Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Hilariously close to Red Rooster, the other best-fried-chicken-in-Richmond contender , is LA Chicken. Looks more like KFC chicken. Super crispy skin. Eat it right away and it's sooo juicy. Like dripping wet juicy. Winner. Unless chickens have shrunk since the last time I had KFC, the size of the legs and thighs seemed... smallish. I tried only the spicy chicken, and it was OK for spiciness. You get a bit of spicy-heat aftertaste. Otherwise, seemed to be just like "regular" fried chicken. Try to order tubs. 2 pieces for $6.60 works out to over $3 per piece. With bigger orders you can get it under $2 per piece, which puts it on par with KFC. Still, for sheer amount of meat, it beats a burger. Don't go for "snacks" or combos. 2-piece snack is $8, which means your fries are $1.40.

Red Rooster is kind of a dilapidated looking hole-in-the-wall. You know, what many Chinese restaurants look like. They use broasting (a trademarked combination of pressure cooking and frying) to give you "fried" chicken. If you know only KFC, then it will be disappointing for the inferior crispiness of the skin. Also, I found it less juicy than fried-in-four-minutes chicken, from KFC or nearby LA Chicken. Still, there is really no comparison because the styles are too different. When you go, just try to turn off your expectations and try something new. Portion is atrocious. When did chicken parts shrink? Or does KFC have dibs on big fat chickens? 5-piece Combo ($15.49) is for five pieces legs/thighs, macaroni salad (it's the only kind, apparently), and fries. Fries are actually really decent! And dusted with the same curry-ish spice as on the chicken. Spicing is quite nice but a bit mild / tame for my personal taste. Not just straight salty, though, which is n...