Arnold’s Fried Chicken used to be a luxury for West-siders, who had to travel all the way to the East for a fried chicken fix from this popular fast food restaurant. I’m one of those people.
Sure, there are delivery services but it’s just not the same as dropping by the restaurant for some freshly fried chicken. Luckily for us, those days are over! As of January 2018, Arnold’s has finally set up an outlet on our side of the island.
We couldn’t wait any longer to see if the food at this halal-certified local establishment was still as good as its supporters claimed. On its second day of operations, we headed down to the new outlet to try the fried chicken for ourselves.
The new outlet is located at Frontier Community Club, a short 5-minute walk from Jurong Point.
We arrived at 1.30pm, expecting to have evaded the lunch crowd. Boy, were we wrong. The waiting time for orders was estimated to be around 20 minutes and we had to wait for at least 10 minutes for a table to be available.
I guess that’s what happens when you gain a loyal following after 30 years of business. Finally, here’s the good part — the food!
We ordered the Spring Chicken Meal ($12.80) (Arnold’s signature dish), the Crispy Treats Platter ($8.90) and the Chicken Gravy ($1.20) to try. We were prepared for a long wait but the waiting time was actually shorter than expected.
Brimming with anticipation, I bit into the piece of spring chicken that I tore off and was slightly disappointed. Though it was fried to golden perfection, I found it to be slightly bland. Also, it was so greasy that there was a little puddle of oil left on the paper plate that it was placed on.
But, the chicken meat was really fresh. It’s easy for chicken breast meat to turn tough if it’s overcooked but the spring chicken was fried perfectly — each strip was tender and juicy.
The meal is served with sides of coleslaw and fries while drinks are sold separately. The coleslaw was light and fresh and we all agreed that the fries were better than those from some fast food restaurants. This portion should be large enough for one extremely hungry guy or two girls.
The Chicken Gravy is essentially a whole tub of the usual gravy that’s slathered over mashed potatoes. Or as I would prefer to call it, the dipping sauce that makes everything taste better. I know this sounds really strange but please trust me — order a tub of Chicken Gravy and use it as a sauce!
The Chicken Gravy complemented the fried chicken so well and completely elevated the taste. It made it slightly saltier, but the gravy coats the chicken to produce a richer taste.
Admittedly, it’s a little unhealthy but if you’re already at a fast food restaurant, don’t do things half-heartedly! I solved the problem of the spring chicken being slightly bland by coating it generously in the Chicken Gravy. It was much more flavourful after that.
The Crispy Treats Platter is a new addition to the menu. It consists of Chicken Tenders, Spiral Fries, Popcorn Chicken and Onion Rings and is served with a tub of tartar sauce.
I actually preferred this platter to the Spring Chicken Meal.
The chicken tenders and popcorn chicken were so tasty! They were juicy, chewy and packed with flavour.
Though we tried dipping them in the tartar sauce at first, we unanimously agreed that everything tasted better when dipped in the Chicken Gravy instead. The tartar sauce gave it a stronger kick but the chicken gravy complemented it better.
I can also foresee myself frequenting Arnold’s for the Spiral Fries once McDonald’s removes Twister Fries from its menu.
Overall, I would say that the quality of the food at Arnold’s was pretty good! We left after our meal feeling satisfied. However, there is definitely some room for improvement.
Firstly, the onion rings were missing from our Crispy Treats Platter and no explanation was offered to us. I only realised it belatedly while writing this article.
Also, the service wasn’t that fantastic. Our request to the cleaner to kindly help us to wipe the table was met with a half-hearted, cursory wipe. There were still visible streaks of grease on the table.
However, perhaps Arnold’s is still getting its footing since this outlet has only recently begun operations. I’ll reserve my judgement for now but based on the crowd we saw, people generally loved it!
One last thing to note: please bring cash along if you’re dining at Arnold’s over the next few weeks, at least. The restaurant currently only accepts cash payments.
Expected damage: $7 – $11 per pax
