Koo Koo Pollo

[JimmyTheMook]

Fast food set up with Spanish Style Roasted Chicken and side dishes.

Tried it today and the chicken was really tasty and juicy.

It is on 2nd road very near the intersection of Pattaya Tai (there is a small exit alley way from Wat Chai and they are next to that on 2nd road)

Worth trying if you miss eating Spanish food.

Edited November 25, 2008 by JimmyTheMook

[tattoodrob]

what were the prices like........good for cheap charlies(me)???

[barryofthailand]

I heard this place was opening. Had a grand opening party last Friday, and had free food. A take off of El Pollo Loco in Los Angeles.

Barry

[JimmyTheMook]

what were the prices like........good for cheap charlies(me)???

Not really cheap cheap but within reason.

I had a combo meal that had a big ole chicken breast w/ 2 sides of choice (a salad and some paella style rice - they have a decent selction of sides available) came with a drink of choice in a big glass and some portuguesee bread.

Cost was 150 baht.

I normally try a place 3 times before I can honestly say it is good but this is the first of this type of food in Pattaya so I'm sure others miss the old arroz con pollo meals.

[anothertorres]

would you consider this a 'tapas' restaurant?

[JimmyTheMook]

would you consider this a 'tapas' restaurant?

No - it like a fast food with hot plates that are already cooked sitting on a steam table - you point and pick.

not tapas style.

[tropo]

I normally try a place 3 times before I can honestly say it is good but this is the first of this type of food in Pattaya so I'm sure others miss the old arroz con pollo meals.

You drive a hard bargain - 3 times before good, but I bet once only before bad.

Thanks for the report. I am getting ready to give the place a try myself. I noticed they are open 24 hours.

[Lost in LOS]

Koo Koo Roo Chicken is a popular restaurant chain in Los Angeles. dont know if its the same place but they advertise chicken is baked not fried.

[JimmyTheMook]

I normally try a place 3 times before I can honestly say it is good but this is the first of this type of food in Pattaya so I'm sure others miss the old arroz con pollo meals.

You drive a hard bargain - 3 times before good, but I bet once only before bad.

Thanks for the report. I am getting ready to give the place a try myself. I noticed they are open 24 hours.

Give us an update after you try it.

[tropo]

Give us an update after you try it.

Shall do!

[Jingthing]

Yes, it sounds like a copy of some US Hispanic style chicken chains. Owned by Norwegians which is neither here nor there, but if were them I wouldn't advertise that. Sounds like definitely worth a try. Only one breast though? Why not 1/2 chicken?

Edited November 26, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

OK, I can provide a lukewarm positive review of this place.

If you don't care to read it, the short review is two words: GOOD CHICKEN!

Some salient points:

-- the chicken is quite tasty, they claim it is made from organic skinless chicken, it is cooked in a healthy way, not fried, it comes in two flavors, regular and spicy, I had the spicy (delicious)

-- the breast meat was a tiny bit dry but not as dry as breast meat can be, you can't be sure the food is freshly cooked, they just have pieces waiting for you, I imagine it would be less dry if fresher

-- the sides I sampled were adequate, they sit on a steam table so most of them looked tired, the mac and cheese did not look cheesy and the creamed spinach looked disurbing, the yellow rice was nice, there are also salads, various vegetebles, etc.

-- the decor is urbane fast food, you can imagine you are in a large US or European city

-- I was mistaken before, this is not a direct copy of El Pollo Loco (Mexican style grilled chicken chain), the overall taste experience is more somewhat Americanized modern Euro/Span/Med bistro

-- combo plates are offered, you can choose 2 breasts for 200 B including choice of 2 sides and a soft drink, the chicken is presented on a thin, buttered lavosh bread (like a flour tortilla) OR 2 legs and a thigh also with 2 sides, and smaller meal options as well ... Weirdly they do not offer 1/2 chicken where you would get a MIX of dark/white meat such as a breast, thigh, leg combo.

-- they have other variety options, Chicken ceasar salad, a pasta station (did not look appetizing to me), breakfast concepts, etc.

Overall, I would say go there if you want a tasty healthy meal if you are in area. Not worth a special trip. The value for money is very good. Foodwise, the taste of the chicken (good) is the star and given that they named the place after chicken, I give them credit for that.

Edited November 27, 2008 by Jingthing

[tropo]

OK, I can provide a lukewarm positive review of this place.

If you don't care to read it, the short review is two words: GOOD CHICKEN!

Some salient points:

-- the chicken is quite tasty, they claim it is made from organic skinless chicken, it is cooked in a healthy way, not fried, it comes in two flavors, regular and spicy, I had the spicy (delicious)

-- the breast meat was a tiny bit dry but not as dry as breast meat can be, you can't be sure the food is freshly cooked, they just have pieces waiting for you, I imagine it would be less dry if fresher

-- the sides I sampled were adequate, they sit on a steam table so most of them looked tired, the mac and cheese did not look cheesy and the creamed spinach looked disurbing, the yellow rice was nice, there are also salads, various vegetebles, etc.

-- the decor is urbane fast food, you can imagine you are in a large US or European city

-- I was mistaken before, this is not a direct copy of El Pollo Loco (Mexican style grilled chicken chain), the overall taste experience is more somewhat Americanized modern Euro/Span/Med bistro

-- combo plates are offered, you can choose 2 breasts for 200 B including choice of 2 sides and a soft drink, the chicken is presented on a thin, buttered lavosh bread (like a flour tortilla) OR 2 legs and a thigh also with 2 sides, and smaller meal options as well ... Weirdly they do not offer 1/2 chicken where you would get a MIX of dark/white meat such as a breast, thigh, leg combo.

-- they have other variety options, Chicken ceasar salad, a pasta station (did not look appetizing to me), breakfast concepts, etc.

Overall, I would say go there if you want a tasty healthy meal if you are in area. Not worth a special trip. The value for money is very good. Foodwise, the taste of the chicken (good) is the star and given that they named the place after chicken, I give them credit for that.

I went at 8am yesterday. The chicken was dry and not tasty at all....I had classic (unspicy). The chicken pieces were VERY small and hardly even a snack for me. (I remember us having this dispute once over the small serves at Jits). When I asked the manager why the photos show large chicken pieces when in reality they are very small he promptly added 2 pieces to my plate. Even with the extra chicken added it wasn't enough.

They reheated my chicken in the microwave. I don't like using microwaves and don't expect good restaurants to use them either. I don't like paying good money for denatured, nuked food.

They have a half chicken meal with 2 sides for 199 baht. I had the 2 legs and thigh with 2 sides for 185 baht.

The creamy spinach and mashed potato sides I had were tasty but small. Sides all looked very old and sad and ready to be thrown out. This is obviously a problem caused by lack of customers, but it doesn't help their business one bit.

I consider this place very poor value for money. Perhaps it's ok for a small eater or if you only need a snack.

My rating: 1/5.

[Jingthing]

Thanks Tropo. I don't doubt your experience but there are a few points I disagree with:

-- there is no 1/2 chicken special, the 199 special is TWO BREASTS, that is NOT a 1/2 chicken, that is 2 breasts and that is kind of weird. That is what I had. The BREASTS were BIG HUGE BREASTS! I had the spicy and the taste was excellent; I cannot speak for the non-spicy flavor, but you did, thanks. As far as the DRY issue, if you read my original post, I did have a concern about this issue and how freshly cooked the bird might be.

-- I agree the sides looked tired, but interesting as bad as the spinach looked to me, it tasted well to you, so I guess the proof is in the pudding

-- the 199 TWO BREAST special is a LARGE MEAL, not a small eater meal, I am not a small eater, believe me, I know (the side portions were not overly generous but the BREASTS were quite hefty). The OP also mentioned a big breast with his meal. I guess the tip might be: go for the breasts (after all, this is Pattaya)

-- I agree nuking food is not the mark of a fine dining establishment; this place makes no so such claims, it is fast food! I didn't notice whether they nuked my portion or not.

-- Will disagree, 199 for a large meal featuring TASTY CHICKEN done in a very different style than is generally done in Pattaya (and to my palate the chicken was good quality), is indeed good value for money, OK, not as good as chicken on the street for 35 baht ...

However, if I had gone and found the chicken portion very small, very dry, and not tasty as you did, I would also say is is a bad value.

-- it may make a big difference when you went, 8 AM for you, later at night by me, at my visit the manager was there and active

-- Again, I don't doubt Mr. T's perception, I believe he had a bad experience. Perhaps if this place becomes very popular they can address some of their dry/perhaps not freshly cooked chicken issues, based on good turnover, or not.

Edited November 28, 2008 by Jingthing

[tropo]

I guess the tip might be: go for the breasts (after all, this is Pattaya)

-- I agree nuking food is not the mark of a fine dining establishment; this place makes no so such claims, it is fast food! I didn't notice whether they nuked my portion or not.

-- it may make a big difference when you went, 8 AM for you, later at night by me, at my visit the manager was there and active

-- Again, I don't doubt Mr. T's perception, I believe he had a bad experience. Perhaps if this place becomes very popular they can address some of their dry/perhaps not freshly cooked chicken issues, based on good turnover, or not.

Thanks for the chicken breast suggestion, but I'm just not into whole chicken breasts. Legs and thighs are my pieces of choice.

No doubt the timing of my visit was not going to guarantee fresh chicken in a quiet store. Even a busy store like KFC sells tired and dry chicken after midnight.

This is going to be a very difficult problem for them to solve. They cannot afford to continually throw out the chicken when it's over its prime because they just don't have sufficient turnover, but if they don't they'll lose any customers who do happen to end up buying the sub-prime chicken at these times. The better solution would probably be to throw it out and absorb the loss until they build up their customer base.

As far as nuking fast food is concerned: Obviously they cannot keep their cooked chicken continually hot because of the length of time it sits there, so they wait for customers and then nuke it...however, when I pay 185 baht for a small chicken dinner I'm not thinking it's fast food because they are charging restaurant prices. They probably don't use the microwave at busier times of the day.

I don't believe microwaves play any part in a healthy diet, so I don't like the idea of paying for damaged food in a restaurant. I tend to avoid restarants that use microwaves to heat up my food. Even at home I avoid using the microwave oven and heat food up on the stove instead.

Edited November 28, 2008 by tropo

[Jingthing]

I also usually prefer dark meat as well but I was really famished at the time and the biggest combo they offer was the 2 breast special (I suppose I could have asked if the manager would do 1 breast plus some other pieces but he defined the special as 2 breasts even though this isn't actually written on the sign).

Time will tell how they fare. With their high profile location they may do OK with one off business anyway, it is in a prime tourist area. Not defending microwaves but tons of restaurants use them, just behind closed doors. Value-wise, the combos do include a soft drink. As from my first post, I don't consider this the find of the year (some find, you can't miss it!) but I wanted to be fare that they are offering something that I do think many people will enjoy. Also note while I was there some trendy Europeans came in, took one look at the tired sides, and walked out. I don't blame them. They are very new and going through the shakedown cruise, but they are going to have to do some things better to thrive in a competitive market. Pretty much the only thing that may bring me back was the FLAVOR of the spicy chicken, it was quite pleasant and to my taste something different, and it goes very well with the yellow "Spanish" rice.

Edited November 28, 2008 by Jingthing

[wileycoyote]

I hope they survive !

[tropo]

I hope they survive !

What happened here? I just got back to Pattaya a few days ago and noticed it's been converted it to an open air restaurant/bar serving Thai/European food.

The sign has not yet been taken down.

Edited January 10, 2009 by tropo

[eljeque]

I ate there with my gf about one month ago.

To us, it was no better than acceptable. I was expecting something along the lines of El Pollo Loco, but the chicken was very small, a little dry and the other dishes were not better than average.

I am not surprised that it has shut down.

[surayu]

....been there once, price is ok, the chicken was good, the pasta on the side of the plate was one of the most terrible dishes i ever tried in this country, do not ever try the pasta there, however the small cookie they give with it was a (strange with chicken) nice touch......none of the staff seems to know the meanings of the word "pollo", so i didn't dare to ask for the "koo koo"

[JimmyTheMook]

I ate there with my gf about one month ago.

To us, it was no better than acceptable. I was expecting something along the lines of El Pollo Loco, but the chicken was very small, a little dry and the other dishes were not better than average.

I am not surprised that it has shut down.

Agreed.

My last meal there sucked and the portions of chicken were small.

Noticed the new open air style of sitting area but did not even realize they have changed the food.