Har Har Chicken! is a new kiosk by Restaurant Labyrinth's owner and friends that only sells prawn paste chicken

If you are addicted to the zi char classic dish har cheong gai, there’s an upcoming food kiosk that serves nothing but prawn paste chicken. Called Har Har Chicken! (with the exclamation mark), the takeaway eatery will be opening on Jul 5 at Bishan’s Junction 8 mall.

FAMOUS OWNERS

The kiosk, which has fun-looking branding with pop colours, is founded by four friends who are all har cheong gai lovers. This includes food personality and chef Lennard Yeong (aka @lennardy on Instagram), one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Labyrinth’s chef-owner LG Han, restaurateur Tay Jianli (who also ran defunct seafood restaurant Momma Kong’s), and Bevin Desker, the former head of corporate development at food tech company TiffinLabs.

THE MENU

Har Har Chicken!’s menu offers har cheong gai in various iterations, like fried wings, popcorn chicken, rice boxes and burgers.

The Har-burger, for instance, features a whole fried har cheong gai boneless thigh cutlet wedged between buns with tomato, lettuce and creamy mayonnaise. There’s a spicy version, zhng-ed with sriracha mayo.

You can get a popcorn chicken snack to munch on too, called Har Har Pops, which is served with mayonnaise or chicken rice chilli.

Prices, which will be confirmed at a later date, tentatively start from S$3.20 for one prawn paste chicken wing (S$18 for six). Rice-based sets like the Har-ty Boneless Thigh Rice, or Saver Rice Box with prawn paste chicken wings, your choice of chicken rice or fries, achar ’slaw, cucumber, and chicken rice chilli, are expected to cost between S$6.90 to S$9.80. Meanwhile, fries sets are priced from approximately S$4.90 to S$8.20.

Customers who order the rice sets can also top up with an extra fried egg, fries, or popcorn chicken.

To celebrate its Jul 5 opening, a day before International Fried Chicken Day on Jul 6, Har Har Chicken! is running a promotion from Jul 5 to 7, where you can get a Har-ty Boneless Thigh Rice Box for free when you purchase a Har-ty Double Wing Fry Box.

Each customer is limited to one redemption while stocks last, and you will have to redeem the freebie by following the shop’s Instagram or Facebook page and showing it to the kiosk staff.

CONCEPT TOOK TWO YEARS TO HATCH

The pals took two years to craft their concept, with fried chicken being a common theme with them. Tay’s restaurant Momma Kong’s had served zi char-style jumbo har cheong gai wings before it closed in 2021, while Desker had experience in launching fried chicken brands like Phat Fingers, La Takorea and Southern Soul during his time at TiffinLabs. Han, Tay and Desker, who knew one another from their university days in the UK, eventually decided to focus on har cheong gai, with Han also roping his friend Yeong in.

Han then came up with a base recipe for har cheong gai, and the partners went through “10 to 12 rounds of recipe-testing” before they agreed on the flavour. “We also debated and discussed what's suitable for the mass market,” Han told 8days.sg.

He pointed out that there is a gap in the market to offer prawn paste chicken for individual diners. Han explains: “At zi char restaurants, it comes in big portions: eight, 10, 20 wings. So we offer flexibility in portion sizes. You want one wing, you can just buy a single wing. You can also have them as [popcorn chicken] to go!”

The friends decided to open a mall kiosk for accessibility and to let customers take away their food conveniently. “As a young vibrant startup, we are embracing the use of technology, from self-ordering systems to leveraging on delivery platforms and the use of social media marketing,” Han shared.

After their Junction 8 outlet, they plan to open “three [more] outlets in premium central malls by this year”. Han added: “Depending on the response from customers, we hope to hit all the major malls in Singapore in the future. There are no plans for a dine-in outlet for now, but we are receptive to public feedback. If there’s a demand for the product to be better enjoyed dine-in, we're open to the idea.”

But will he ever do fine-dining-style har cheong gai for his kiosk? Han replied: “The answer is no. For now, there is only one fine-dining in my heart, and that is Labyrinth!”

Har Har Chicken! opens Jul 5 at 9 Bishan Place, #B1-K15, Junction 8, Singapore 579837. Open daily 10.30am to 9.45pm. 

This story was originally published in 8Days.