Fried chicken showdown
When craving fried chicken, there are many options to choose from, making it hard to pick the one with the best price and flavor. Here are some chicken options in the Diamond Bar area.
Kokio Chicken
Kokio Chicken is located in the H Mart plaza in Diamond Bar. I ordered the Love Combo ($32), which came with chicken, cheesy corn and mozzarella sticks. I purchased a whole chicken, which amounted to 12 pieces. Given the chance to select two flavors, I chose half original and half spicy. The chicken was a bit dry but made up for it with its crispy texture and seasoning. The spicy chicken had a good amount of heat and a chili flavor, and the sauce also countered the dryness of the chicken. The mozzarella sticks had a softer exterior but the cheese inside had a very enjoyable flavor and texture. The cheesy corn was a satisfying blend of sweet and salty and had a good contrast of textures between the soft cheese and the crunchy corn. The cheese in both of these dishes went well with the chicken and helped to balance out its salt. Kokio was my favorite place of the three overall and I felt the Love Combo had the best value.
Love Letter Chicken & Pizza
At Love Letter Chicken & Pizza in Rowland Heights I ordered the original fried chicken ($20) and a large sweet-potato pizza ($16). They also offered other options for chicken such as sweet garlic, extra crispy and chicken with cheese, each for an extra two dollars.
The chicken had a very crispy texture on the outside and was juicy inside. It lacked much seasoning but came with extra salt which helped to remedy the chicken. In addition, the chicken tasted the least greasy compared to the other chickens I tried, which resulted in it feeling a bit healthier than most other options.
TWO. GATHER
At TWO.GATHER, which was located in Rowland Heights, I ordered the Chicken and Pizza Combo for $36. The chicken was disappointing as it lacked flavor. It tasted like it had no salt or seasoning, though the chicken meat was very juicy. In addition, it also did not come with any additional sauce. However, they offered flavors such as soy garlic, cheddar and honey garlic, which may have made up for these problems had I ordered them. TWO.GATHER was overall disappointing, as I felt the chicken did not compare to the other restaurants which had similar prices.
