A few restaurants/shops along Jalan SS 21/39 Damansara Utama (Uptown) have closed down and no sooner than a shop lot is vacated, another fills the vacancy and springs into action.
I would say that this row is the most “ong” in Damansara Uptown but still many enterprises did not survive, among them Go Street Noodle, Pizza Craft, SRK Noodle House and Chilli Pan Mee.
One day I saw this.
Monga Fried Chicken opening with a bang with lion dance and all. Initially when they were still renovating, I thought this was a Japanese outlet as Monga sounds Japanese to me. But with all the tong tong chiang! going on, this must be Chinese.
After some googling, I found out that this is a Taiwanese franchise specializing in Taiwanese fried chicken. Well, you might know how I feel about Taiwanese food. But still – fried chicken.
My sentiments aside, I had to try it at least once.
I was super early, knowing how the crowds swarm to newly opened outlets, to make sure that I can eat in peace.
Ordering is done at the counter and after you pay, you need to wait for your order number to be called.
I chose Taiker (fried chicken with Japanese Sauce & Seaweed Powder) and opted for the value meal Combo C. This combo comes with a soft drink and chips. You can upgrade your drink (if you don’t want a soft drink) and chips (for a fancier flavor or other fried stuff).
It was quite a long wait, something like 20 minutes. I don’t know if this is the norm. Even then, only the fried chicken was ready and I was told to wait for the drinks and chips. Service does not seem very efficient to me.
The chicken comes in a paper bag like this.
While waiting for the drink and chips, I started on the fried chicken.
It’s chicken breast (my least favorite part of the chicken) but giving credit where credit is due, it was moist and juicy. Flavor wise, it was just flat for me, nothing remarkable. Sure there was the seaweed flavor coming from the seaweed powder and that was it.
I thought it needed some chili sauce. As a matter of fact, a customer went to the counter to request for chili sauce. She was told that sauce is not provided and that she would have to pay for it. I saw her go to the cashier for a small tub of sauce.
Well, I wasn’t going to pay an extra RM1.50 for sauce as I had already spent RM28.40 on something I wasn’t quite enjoying. This fried chicken is not what I would want to eat again.
As I was halfway through with the chicken, my number was called again.
This time for the Jasmine Green Tea (it was slightly sweetened) and Signature Chips, ready finally. I don’t know what happened with the chips because they smelled of plum powder. Not exactly an ideal flavor to go with chips (in my opinion).
It turns out the chicken is not a fillet (fillet is boneless, right?) as I bit into bone and ribs.
So what did I think of Monga Fried Chicken? It’s not for me but I am sure there are many people out there who may enjoy Taiwanese style fried chicken. But I am glad I gave it a try. Once is enough for me.
