Hot Star Large Fried Chicken (near Katipunan)

Beloved and I had afterbrunch, or perhaps more of a brinner (dinner as breakfast, coined by me), at Hot Star's somewhat newly-opened Katipunan Branch. It's not actually at Katipunan itself, but on one of the side roads, F. dela Rosa to be precise. From the title, you can probably assume what it serves: Large Fried Chicken.

Now, I'm not virgin to this place. Our office had lunch here the day before, and I've seen how Large their Fried Chicken was. I didn't order their chicken and rice combo, however, and instead opted for their chicken sandwich. While hefty, it wasn't as huge as the chicken that came with their rice meals.

Anyway, they offer four kinds of "Large Fried" meals, named simply "HS" followed by a number. Beloved ordered their HS1 which was their Original Fried Chicken for 110 Php. To this she added 35 Php for rice and drinks and additional 10 Php to upsize said drink. I ordered their HS4 which was their Large Crispy Fish, also for 110 Php. Instead of adding rice and drinks to mine, I also ordered their French Fries (60 Php) and had their Combination Ice Crush (45 Php) for drinks.

Wee Nam Kee (Trinoma)

Beloved and I had dinner at Wee Nam Kee. This Singaporean-Chinese restaurant opened its doors at the topmost floor of Trinoma. Most Singaporean places we've been to specializes in Hainanese Chicken Rice. This place offers similar specialty as well as one dish I've wanted to try since learning about it. After learning the prices were fair, we took our seats.

The menu was actually not as varied as most Chinese places we've been to. Most of their menu is dedicated to the said Hainanese Chicken Rice dish. In fact, there were two kinds of said dish: one yellow and other white. According to the waiter, the yellow one used imported chicken from Vietnam raised specifically for this dish. As such, it's priced at a premium. We decided to get that—their Yellow Chicken (388 Php). Beloved also ordered their Chicken Rice (40 Php). As for the dish I mentioned earlier that I wanted to try, if you've been reading my blog, you know that a couple of blogs ago, I was quite interested in the Cereal Prawn (395 Php) dish from Wangfu. Since this place offered that, I ordered it. I also ordered their Chicken Noodle Soup (215 Php), because it looked nice in the menu and I didn't want to eat rice.

Manang's Chicken (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I ate at Manang's Chicken. Although they dub themselves "Ang Bagong Fried Chicken ng Pinoy", they basically use a smiliar recipe as Bonchon Chicken's or Chicken Charlie's, which is the Korean Soy Fried Chicken. I actually enjoy this style of cooking, but they usually lack in the amount of meat for what you pay. I've heard of reverse from this place, where there's plenty of meat to eat, but I've also heard some negative reviews from friends, claiming the chicken meat itself tasting poor and old. Last Saturday, out of whim, we finally get to try it out.

I finally understood why some of my friends thought the chicken meat itself was poor—they deep fry the chicken twice. This would probably make the chicken less tender and have that "old" texture. Knowing that, I decided to order the part which has more skin over meat—the wings. I ordered their 6 Pieces Wings Meal (199 Php). The chicken can have original, mildly spicy, and extra spicy coating. I asked them to give me at least one of each. Beloved, although she claimed she was craving for chicken, found another item in their menu that she fancied more, so she ordered their Sesame Beef Rice (122 Php). Both our orders included rice and drinks, but I also ordered their Small Barkada Bucket of Chips (170 Php), which came with four dips. Since they only had three choices, I asked for at least one of each.

Peri-Peri (SM North EDSA)

Me, Beloved, and friends celebrated a Holiday's party last Saturday. We met up at SM North EDSA and decided to have dinner at Peri-Peri. This is among the original food places that opened up when the new Annex building re-opened. Beloved and I never had the opportunity to try out this Portugese grilled chicken restaurant, but our friends did. Garnering no negative reviews, and with the fact that they offer unlimited soup and drinks for 49 Php, there was little hesitation from me.

As I mentioned, this place serves grilled chicken. Apparently, "Peri-Peri" is the sauce they use to make this chicken. According to the menu, most of their stuff has some spiciness in it, but you can ask your chicken to be grilled mildly spicy, hot and spicy, or lemon garlicky. I concluded that the best value offerings are the 235 Php "Everyday Platters", so I got their Everyday Platter B. Beloved got their Everyday Platter D. We also asked for the unlimited soup and drink add-on. Oh, and we also got a couple of appetizers: their Mozzarella Sticks (155 Php) and Shrimp Diablo (168 Php).

Chicken Charlie (Katipunan)

Beloved and I had dinner, or breakfast in my case, at Chicken Charlie. This fried chicken place is often compared to BonChon Chicken; its followers say that this is the original one, the first incarnation a long time ago at Banawe. I apologize beforehand for comparing Chicken Charlie to BonChon throughout this review, but since they are quite similar, it cannot be helped. Anyway, I haven't been to this place before, but from what I've heard, the chicken here is pretty good.

Its Katipunan branch is located at the second floor of the Oracle Building, making it slightly inaccessible compared to other food places on the street. I'm hoping this is the reason why when we went in, only one table other than us is occupied. Similar to Bonchon Chicken, they serve chicken bundles by the cuts. However, this place only serves drumsticks and wings. Although they also serve set meals, such as two drumsticks, rice, and drink, my quick math told me that ordering the bundles would be better. So we ordered their 4 Pieces Drumsticks + 4 Pieces Wings Combo (315 Php). Their chicken comes in either Soy Garlic or Hot Sweet sauces. We took half of each. We also got their Fries (39 Php) and Beloved got a cup of rice for 17 Php.