While I never got caught up in the KFC craze that took over Hong Kong, I figured it was about time to give it a try. Dodam Chicken, a popular restaurant in Korea, has recently opened up in Causeway Bay. Their chicken is meant to be healthier because it’s cooked in temperatures above 400 degrees, removing excess fat. Now, I’m not sure how true this actually is, but I’ll take just about any excuse to make myself feel better about eating excessive amounts of fried food.
Vibe at Dodam Chicken
I’m continuously fascinated by how many of Hong Kong’s restaurants are located on the numerous floors inside buildings, of which you would have no idea they existed unless someone told you. Dodam Chicken is no exception. Located on the 18th floor of restaurant-heavy Lee Theatre, the restaurant is very spacious with a casual atmosphere. The only thing I didn’t like about the dining area was the two large TVs in the restaurant, which gave it a bit of an American pub feel.
Starters
Dodam Salad (HK$128)
Dodam Pizza (HK$148)
We started with the Dodam Salad (HK$128), which looked underwhelming, but ended up tasting great. Albeit an odd mix of ingredients that I still can’t quite wrap my head around (corn, pepper, pineapple chunks, and cashews in a creamy sauce akin to thousand island dressing), the combination worked perfectly. The Dodam Pizza (HK$148) was also recommended to us (there seemed to be a trend of incredibly vague names for their dishes). They may need to change the name of this dish, as this wasn’t exactly the pizza I was expecting. It’s more like two thin crispy flat breads with melted cheese inside and the rest of the ingredients piled on top. Though I had my initial reservations, I loved this bizarre “pizza” and ate more than my fair share of slices.
Mains
Dodam Sweet & Spicy Chicken (HK$188)
Boneless White Onion Chicken (HK$188)
Dodam Special Platter (HK$298)
Moving onto the main event, my expectations were quite high for their signature chicken, which is baked in a pizza oven, then roasted in an oven, and finally fried (seems like far too much effort, if you ask me). We got our gloves out (’cause apparently that’s how you eat fried chicken in Korea) and dug right into the Dodam Sweet & Spicy Chicken (HK$188). While I did like the flavour and tenderness of the chicken, the pieces were not consistent: some pieces had ample chicken, whereas others had far too much bone with only a little chicken. Everyone at our table agreed that their favourite was the boneless White Onion Chicken (HK$188). Again, I was skeptical because of the peculiar presentation (could do without all those onions on top), but the chicken pieces were juicy and soaked up all the delicious creamy sauce. Hands-down the strangest thing all evening was the Dodam Special Platter (HK$298), which was comprised of french fries (including those smiley fries I begged my mom to buy me as a kid [to which she blatantly refused]), fried chicken, melted pumpkin cheese, and garlic toast with cream. The fried chicken was sprinkled with sugar, giving it an interesting sweet/savory mix, and the garlic toast with cream was also an odd combination that worked. I’m almost embarrassed to admit, but everything on this platter was weirdly good.
Verdict
While I do think Dodam Chicken has a bit to improve upon, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed our somewhat strange dinner. Go to Dodam Chicken if you’re looking for no-frills comfort food with some funny ingredient combinations that actually work.
Dodam Chicken
18A Lee Theatre Plaza
99 Percival Street
Causeway Bay
Tel: 2333 8365
