{Review} CP Foods launches Five Star Chicken Kiosks in Bangalore

Days back I got call from Priyanka, inquiring whether I am interested in doing review for Five Star Chicken which is one of the subsidiary food Companies of The Charoen Pokphand Foods Ltd. (CPF) which serves 100% Halal chicken to its customers. So upon hearing the word ‘Halal’…I thought I will pay my visit to review it.

Quick phone calls, sms and mails between me and Priyanka…. we (Me, my sis, Deepa and Valarmathi) were ready to pay visit to Five Star Chicken….as the venue is SJR Tech Park, ITPL and we were not familiar with the place, Priyanka has booked a cab to pick us all….It was a long drive from Indira Nagar to ITPL…..and it was bright sunny afternoon too….but thank GOD we were in cab….and finally we reached the place….

It is a huge tech park with some thousands of employees working round the clock in different shifts in different companies…The food court of the tech park has got some best eat outs and among them five star chicken is the one which is going to be our host for the post afternoon snacking….Upon reaching the place we were warmly greeted by five star chicken Kiosks owner Mr.Shankar. He took us to the stall where Mr.Sanjeev Pant, Vice President – Branded Foods Business Unit, CP Foods India was waiting for us…after quick greetings and introduction…Mr.Sanjeev and Mr.Shankar told us the story behind the Five Star Chicken.

With locations all around the world, CP Foods, known for its culinary delight of Thai chicken with an Indian twist, recently announced its launch in India by launching its Five Star Chicken kiosks in Bangalore. These kiosks are just pack and move…they don’t have seating as of by now. In some place they are tied up with an restaurant or eat out. Like in Jeevan bhima Nagar they are tied up with Spicy Hub (which is an Andhra style restaurant). You can order or pick Andhra food along with chicken main dish or snack…..or it is like in SJR Tech Park, where we were….it is an eat-out by Shankar by name Shashi’s, where they serve Pasta, Burgers, Sandwiches, BBQ & Stakes along with these FIVE STAR CHICKEN dishes. It is like you can order pasta and can have a chicken piece with it….it is medley of food you can say… Mr.Shankar was saying, lot of people come to five star chicken and order a chicken piece to go along with normal roti, rice or just pasta or anything……

Sometimes people just come in to grab a quick snack to go with tea, coffee or coke…or sometimes people just come down to take there parcel home in the evening. Soon next month they are going to start home delivery also for the near by places. As it is clearly mentioned on the shop hoarding that the chicken served is HALAL…they get lot of customers who enjoy eating chicken and most of time step back thinking whether it is halal or not….the servings are quite good, pieces are big enough to hold in hand….and as there is mix and match of the foods…you get to taste what you want to….Mr.Sanjeev Pant was saying, there only motto is ‘Chicken for everyone and everywhere’.

Upon asking why they wanted to start something exclusive of chicken, when they are so many others doing the same thing in market….Mr.Sanjeev was saying that their chicken recipes are unique, serving portion is more, flavours are different and it is halal…so this keeps them in business and they are not targeting posh…they are going with masses….who love have combo meals and try out new…or who wants to have chicken almost everyday….

The key features that are making ‘five star chicken’ unique and letting them gain ground are:

Five Star Chicken is one of the subsidiary food Companies of The Charoen Pokphand Foods Ltd. (CPF). It has gained expertise in all aspects of food retail business i.e. production management, equipment and cooking, QSC (Quality, Service and Cleanliness), and the important factors for business – distribution and logistics system and kiosk operation management. In terms of regional expansion in Asia, Five Star Chicken has over 6000 outlets in it’s home country Thailand, and in the last few years has also expanded successfully into many markets like Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh. India is the next expansion market.

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited is one of the leading integrated Agro-industrial and food Companies across Asia and the globe. Currently CP Foods has a well-diversified product portfolio with operations in 12 countries covering more than 3 billion populations worldwide plus trading operations and offices across Asia, Europe and Americas. With a vision to be “Kitchen of the World”, the Company is committed to fulfilling consumer needs of quality food products that are nutritious, hygienic and come with food safety integrity for a changing lifestyle. In processing and manufacturing of cooked food products, the Company is strongly committed to meeting consumers’ demand and expectations worldwide.

The kiosks so far opened in are at

1.       Ulsoor Road

2.       Old Airport Road

3.       Koramangala

4.       Hennur Road

5.       SJR Tech Park

6.       Jeevan Bheema Nagar main road

Five Star Chicken menu comprises of Star Amazing, Masala Delight, Thai Crispy and Crunchy Masala under Main Dish section and Chilli Nugget and Spicy Finger under Snack section. As the time go by Mr. Sanjeev was saying they will add on new and yum items to the list.

I think we were dam hungry by the time we reached food court of SJR Tech Park and we were served by coke and then they bought fresh and piping hot ‘Chilli Nuggets and Spicy Fingers’. After quick photo session…we digged into to the snacks served…Chilli Nugget was the first which I picked up….it was crunchy on top, perfectly done and soft inside. Then were the ‘spicy fingers’, as of the name they were not spicy…but they too were perfectly cooked, neatly coated and soft inside. Then came in the star recipe of ‘Five Star Chicken’ Thai Crispy….which was neatly platted and presented. But I felt it was less in spice, salt and flavour….may be I am used to eating up chicken which is full of flavour and spice…the Indian way….then came in the Crunchy Masala, which was also not spicy and I felt salt is missing…May be when you are having the chicken in combo with Pasta or desi recipes…you can have it…as the recipes balance the spice and flavour of chicken…but when you are having only chicken pieces, then you find them completely bland….A generous amount of ketchup was needed to push down the chicken….Though they said the chicken was double marinated and made fresh….I felt that zing which we Indians search in chicken recipe is missing. Snacks were yum…but main dish was not upto the flavour. What I felt was chicken has to be marinated with more Indian spice and salt…to gain the flavour which we look out or carve for…Prices were reasonable and pieces were comparably good….portions swerved were also good…but when the matter of taste takes over all this…it is good to concentrate on taste….just little spice is what FIVE STAR CHICKEN is needed to gain those all five stars…..

This is for the first time I am doing something like this. Thank you Priyanka for allowing me to the Five Star Chicken kiosks and big thanks to my sweet sis for giving me this opportunity.

I tasted spicy fingers and they were crispy outside and succulent inside. And then was the time to taste main course which was Thai crispy. It was nicely plated with cucumber & coriander leaves. Pieces were big in size and can’t be hold in hand to eat. Then crunchy masala was next which I tasted and it was not up to my taste. I felt little masala would have enhanced the taste. In comparison, I like starter more than the main course.