Choo Choo Chicken, Greentown Ipoh

Choo-Choo Chicken is the latest addition among the few new eateries in Greentown. The first was Padi House, followed by Spade Burger and then Bad Ape Yakitori before Choo-Choo Chicken came into the race. Other than Doma, it is slightly hard to find Korean fried chicken in Ipoh, although names like Kyochon and 4Fingers have been making their waves in our land. So does this place manage to live up to the hype?

My visit was after lunch peak hours, I must conclude that this place did not manage to meet up to my expectations and this probably will be my first and last visit there. Having the items priced at a premium above average, I have fairly high expectations before stepping in. Yes I am indeed disappointed with the chicken was served in about 5 minutes after order was taken. The skin was still slightly crispy but it was a far-cry from what freshly-fried-upon-ordering. The meat inside was not piping hot either. I may be wrong but I feel like I am just biting to fried chicken served from your staple fast food joint. Yes, it’s still kept warm and still crispy nonetheless but missed the magic of the fresh-from-wok experience. And since the pricing here is not cheap (ALMOST RM20 for the plate of 2 fried chicken wings barely drizzled properly in honey sauce + one Rice Burger), I don’t expect to be served chicken which was fried and kept warm and refried/reheated just to get the crispy exterior.

 

The rice burger had a layer of chunky tuna meat in the middle. I did not like the taste at all as the whole thing was  no longer hot nor warm. The overall combination is quite a disaster and I gave up after one or two spoonful.

The Tobokki was equally pathetic either. For such quality, I could have get that from that Korean shop at Level 3 of Ipoh Parade at RM5 which is cooked in bulk. At least that one was still pipping hot.

This is another plate of boneless chicken (in some soya sayce version) which does not do Korean Fried Chicken any justice. It tastes likes some Marmite Chicken dished out from Chinese hawker stalls. The shredded cabbage was equally pathetic without any dressing and surprisingly for that meal, wedges tasted so good. Since they serve half-hearted food, I also write half-hearted review, so that those who haven't try yet will seek for a second opinion before wasting your money to come here!  At the moment I write this post, I have tried Kyochon just a week before I went to Choo-choo and I had tried Wing Zone a week later. Seriously, Choo Choo, is it that bad? Those who tried it in Klang Valley branches would like to share their comments at the thread below? Or is it nowadays people operating food franchise are no longer passionate and lack the emphasize on ensuring the whole team is well trained before opening for business?