L.A. Chicken

There are lots of articles out there about the best fried chicken in Metro Vancouver. Many of the top places are the ones we expect and know about like Juke, Downlow, Popina, Win-Win and The Frying Pan. Then there are always a few surprising, maybe lower key and less well-known places that still crank out great fried chicken. One of these is L.A. Chicken. I think that there might have been an L.A. Chicken out in Abbotsford many years ago but this time we found ourselves in Richmond and we've wanted to try them for a long time.

Located on No.5 Road just south of Cambie, this is currently a take-out-only joint, unless you want to lean against the window counter. We decided to enjoy our meal in the park across the road in the sunshine (despite the chilly wind).

We ordered 8 pieces, half of which were allegedly spicy (maybe a couple were spicy?) and half of which went home with us. This was without a doubt, top-notch fried chicken. The flavourful coating did not have any tricks or gimmicks or 13 herbs and spices. It was pretty basic. The chicken was, you know, moist inside and crispy on the outside. We couldn't ask for more. We have had bad fried chicken (from the colonel for example), so know that this quality is not a gimme. We were sufficiently impressed! I wouldn't doubt that it is top ten in Metro Vancouver, but who can really say unless you try them all side-by-side? Still, no complaints at all!

We ordered too many fries and gravy as well. These are just ho-hum fries. Not terrible but the usual frozen after thought kind of thing. It's not what people come here for. The gravy was pretty good though!

Finally, since you can never have too many carbs on the side, we got some macaroni salad. This was maybe just on the positive side of middle of the road, but when is macaroni salad ever really that memorable? I would not make a special trip from Aldergrove to get L.A. Chicken but if it was in my neighbourhood, it might well be my go-to. Nice friendly folks who run an efficient ship.

Food            4 out of 5

Comfort       NA

Service        4 out of 5

Value           4 out of 5