Hello, Friends. 🙂 After more hours spent at work than rest and recreation, you deserve a break. Sit back, pour yourself a glass and enjoy Korean-style fried chicken introduced by Singaporean folks and brought by Alfonso Hortaleza, President of Mindblowing Delicious Food Corporation, to the Philippines in January 2012.
While you won’t use only four fingers to eat their crispy fried chicken, you should know that the name of the restaurant “4 Fingers” pertain to four friends who established this fast-food “phenomenon” taking inspiration from eateries in the NY, the Big Apple.
Their first branch was situated in ION Orchard, Singapore lah, but I never have seen it before during my stay there. Now’s the perfect chance to dine in and give their food a review. Mom got us two vouchers from Ensogo (LivingSocial) which saved us 48% off the price. We availed of discounted food from 4 Fingers Crispy Chicken at its first branch in the Philippines: SM City North EDSA.
What’s in the Deal?
4 Fingers Crispy Chicken Meal: 6pcs. Wings/Drummettes (Soy Garlic/Hot/Mix), includes a small soda/iced tea and fries/rice originally priced at PHp 229
Review of 4 Fingers Crispy Chicken (SM City North EDSA, Quezon City)
Ambiance: ★★★★☆
This smallish outlet can occupy 50 customers more or less. Giving chic and cozy ambiance, the interior style and decors are consistent with those in SG, featuring hanging bulbs and murals that look like a graffiti wall on the streets of New York. Regular movable chairs are made of white plastic, while stable high chairs near the entrance are made of wood. The placement of the seating, I would say, pretty much maximized the limited space of the restaurant.
Red is the theme color, which according to psychology, makes people hungry as it attracts attention and excitement to diners. Maybe it’s another way to indicate that diners must go right after satisfying their hunger and finishing their food. Still, it’s a good place to sit down and enjoy a meal for long.
Service: ★★★★☆
Service was nothing to shout about since this is fairly a fast food type of restaurant where customers have to order and pay for their food first at the counter before they get served on the table. For drinks, customers have to go self-service — even for plain water. No special awards for friendly service here though food were quickly served by the crew wearing cool uniforms.
Food: ★★★★☆
I am not really a fan of fried chicken since it conjures up images of clogged arteries and heart attacks. Also, I tend to shy away from chicken wings because they are often known and paired for having messy and unhealthy affairs. Remember the urban legan saying that eating chicken wings can cause cancer? I have not gotten over it quite yet. Anyway, 算了吧 ! One-time eating may do the tiniest bit of harm in our bodies. 😛
My office mates have tried 4 Fingers’ crispy chicken last time, and they said the taste and texture are almost the same as Bon Chon’s chicken, another famous Korean fried chicken that’s been a hit since last year. And yup, that’s agreeable. We’re not sure if the latter is just renamed or they are under the same management. We can’t tell the difference of the taste apart, but it’s obvious that their food differ in packaging and presentation. Bon Chon serves meals in regular plates, while 4 Fingers uses funky “tin” boxes as plates.
4 Fingers offers three variations of special sauces that are hand-painted on the fried chicken: soy, garlic and spicy sauce. We’ve only tried the soy and garlic, but I dare say that the spicy one is worth a try. The chickens are twice fried thus are left with minimum amount of grease and moisture. Kudos to the fry cooks and the secret formula that 4 Fingers came up with. I like the crispiness and the salt-and-sweet taste. However, if you want meaty and juicy chickens, this place is not for you.
Compared to Jollibee, McDonald’s, KFC, Kenny Rogers Roasters and other similar food chains selling chicken, 4 Fingers’ chickens are smaller, with skin that’s wafer thin and not full with flour. They are not suitable for those with a heavy appetite. This is probably the reason why they don’t sell only one piece or part of chicken in a meal (refer to the menu here).
Additionally, we had two orders of Shrimp & Calamari combo (PHp 189 each) which were nicely fried as well. One platter is good for two people. Flavor and texture wise, the battered shrimp and calamari are above mediocre. Give a pinch of calamansi and you’ll get a slightly tangy taste. My mom and my boyfriend both feel that mayonnaise and thousand island dressing are more fitted as condiments here.
For drinks, we had green tea and red tea. Both were too sweet so drinking water after is a must.
Price for Value: ★★★☆☆
Price for individual orders ranges from PHp 150 to PHp 300, and this is okay for fast-food. Even at original price, an order of crispy chicken (wings & drumlets) is not so bad since it’s good for sharing. To sum up, the budget-conscious have nothing to worry. There are budget meals even for vegetarians and pescetarians. 🙂 4 Fingers pleases customers, especially chicken lovers, making them order another bunch and go back once more. This is stark contrast to the notice imprinted on the cup:
So how? I have just told everyone their secret. 😛 Does that make me a tattletale?
4 Fingers Crispy Chicken SM City North EDSA (beside National Bookstore)
G/F SM City North EDSA, Main Building, North Avenue, Sto. Cristo, Quezon City
For inquiries, call (02) 376-7543
Facebook
Other branches:
SM Mall of Asia (Pasay City)
Acqua Residences (Mandaluyong City)
About Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco
Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.
wow! 6 pcs wings with drinks and rice for just 119? sulit! the calamari looks good too.. 🙂
Yup it’s super sulit. 😀 Glad Mom bought the deal! Hehe.
Since I live nearby, I ate here several times. The chicken is good but I really think they should increase their sidings to pair up with the chicken. =)
Several times? Wow. You must be a VIP customer then. 😛 Yeah, having more side dishes would be nice.
Oh no! I am not having fried chicken for dinner. I only have nilagang baka. Why your post making me drool?! Why?!! Hahaha!!!
Is that home-cooked? 🙂 If you used magic beef cubes and you’ve perfectly simmered the beef well, then that beef stew might just be more interesting to the palates than this regular fried chicken.
Yes, that is part of marketing strategy. COLOR is one of the strategy food owners must know. Red and Blue are the two colors that makes people hungry. Actually RED is what people make hungry and BLUE is for appetizers. Golden Yellow is also added. I learned that before with our COLOR PSYCHOLOGY SUBJECT in BUSINESS AD. Going back with your post I am super hungry now. hehehehehe.. 🙂
Haha the color attraction strategy might not be suitable for those who are color blind then. 🙂 Anyway yeah I’ve noticed that there are many restaurants which use red and orange as their theme – not only on the logo but the overall interiors as well.
The ‘BOSS’ and ‘CREW’ shirts caught my attention. Those look so cool! As well as the interiors and the plates and cups 😀
Back to the food, I think I’ve never ate Calamari with calamansi as condiment. Given the choices of sauces, I think I’m gonna mix all three (like when you eat Hainanese chicken :3). Looks good enough to try with friends 🙂
Hmmm yup. Also, the calamari can also be nicely paired with tomato or marina and vinegar. 🙂
4Finger’s actually from Singapore, but their chicken is somehow similar to Bon Chon’s. I noticed though that 4Finger’s blend is more savory and flavorful, and the chicken meat itself is more tasty compared to Bon Chon’s. Now that I read your post, I remembered I haven’t blogged about 4Fingers yet despite ordering numerous times already XD Maybe I should revisit 4Fingers again soon for a blog review ^^
Haha so I’ll just wait for your review then. 🙂 Let’s see how 4 Fingers’ chicken fared for you.
Each time we’re in MOA, sure thing that I dropped by the place, not because of how their crispy chicken taste, but hindi masyadong crowded ang place unlike the 2 popular food chains. I agree with your observation, maliit nga ang chicken nila but the side order yung calamari is just fine.
You must have some discounts already because of the frequency of your dining encounters here. 😀 Well, my workplace is near MOA but I have not seen the 4Fingers stall in the mall. 😯