When Taiwanese fried chicken meets bubble tea, it gives you an interesting fast food mix: this is what TKK Fried Chicken and Kung Fu’s Tea did this year in a location few steps from Madison Square Park. I love fried chicken, discovering it while living in Paris, at KFC! Yes, I know, it might not have been the best fried chicken but still, it is a good memory, similar to when I first tried chicken wings at...Pizza Hut! But, when I moved to New York many years back, I not only got introduced to its Southern roots, especially accompanied with a waffle, but also got my first Korean fried chicken that I adore even more. But Taiwanese? Never until now. Not that it is a novelty as TKK opened in 1974 in Taiwan and has now more than 60 locations, mainly in Taiwan. So the New York experience is a good challenge considering the number of places that serve the crispy bird, but, after visiting TKK, I would not be surprised to see other locations opening in the coming months. The feel of the place is definitely one of a fast casual restaurant and, although the chicken is not fried to order, TKK surely knows how to cook it: the thick crust is delicious, very crispy, and the chicken, wether dark or white meat, perfectly cooked all the way through and moist. They propose it in three level of spiciness: original, crispy mild or crispy spicy, the latter not being to the level of the spicy fried chicken you get in Korean restaurants that can set your mouth on fire, but you can dip the pieces in Tabasco or a mango habanero sauce that would wake you up. Personally, I loved the honey garlic sauce that had a nice sweetness.

The crispy chicken sandwich was equally good: the delicious crispy chicken is accompanied by cheese, lettuce and tomato and squeezed between two pieces of soft bun. This is definitely a must have if you prefer having a sandwich instead of pieces of chicken.

Crispy chicken sandwich at TKK Fried Chicken in NYC, NY

And of course, for drinks, you benefit from the menu of Kung Fu Tea (and I am not talking about the draught beer they propose…). So, bubble tea like the chai I got was was a natural choice for me.

So, overall it was quite good but I thought Thai fried chicken would stand out like Korean Fried Chicken is. Still, If I were in the area and was craving fried chicken, that would be the place to go to.

Enjoy (I did)!

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TKK Fried Chicken - 115 E 23rd Street, New York, NY

Jean-Philippe Gerbi