chicken strips, chips, popcorn chicken and some chicken wings to bring home for my brother. I got all of my order within 6 minutes, assumed it was fresh and all was well... Up until I made it home, this is where my nightmare began.

I opened up my bucket of chicken fillets only to be hit with the foul odour of a mix of recycled and clearly stale frying grease as well as the cries of forsaken souls. I hesitantly marched through the smell to take a bite, only for the taste to be replicated and an immediate gag to emerge from the depths of my soul. My younger brother straight up refused to touch his chicken wings, the fries were stale and we never received our popcorn chicken.

If I took more than a bite of my chicken before throwing it straight into the depths of my wheelie bin, I'm convinced I would've received food poisoning so foul it could rival the infamous Bali belly. I'm not even mad that I wasted a solid £30, I'm just thankful I survived the food that comes out of this place. However, this story isn't over just yet.

Remember how I mentioned that I've had countless negative experiences from this place before? Well, it always has something to do with how greasy the chicken strips are, how dry the traditional chicken is and how flavourless the chicken wings are, and I've actually had a negative reaction to the food here previously, it wasn't quite food poisoning but it was enough to give my poor toilet nightmares for the rest of its life.

If KFC is somehow reading this, you guys need to begin an immediate investigation into this specific branch and, if necessary, completely swap the staff of this restaurant. I've been to plenty of KFCs and most have been amazing experiences, including the Newbury branch as well as the Leisure Park branch, but this place legitimately feels like a final test, a checkpoint for humanity itself in which your appetite must overpower the lingering sense of urgently needing the toilet a mere hour after consuming your order.

I have had many KFCs from this branch, mostly unwillingly as my family likes to bring back food from here, but as for now and until something is done, I won't be stepping foot in this branch and I advise everyone else to do the same unless you need an immediate colon cleanse. This location is actively shaming KFC as a brand and is single-handedly responsible for turning thousands away from KFC ever since it opened up in The Malls several years ago.

Once again, I stress that nobody visits this branch, that KFC does something about it and to turn your money and your appetite elsewhere until KFC does something...

I’m a loyal KFC fan and regularly recommend it for family gatherings and special occasions. As it’s the school holidays, I decided to treat my family with bargain buckets and chicken wings for our Sunday evening get-together. Wanting to avoid cold, delayed delivery, we went directly to the KFC at the Town Centre to get our food fresh and hot.

To my surprise, the order was ready within 1 minute and 20 seconds of placing it. While I was initially impressed by the speed, I couldn’t help but question how such a large order – including fried chicken, wings, and chips – could possibly be prepared and packed in such a short time.

Once we got home (just 5–6 minutes later), the disappointment hit us hard. The chicken pieces were extremely dry, as though they had been sitting out for hours. The wings were also dried out, with the coating falling off most of them. The chips tasted stale and had clearly not been freshly made. It was honestly horrifying, and I felt embarrassed in front of my family, especially as I’m always the one recommending KFC.

I usually get my KFC from the Leisure Park branch, which has never let me down – the food is always fresh and hot. But this experience at the Town Centre branch was shocking. Even though it was only 8pm and the store closes at 11pm, the staff seemed completely uninterested in customer service. There were at least three employees present, yet they were more focused on their closing procedures than ensuring quality food was served – with three whole hours left until closing time!

To KFC management: I hope you realise that polite responses to complaints on Google won’t help your business if the actual issues aren’t addressed. I’ve heard negative feedback about this location before, and now I’ve experienced it myself.

With new chicken shops opening in Basingstoke, and one in particular near the town centre gaining popularity quickly, KFC cannot afford to lose loyal customers. If you don’t take care of us, rest assured – we’ll take our...

This is truly the worst KFC I have ever been in. Popped in yesterday at lunch time and practically everything about it was bad.

Staff were not taking orders at all at the tills, and were directing people to use the kiosks, of which there are only two of them, meaning there was a big wait just to order. Not to mention the kiosks were out of paper which means no receipt.

While I waited for my food I needed the toilet, so I went upstairs to discover that all of them were out of order! Honestly at this point I am surprised that management have opted to keep the restaurant open when there are no toilets or handwashing facilities.

Since I could not use the loo, I went back downstairs to wait for my order to be called. During the 15+ minute wait, another customer brought back two burgers that were supposedly cold. Not a good sign.

Eventually my order was called and to their credit, everything on the order was correct which was more than I was expecting, however they had no wooden cutlery which meant no way to eat the coleslaw that came with my meal!

Chips & burger were okay in my opinion, but the chicken piece was so slimy and greasy, it was disgusting to eat. Having been to places like Popeyes & Jolibee in Reading where the fried chicken is actually crispy and has a slight crunch to it, this sliminess was pretty sickening.

Overall I would never go back here, and I would recommend others do the same. KFC & their franchisee should be ashamed of how far their standards have dropped, and this restaurant really needs...