Gimme Four! : 4 Fingers in Plaza Singapura, Singapore
Given my slight OCD nature, I rarely eat with my bare hands. Yes, somehow I've learned to eat everything with the use of a spoon and fork, fork and knife and at times even with a pair of chopsticks. Friends would watch in amazement (or more like amusement) as I would enjoy my fries with a fork or crabs with fork and knife. Back in high school, I would manage to finish my spaghetti lunch while using a pair of chopsticks without any stains on my white and blue uniform. This talent I've inherited from my equally neat freak Papa.
To test my new-found skill, Paul and I joined our friend O one Saturday evening at 4 Fingers in Plaza Singapura. For the longest time, 4 Fingers just had one branch here in Singapore which is in ION Orchard Mall. Despite the permanent waiting line one can see in front of the store, it took them more than 3 years to branch out and by that it means having another outlet down the road along Orchard. Not bad though as this means, giving us two options now on where to..line up.
It was when I married Paul that I somehow learned to "loosen up and enjoy life", as he would proudly claim. This simply meant me learning to use my hands to fully enjoy eating a piece of drumstick or to get the itsie-bitsie crab meat pieces out. It took a while, I tell you, but at present I've learned to control my OCD tendencies and to just enjoy my food to the fullest. Perhaps, I still have my hesitations but if there's one food item that I've learned to eat with my hands for maximum enjoyment, that would be fried chicken.
4 Fingers specializes in Korean Fried Chicken coated with your choice of sauce -- Soy Garlic or Hot & Spicy. There are quite a number of restaurant that offers this making it even more challenging for one to stand out against the others. Okay, let's put 4 Fingers chicken to the test.
To share, we got the 18 pcs. 4 Fingers Crispy Chicken basket (S$21.95). This is the house specialty and a visit to 4 Fingers is not complete without having this. As the brand name suggests, you're supposed to eat these with your bare hands. Well, if you really can't then they have plastic utensils for you but that could be really hard. We had half coated in Soy Garlic and the other half made Spicy. The boys tried the spicy and said it was delicious as the spicy level was just enough to perk up the flavor but not send your taste buds on fire. I played safe and just had the soy garlic ones. It was good! The chicken were a bit smaller than what we would normally have in Manila and it was much more leaner but the flavor was still there. Given the smaller size, you'd probably end up eating more pieces here. Rice isn't normally served with this but you can probably order as a sides. For me though, I'd go for some Kimchi Coleslaw instead.
We also got some fries to go with our fried chicken! They have two flavors available -- Seaweed and Kimchi. We were able to try both and I personally liked the Seaweed fries as it had a strong nori taste that I love. The Kimchi fries wasn't so bad but I just find the flavor quite weak.
Lastly, I also ordered a basket of Calamari & Shrimp Combo (S$9.95) as I was craving for seafood that day. I'm happy that both the calamari and shrimp were very crunchy and it was also coated with the same soy garlic sauce too. Yum!
Now, here's the verdict. Normally, our problem with Korean-style fried chicken is that the flavor just stays in the skin. Since I normally remove the chicken skin, then I end up with bland chicken meat. I'm happy to note that for 4 Fingers, the soy-garlic flavor has seeped through the skin and into the meat. It was good and made it really enjoyable up until the bones. The fries were good but nothing quite special vs. the other fast food competitors. In fact, I'd gladly trade this with some Kimchi Coleslaw next time. Lastly, the Calamari and Shrimp were also pretty good. We felt though that we had too much deep-fried food that night making us detox our body with some herbal tea after. :P Nonetheless, if you're into seafood more than chicken then I highly recommend that you try this.
4 Fingers has branches not only in Singapore but in Indonesia and the Philippines too. Click here for their list of stores. Folks in Manila would be happy to know that the menu prices are about 50% cheaper than what we have here in Singapore. So, grab this opportunity and try the local 4 Fingers at SM North EDSA soon!
Now, here's the verdict. Normally, our problem with Korean-style fried chicken is that the flavor just stays in the skin. Since I normally remove the chicken skin, then I end up with bland chicken meat. I'm happy to note that for 4 Fingers, the soy-garlic flavor has seeped through the skin and into the meat. It was good and made it really enjoyable up until the bones. The fries were good but nothing quite special vs. the other fast food competitors. In fact, I'd gladly trade this with some Kimchi Coleslaw next time. Lastly, the Calamari and Shrimp were also pretty good. We felt though that we had too much deep-fried food that night making us detox our body with some herbal tea after. :P Nonetheless, if you're into seafood more than chicken then I highly recommend that you try this.
4 Fingers has branches not only in Singapore but in Indonesia and the Philippines too. Click here for their list of stores. Folks in Manila would be happy to know that the menu prices are about 50% cheaper than what we have here in Singapore. So, grab this opportunity and try the local 4 Fingers at SM North EDSA soon!
