Country Chicken: happiness in a box

Chinese restaurants have a bad reputation for putting too much MSG in their food, or for having a dirty kitchen, and yet people still patronize them. Since these facts stay intact over the years, we have accepted them to be part of the whole Chinese dining experience and learned to love it for as long as I can remember.

In the very busy intersection of Araneta Avenue in Quezon Ave., houses one of the Country Chicken branches in the Metro. They serve your typical chinese favorites like chopsuey, hot and sour soup, pancit and many others. But what kept me coming back is their, well, (you guessed it) chicken.

Our family has grown fond of Country Chicken's roasted chicken over the years. Birthdays, Christmas, or ordinary days are turned special because of this special treat. If I had to compare its taste with your local lechon manok like Baliwag, Andok's Chooks and Sr. Pedro, I'd say CC's chicken is twice as juicy and twice as flavorful.

I'd have to give most of the credit to their sauce. It's close to hoisin, but not quite. It has a distinct smell of star anise to it, but I'm really not sure. Its perfect blend of sweet and tang compliments the flavorful aroma of the chicken. That when put together, creates a burst of dragon fireworks inside your tummy only a real Chinese restaurant can offer. I try to put the right words to describe the sauce, but I end up with fireworks and star anise. Great. T.T

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If you're thinking that their chicken is close to that of Savory's since they're both chinese restaurants, it's not. CC has perfected the right amount of toast to the chicken skin which is close to being burnt, but avoids the bitter taste to it. While people pretending to be healthy stay away from chicken skin, well they have yet to try CC's version. This might be the ultimate test against their willpower, and the strength of a really good food.

A whole chicken would cost P280. And they place it inside these cute boxes together with two sachets of their sauce. Additional sauce would cost another P20 extra. That's why I prefer dining in, they don't charge for the extra sauce. That's a tip in case you didn't notice. But the whole chicken experience is best shared with family, and best eaten at home (since you'd want to eat their chicken to the bones, using your bare hands).

If you feel like eating alone, don't worry. They came up with these set meals which include their signature chicken. An order of rice, and a quarter cut chicken costs P100, while one piece chicken (half-a-quarter) with rice costs P64 only. I'd recommend their hot and sour soup, fish and tofu and chopsuey as well.

Still thinking what to serve on your next family reunion? A box of Country Chicken will do.

Their branches:
112-A Quezon Avenue 1100 Quezon City Metro Manila
207 Wilson Street Greenhills 1530 San Juan Metro Manila
15 Jose Abad Santos Drive Little Baguio 1500 San Juan Metro Manila
E. Rodriguez Senior Avenue Quezon City Metro Manila
441 N. S. Amorato Senior Avenue Retiro Quezon City Metro Manila
4895 Valenzuela Extension Corner V. Mapa Street Santa Mesa Manila Metro Manila
1329 G. Masangkay Street Manila Metro Manila


or call:+63(2)7405613 and +63(2)7328891 for deliveries.



Food :         *****
Ambiance: ***

Service:     ***

Servings:   ****