KFC: Asam Pedas Zinger and Cheezy Zinger

I happened to chance upon a video that was uploaded on KFC Singapore's Facebook page once day and I could not believe what I was actually seeing...

The fast food joints in Singapore come up with all kinds of promotional items on the menus and sometimes they try to incorporate some local flavour into it. We've had the Rendang Burger (Burger King and McDonalds), Prosperity Burger (McDonalds) and even Chicken Rice (KFC) in the past. And now KFC has come up with something I reckon very few of us would have ever expected.

Time to meet the Zingers!

Asam Pedas Zinger and Cheezy Zinger ($4.50 ala carte or $6.90 for the meal)

Okay so maybe the Cheezy Zinger is not so shocking but Asam Pedas??
That's definitely something very adventurous I'd say.

Asam Pedas Zinger

As usual, it never ever looks like the promo picture am I right?

I actually expected to at least see some of the Asam Pedas sauce dripping off the sides or something.
In fact, some of our readers say that different outlets seem to have different amounts of the Asam Pedas sauce on the burger. Inconsistent!!

No wonder the sauce is not visible. The sauce is on the crown and covered with the lettuce.
Perhaps it would have been a better idea to have the Asam Pedas sauce directly on the Zinger patty instead of the bun. At least maybe the flavour would have been more intense.

The Asam Pedas sauce on its own surprisingly actually tastes like an authentic Asam Pedas!
Well, close enough anyways. I'd say it's a good effort and it's even got a bit of a spicy kick to it (but not much). Unfortunately the flavour of the sauce is lost when you take a bite of the Zinger as a whole.
Perhaps a case of too little sauce?

And what's up with the slice of tomato? I've never has tomato in my Asam Pedas before.

Cheezy Zinger

Looks a bit closer to the promo picture (but not quite).

This is basically exactly what the name implies. You know the KFC Cheese Fries? Well, this is the same thing but on a Zinger. The nacho cheese and mayonnaise on a Zinger patty instead of a bed of fries.

I actually found this one quite boring.
People love the Cheese Fries for the cheesy flavout but somehow that is also lost here with the Zinger.
Perhaps it's because the nacho cheese flavour is not very intense.

I can see how come people might like it but I guess if I wanted to have a cheesy something at KFC then I'd probably just stick to the Cheese Fries.

And speaking of Cheese Fries....

Cheese Fries ($4.50)

BONUS REVIEW!!

Awhile back, KFC decided they were going to change their fries.
This meant a "Thicker, crispier and tastier" french fry. Supposedly a step-up from their old fries?

Well anyways this also means that the fries used in the Cheesy Fries is also changed to the new one.
You can pretty much see the difference in the picture above. The fries are thicker and a lot more solid than the older version and they definitely look a lot more solid and crispy.

I personally feel that as a standalone french fry, the new version is not bad actually.
But in terms of Cheesy Fries, I actually prefer the older version. There's just something special about the fries getting soggy with all the cheese sauce and mayonnaise and starts hanging on your forks as you bring it to your mouth.

Based on the some of the comments on KFC's facebook page, it seems that quite a number of people feel the same way too. But then again, we are merely comparing the new fries to the old. Some people will still enjoy this new version. Guess we will just need to learn to get used to it.

But the Cheese Fries experience still rocks.

Adam's Verdict:
Asam Pedas Zinger 2.5/5 -- Cheezy Zinger 2/5 -- Cheese Fries 3.5/5

I'd say it was actually a pretty good effort with the Asam Pedas Zinger. Not so much with the Cheezy one.
But if I had to choose between all of them, I'd choose the good old original Zinger.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Over 80 outlets island-wide

Delivery Hotline: 6222 6111
www.kfc.com.sg

Operating Hours: Varies with each outlet

Makan vs Makan --- Fast Food Chicken & Rice

I actually wanted to have this be a 'Fast Food Chicken Rice' post... but after I sampled the dishes from both the fast food outlets, I realized it would be more accurate to label it as 'Chicken & Rice' instead...

Read on dear readers... and you will know what I mean.

POPEYES VS KFC

This one was REALLY impromptu by the way.

I'd seen the commercials on TV. You know... the irritating one where the aunty goes "DIDN'T EAT RICE AH?". Yes. That one. And I actually said to myself - "No way am I gonna have that lah".

And then one day, we found ourselves at the airport and having lunch at Popeyes.
When I saw the poster for the Cajun Rice Platter, I thought to myself... Time for a battle!!!

Popeyes' Cajun Rice Platter ($4.30)

So for the price you pay, you get some Cajun Fried Rice with a choice of either a piece of Bonafide Fried Chicken, Louisiana Pepper Nuggets or Chicken Tenders.

As you can see, I chose the Fried Chicken because it seemed the most worth it among all the choices.


Well the Cajun Fried Rice itself was nothing extraordinary.
I mean, it wasn't bad. It was actually pretty tasty but I guess it just wasn't spectacular. It was quite a generous serving and I guess it was would suit whatever form of chicken to accompany it.

The Fried Chicken was (as usual) deep-fried goodness with all the oil and juices. Rip it up and have a whole mouthful with some of the Cajun Fried Rice. But honestly, you'll probably spend more time with the chicken than the rice - in which case you should have just bought a 2-piece Chicken Meal am I right?

No special sauce here though. Ended up eating it with the normal chili sauce.

KFC O.R Chicken Rice ($5.95)

Let me start off by saying that the presentation was NOT at all impressive.

May be I'm being too nit-picky... The tomato is fine but to put the same shredded lettuce that's put in the burgers? Errr.. kinda messy lah!!

The rice used here is supposed to be 'Chicken Rice' rice. And I guess it's close enough. It's not a tasty as your favourite Chicken Rice stall but you can still detect a hint of the chicken stock flavour.

I purposely ordered the O.R chicken because I really love the taste of the KFC's Original Recipe.
I know they call it O.R here but this wasn't really the same thing to me. The skin was a bit more crispy (which I can understand) but the O.R taste was really lacking so I'm guessing it's not the same at all. They should have just chopped up the patty from their O.R Fillet Burger and it would have been better.

Well the one thing they DID use was the sauce from their Shrooms Burger.
Unfortunately, it didn't really go very well with the rice and the chicken....
Ended up eating it with the normal chili sauce. (Deja Vu) 

They also had 2 other types of Chicken Rice - The Zinger one with Chilli Crab Sauce and the Roasta one with Honey Glaze.

And the winner is -

POPEYES CAJUN FRIED RICE WITH CHICKEN!!

But it wasn't by a very big margin to be honest...

The rice for both wasn't very outstanding. Both did not have a special sauce which made any difference.

I guess it all boiled down to the chicken which also was a little bit close to compare.

Price-wise is about the same because it's almost $6.00 when you top-up at Popeyes to have a drink and a side dish (Popeyes Mashed Potatoes are the bomb!)

But having said that... if I really wanna eat Chicken Rice.. then maybe I should just have Chicken Rice...

Did anyone else try either one of these offerings from 2 fast food outlets?
What did you think? Which was better?