Hi Five Chicken

I don't want the search for great fried chicken ever to end or reach the point where we have an absolute winner. In the name of research, I want to continue always to get mt fingers greasy without guilt or remorse (which are essentially, the same thing).

Hi Five has 2 24 hour locations and we went to the one on 10th Avenue in Burnaby. It's hard not to compare this place right off the bat to Church's but there are some differences as we will see.

We started with a couple of their more unique sides (shame on me for not thinking to try their coleslaw or other salads) namely, poppers (3 on the right) and Mac and Cheese Wedges (5 on the left). The mac and cheese deals were actually not too bad! Cheesy and crispy at the same time! They advertise these as being 'vegetarian' which is kind of cute and technically true. The poppers were less thrilling being not spicy at all and filled with a cream cheese concoction that did not leave us wanting more.

Fried chicken, of course, is the main event and frankly, this was very good. We tried the regular and spicy. The spicy was not spicy (they could do with a bottle of hot sauce out on the counter) but they were both very juicy and crisp on the outside. This was what led us to the Church's comparison. The potato wedges were not bad either.

The baked chicken (they should call it roasted) is what makes Hi Five a little bit unique. This was also very good. Not dry and the skin, while not being crispy(obviously) was very flavourful. They use a honey mustard type of sauce which had some zing. Colour us impressed.

So we kind of liked this place. The food is decent including the baked option. There is the whole 24-hour thing should you be craving at 4 am or coming home from God knows where with the munchies. There is fast-food seating for about 8 to 10 people inside as well as some tables and chairs outside. The staff are friendly enough and our order did not take too long.

For what its worth, we give Hi Five Chicken 3 out of 5.