Banking on the
naturally smoky flavours of its Asian-inspired flame grilled chicken as the
unique selling point, the maiden Chickita restaurant made its debut at Pavilion Damansara Heights just before
Chinese New Year amidst some fanfare.
Conceived by former Park Hyatt Saigon executive chef
and F&B entrepreneur Asif Mehrudeen (top pix above),
Chickita first opened in Vietnam in 2019. The founder draws inspiration from his 20-year culinary journey through Southeast Asia to conceptualise Chickita, taking pride in
nostalgic Asian flavours. Vibrant
colours, eye-catching wall murals and trendy décor elements set a welcoming
stage at Chickita, to pique the interest of diners.
According to director
Charles Chan, Chickita brings to the table its flame-grilled
chicken with
recognisable Asian flavours appealing to local palates. “At Chickita, it’s a
celebration of community and communal
dining. We want to uphold the spirit of togetherness deeply ingrained in our
Asian culture.” Aside from chicken,
Chickita also serves burgers, wraps, and wings – all flame-grilled to
perfection. We took instant liking to the opener of Eda-Mole Dip (RM13.50), a
hummus of edamame and avocado blend served with salsa and crispy tortilla. Toasted pita
triangles are the perfect companion to dunk into the mildly cheesy Signature
Hot Crab Dip (RM14.50) whilst Chicken Nachos (RM14.50) with original and cheese
sauces, salsa and toasted pita can be rather addictive so try to avoid overloading
on them, to leave tummy room for mains. I am all for
Chickita’s concept of allowing diners to pick our preferred chicken parts. We
found the different variants deliciously on-point, from the flame-grilled Quarter
Chicken Leg with Rice & Salad and Quarter Chicken Breast with Yam Pop &
Corn to Quarter Chicken Breast with Coleslaw & Crispy
Fries and Quarter Chicken Breast with Wok Vegetable & Garlic Bread.
A quarter chicken leg or breast is RM17.50 whilst an
additional two side dishes is priced at RM26.50. Chicken wings, chicken
tenders, half and whole chicken are also available so peruse the menu to select
your choice.
Catering to Asian tastebuds,
Chickita incorporates familiar Asian ingredients for its range of signature
sauces, to bring its flame-grilled chicken to piquantly flavoursome and
culturally resonant level. Our first-hand experience had us settling on our own
favourite sauces out of the six available.
On the mild scale,
Chickita Original Sauce comprises a bright and tantalising lemongrass-infused
blend whilst the Tropical sauce lends nice balance to the savoury chicken with
its sweet, sour mango-citrus accents.
My palate found the moderately
hot Sexy sauce with roasted red chillies on song with the grilled chicken but
the Lucky 8 Asian BBQ variant also comes close as a winner, redolent with
familiar spices such as star anise, cinnamon and garlic amidst the chilli taste
profile.
Die-hard chilli
fiends may prefer the Dynamite Spicy Hot Sauce – formulated with different
chillies or Tamarita’s savoury-hot profile which is culled from a blend of tamarind,
fish sauce, Asian spices and dried chillies.
Chickita also reimagines dessert by combining ice cream potong with
innovative flavours like A Classic Twist (RM14), cendol popsicle with frozen
coconut and pandan with green sticky rice; and Vanilla Dreams (RM14), shaved
coconut and red bean popsicle with grass jelly.
For more information, call CHICKITA,
tel: 03 2011 1243. Address: Lot 1.03.00, Level 1, Pavilion Damansara Heights,
Kuala Lumpur.
