Monday, May 28, 2012

Chicken Charlie chucks chicken a la Bon Chon

Late last April, while wandering around Eastwood Citiwalk, I happened to run into the signs of this upstart opening shop in Eastwood [coincidentally, ahead of more popular Bon Chon chicken]. Coincidental? Maybe, maybe not? What I could notice is that they may be trying to get a foothold of the chicken crowd before Bon Chon could settle down inside Eastwood's confines.

Located at the 4th floor of the Eastwood Citiwalk 2, on the same level as the movie theaters [Eastwood Cinemas 1-4], they occupy a small space but is clearly visible to potential patrons. They serve legs, thighs, and wings, among others, with your choice of the original soy-garlic recipe or their hot and spicy variant.

Menu-wise, it is still a bit thin, with very limited variation outside of chicken. Then again, they were still on soft launch as of the time I dropped by, so hopefully that would improve later on.

Price? Meals start out at as low as 59 pesos to the normal-esque range of 120+ Php. I haven't personally tried the 59 peso budget meal. I opted to order the 2 drumstick meal, while Jasmine opted to get the 3 wings set. We both opted for the spicy variant and we took notes from there.

Size? It was on par with what Bon Chon chicken serves. This appears true for both wings and legs. It's significantly smaller comparing it to KFC, or Jollibee or McDonalds, but you're not really supposed to go here for that. Chicken Charlie [and Bon Chon, for that matter] brings a different

Taste? I've taken to spicy chicken, with this in mind, I initially had Bon Chon chicken's spicy level in mind. Simply put, this is the milder version. Depending on one's preference for flavor, that may be better or worse. Personally though, I would've preferred to get my tongue nearly seared and sweat forming on my forehead while I eat nice and spicy chicken. Still, good though.

If there is anything I'd like to hope to happen, it would be that they could develop additional items that could compliment their main offering. Something like Chap-chae noodles, maybe?