Crispy, deep-fried chicken thigh fillets, sprinkled with a generous coat of spicy MSG – what’s not to love? If there was to be a single night market food staple to rule them all, it would definitely be the Taiwanese XXL fried chicken.

We may not have our own Shihlin Night Market, but lucky for us, quite a few Taiwanese fried chicken franchises have opened shop in Singapore.

So which is the best fried chicken in Singapore: Is it highly anticipated Monga which was opened by popular Taiwanese comedian, Nono? How about Devil Chicken, the newest player in the game, also from Taiwan? Or will it be our first love, Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks?

Let’s compare their menus and prices.

5 BEST FRIED CHICKEN STORES FOR TAIWAN-STYLE CHICKEN CUTLETS

TLDR;

Cheapest fried chicken cutlet — $4.90 at Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks and I Love Taimei

Most expensive fried chicken cutlet — $7.90 at Devil Chicken

Newly opened fried chicken stores — Monga Fried Chicken ($6.90) and Devil Chicken ($7.90)

Fried chicken store with the most outlets — Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks

Fried chicken stores with sides and beverages — All except Devil Chicken

MONGA FRIED CHICKEN- $6.90

Founded by Taiwanese comedian Nono, Monga is a Taiwanese fried chicken chain with over 45 outlets in Taiwan. The famous fried chicken chain just opened in Singapore on 28 Sep 2019.

Monga fried chicken menu and prices

Celebrity-founded restaurants are usually assumed to be expensive because they’re “branded”. This seems to hold true for Monga, which charges $6.90 for the big chicken cutlet.

However, you may just find it worth the extra dollars because their servings are apparently larger than “normal”. Monga prides itself on making sure each fillet is cut at least 2cm thick. The meat is tenderised with honey before it is thrown into the pot for some sizzlin’.

There are 3 flavours: King (salt and pepper), Hot Chick (chilli paprika) and Taiker (seaweed); all the same price. It’s only been a few days (at the time of writing), but already everyone is raving about how delicious Monga fried chicken is.

Monga fried chicken address: 50 Jurong Gateway Road, #B1-K10, JEM, Singapore 608 549

ALSO READ: Monga fried chicken: Local celebrity friends say yes-yes to Nono

DEVIL CHICKEN (BY DEVIL EVOLUTION, TAIWAN)- $7.90

It seems to be fried chicken season, because shortly after Monga’s opening in Singapore, yet another cult classic from Taiwan is here.

The newest fried chicken store is Devil Chicken, by Devil Evolution, which is the chain’s original name in Taichung, Taiwan.

Devil Chicken menu and prices:

Devil Chicken launched its first Singapore outlet on 4 Oct 2019 at Century Square Mall, and is slated to open its second store on 25 Oct 2019, at JCube. So by month-end, both the east- and west-siders can spend hours queueing for their fried chicken. Smart, hor?

Yup, Devil Chicken had a pop-up stint earlier this April at the Shihlin Singapore (the Taiwan-inspired night market), where foodies had to wait up to 4 hours in line. Currently, there’s only the fried chicken cutlet on the menu ($7.90), available in original or spicy.

It’s the most expensive one on this list, but like Monga, there’s quite a bit of hype over Devil Chicken: the local staff were reportedly flown to Taiwan for 2 months of training to learn the art of their famous chicken. I can’t help but wonder… is that what we’re paying for?

Devil Chicken Singapore address: Century Square #01-40 Singapore 529 509

SHIHLIN TAIWAN STREET SNACKS- $4.90 (OR CHEAPER ON KLOOK)

Before Monga and Devil Chicken, what did we have? Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks.

Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks menu and prices:

Ever since they hit Singapore, I’ve been a huge fan of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. For me, this is what the original XXL chicken tastes like because it was the first one I tried. 

This store has been around seemingly forever (I exaggerate, it opened in 2003), so it’s withstood the test of time. That’s saying a lot — F&B is very competitive in Singapore, okay!

At its usual price of $4.90, Shihlin Taiwan Street Snack’s XXL crispy chicken is one of the cheapest in Singapore. As if that isn’t good enough, the store sells vouchers on KLOOK that allow you buy their fried chicken at a discount.

It’s seasonal though, and at the time of writing, there weren’t any deals for the XXL chicken — only the sweet potato fries ($2.85 instead of $3) and the crispy chicken cracklings (from $22 for 3 packs). However, the reviews suggest that they used to have a 50% off promo for the cutlet.

Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks address: Various shopping malls. See the full list of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks outlets here.

I LOVE TAIMEI- $4.90

Yes, that’s what it’s really called. And nope, you’re not the only one who finds the name “I Love Taimei” cringe-worthy.

I Love Taimei menu and prices:

I Love Taimei is slightly different from the others on this list — their main food dish is the big chicken cutlet ($4.90), but they’re also quite popular for their bubble tea selection. In fact, I usually just order their Brown Sugar Milk Tea ($3.90); no chicken.

The chicken comes in a few flavours: you can order it original or extra crispy, and choose between cheese, seaweed, spicy Mexico or sour plum seasonings (+$0.50). I personally can’t tell the difference between the original and extra crispy versions though.

I Love Taimei is also known from naming their dishes after Taiwanese stars. After the famous S.H.E., the original chicken is called “Hebe”, the extra crispy is “Ella” and the BBQ is Selina. It’s not really my brand of humour, but I’m sure some of you will buy it just to say on Instagram that you’ve “eaten Selina” or something… (shrugs)

I Love Taimei address: Various shopping malls. See the full list of I Love Taimei outlets.

HOT-STAR LARGE FRIED CHICKEN- $5.20

Finally, we have Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken. I’ve actually never heard of this chain before, and I’m surprised at how “sua ku” I am.

Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken Singapore menu and prices:

They’re not quite as “lao jiao” as Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks in Singapore — they opened here in 2011 — but they’ve been around long enough for me to feel ashamed of myself.

The iconic fried chicken snack has sketchy origins, but rumour has it that Hot-Star was the one to invent it. According to their “about” page, Hot-Star (Taichung) is the OG creator of this dish, serving chicken fillets up to 30cm in length “since 1992″…

At $5.20 per piece, the price is on the cheaper side; especially when compared to the newbies like Monga and Devil Chicken. The fried chicken is more expensive than Shihlin’s ($5.20 vs $4.90), but the mee sua is cheaper ($4 vs $4.90).

Hot-Star has 4 outlets (City Square, NEX, Tampines 1 and Orchard ION), and often participates in the seasonal pop-up food events like ARTBOX, Takashimaya Food Fiesta and more.

Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken Singapore address: Various shopping malls. See the full list of Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken outlets.

This article was first published in MoneySmart .