If there was a 3.5 star I'd go with that. Hotstar is a pretty famous (in Taiwan) Street food franchise, specialising in large pieces of deep fried chicken breast. Having tried the real deal in Taiwan and Hong Kong I decided to give the Adelaide shop a try.
And as of this review I've been 3-4 times in the past month. The chicken breast is so juicy and tender, something that KFC cannot get right. The coating is really really crispy but it also has a nice chewy feel to it. The best part about the experience is the seasoning. It's quite unique, I've never had the spice blend outside of hotstar. It's a mix of five spice, salt, sugar, some kind of hot ground chilli and maybe other things. It's a bit like Korean fried chicken, minus the vinegar. The mix of sweet and savoury really sets it apart.
The product itself would get a solid 4.5, but the price drags it down. It's not great value because the whole point of street food is good food at a good price. Granted, we are in Australia, but $8.50 is a a bit steep, compared to say $2-3 aud equivalent for the Asian equivalent. Although it's one saving grace is the $5 off pepper lunch for each chicken purchase.
So, hotstar is among the best fried chicken in Adelaide, it's a real flavour bomb, but it's not very well priced. Also service is below average but for this kind of place it's not a huge issue. read more