ChiChop!!

The shops and restos in this Doraville strip mall have been very limited for years, the only tenants were basically H-Mart and Shoya forever and they kept this mall in business for all that time. Now, years later this strip has been in high demand with a bunch of news shops and restos that opened recently or in the process of being opened. There is no lack of Japanese grub if you're craving ramen or sushi, or Korean BBQ, Laotian street grub and bubble tea shops... But one thing missing here was fried chicken. You can get a dumb down version of KFC inside H-Mart at one of the food stalls but it's pretty much garbage. But now, there are two chicken joints opening. One of them is Harue KFC which is opening a second location here. The other is a new Taiwanese fried chicken joint that has a few locations sprinkled along the east coast, they also own Cheers!! Cut in NYC and Kung Fu Tea... But I don't know if they are associated with the ones in Atlanta. Harue has a pretty decent KFC but I was more interested in the TFC since there aren't many that does it. You can find a handful of Taiwanese chicken nuggets around town but ChiChop!! fry more than just chicken... I couldn't wait to find out more about this place. 
When the Pouch saw the sign go up for this new Taiwanese fwied cheekan joint before Thanksgiving, I was so excited that I almost shat my underpants... But I did tinkle a little, though. The sign says, "Fried Chicker & Badger" or maybe it was Baoger but Badger sounds so much sexier. Then on their menu it says, "Hibachi, Grill & Fried Chicken Cafe" and on the packing it says, "Fried Chicken & Seafood"... I'm confused, I think they are mixing up all their other concepts into one. Their Engrish game is not very strong, hopefully, their cheekan game is... Let's take a first look...

You be the judge... Baoger or Badger? I also don't know what a chicker is but I'll eat the fuck outta it... Along with the badger meat. Let's sample a few morsels...

Dual Ninja Crispy Chicken, Minced Meat Rice, House Combo of Chicken & Beef & Squid. They have a special for their grand opening right now, BOGO Ninja Crispy Chicken... Ah, fuck yeah, pweez! Their Ninja cheekan comes in a giant cardboard sleeve, but is it really a full 12 ounces of dericious fwied cheekan? I took advantage of the BOGO and got a Taiwanese Teriyaki mild and Thai Sweet & Sour spicy flavor. 

Minced Meat Rice. They also have a plain white rice and curry rice... All $2 a bowl. Why would anyone just get the plain rice? This minced meat rice is similar to a Lu Rou Fan but this comes with minced beef bits and bacon bits. It's a pretty tasty rice bowl... Thank god they don't have poke bowls or else I would shit.

They're Taiwanese but they seem to really love Japanese warriors... Ninjas and samurais. This is their house combo of crap in a box of Taiwanese fried scraps... I kinda want a tattoo of it.

House Combination, Taiwanese fried chicken, beef and squid... I know what y'all are saying, what the fuck is fried beef? Just like it sounds... Nuggets of beef battered and fried. The thin crust is crispy and crunchy but the meat nugget is kinda chewy even though there's hints of red in the center. The cheekan nuggets were pretty good and the squid was not as chewy as I thought it would be. I wanted to get the Fried Giant Squid at first but I didn't want to eat an entire portion of a whole squid. This sampler box is a good way to get a little taste of each. But don't be fooled by the portion at first glance, half of the box is filled with prawn chips... Which is a good thing because I didn't want to eat an entire box of fried critters. 

The sleeve is printed with the words "Cheers!! Cut" on it... What the fuck is going on here? I thought this joint was called "ChiChop!!". Come to find out that Cheers!! Cut is their other concept on St. Marks in NYC and the menu is almost exactly the same. Stop fucking around, Pouch, and get to the good stuff already, you fat fuck. How do you eat this thing anyways? Let's turn it around and see if there's instructions...

That's a pretty sweet katana but what does it have to do with Taiwanese fried chicken? And sure enough, they do have instructions on how to tear this sleeve apart to eat the elusive Ninja crispy chicken inside... But I never figured out how tearing a corner off will allow me to get to the cheekan...

Fuck it. I just slid it out and use the cardboard sleeve as a plate. Look at this beast... I don't know if it's a full 12 ounces as promised but it is a full chicken breast with ribs split up and pounded like a schnitzel. Yes, this is a bone-in fried chicken schnitzel, Taiwanese style. The vibrant red chili powder gives the illusion that it will be spicy but it's not. The thin crispy crust is delicately crunchy from the sweet potato starch coating and the meat is juicy. It's a pretty damn good fried chicken and the shape and size of it makes it a bit more fun to eat than the usual fried chicken pieces.
I liked it a lot but was it really worth $8.50 for a breast with no sides or even some pickled veggies? The BOGO deal is worth it but when the promo is done, will the gimmick still bring the people in here? Speaking of which, I know it just opened but it was dead when I visited (where were all the FOBs and Yelpers?) and the space is not very big, either. I think there's enough seating for 10-12 peeps and it's all counter service. It will be tough if they get a big rush. But the concept is pretty much a quick service take out kinda spot, anyways... The menu is full of on the go snacks and everything is fried.
I will most likely be back to try their other fried goodies like the Exploding Chicken Cutlet with cheese in the middle and the Fried Chicken Wings... Wait, who is this fat slob fooling? This porker will definitely be back, their whole shtick is fwied cheekan and I'm licking my lips just thinking about it...

Squirt.

6035 Peachtree Rd
Unit C108
Atlanta, GA 30360
www.chichopusa.com