Dining | The Peruvian Chicken of Chikos - Mall of Asia
Mall of Asia has been our go to event place lately and we would normally take our early dinner in the Mall of the Asia. For this time out we tried out a new South American we found called Chikos.
We have tried Argentinian chicken before and now we shall be partaking on some Peruvian for this evening. Now they have two ways of serving their chicken, one roasted and one fried. I tried out the fried one so we can compare it with some of the similar ones out in the market.
The meal we got was the Quarter Chicharron De Pollo with 2 side dishes (rice and corn muffins) for Php255 as of this writing.
Now ambience is nice. Its a bit small though so if you are in a big group, you might want to take the tables outside. Inside since its a small area, the airconditioning is quite adequate. Service might be a bit difficult with a full house, but nothing that the staff can't manage.
Service is fine with Chikos. When I saw their menu board outside, obviously I had questions right away. Glad to know that there was one staff on hand to attend to me. They had a full house inside so I was guided to a table outside which was fine by me. I was promised that once a table is available inside that I would be transferred. A promise that was kept when an opportunity came up. I was seated near the cashier when my food arrived.
Serving wise the chicken was really a wing quarter. I had two side dishes. The rice was adequate but the muffin was a small one. I'm not complaining but just stating the fact that the muffin was small. Comparable to that of Kenny's. Small one. For the price of Php255 plus service charge, I guess the serving size is just right. I just wish they could have prepared a better rice for the price though and a bigger muffin. Wishes wishes.
Taste wise. Here comes the rub. First they called it chicharron de pollo, which means crispy chicken. Sadly it wasn't crispy. It didn't have breading like their normal competition so I don't know how it will become crispy at all. Now the marinade or rub or flavour was not that overwhelming for me to be blown over. I tasted a bit of herbs but I felt it was lost in the oil perhaps. The meat didn't push further the experience as it was dry. As a consolation, the meat had flavor as well. I surmised that if I chose the roasted one, it would be far much better perhaps. The sauce also did not sit well with me on my chicken. Again it would have been great with the roasted one I guess. The chicken can stand on its own without it in my view.
The cashier or manager or supervisor was in front me so I had a little chit chat with her and told her why my chicken tasted as such. I was told that the marinade or flavor is the same of the roast one but this was just fried. This writer has some experience in the kitchen and seldom do I use roast marinade on meats then eventually it would fried. Call me subjective but that won't be a great meal for me, decent maybe but it won't be great. The oil will surely soak in the meat and mess with the flavor. Anyway, they said they were still new I hope they can improve on the frying process altogether.
Price wise, for Php255 plus service charge was a bit of a luxury for me. With this price point I get to be a little demanding on the dish. Kudos on the serving size, the chicken size was big, I had a full meal with this, not hearty, but still full. A thing I can get with a popular fast food chain for half the price.
Overall, the staff are amiable, the venue although small is nice, the food taste is different and now, if you wish to have that peruvian taste experience, then go for this Chikos.
