Review Hot Star Large Fried Chicken - Melbourne

Came in for a late night snack and was surprised that the place was so busy. Got the big chicken schnitzel and a snack box with chicken and fries. The schnitzel could have been juicier and a bit more seasoned. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The snack box didn’t have much flavour to it either and you were able To count all fries on one hand.⭐️⭐️ I must say the staff was super friendly and was handling the busy time well.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very nice! Certainly lives up to the name "large". Chips were very good, however the wings were a bit rubbery and didn't have much flavour

Chicken with batter fried, you are better off cooking at home. Just okayish, wouldn’t eat again

Excellent taste. Cheap and bang for buck. Wish they kept at least one more person in their store though, it gets very busy and one person is not enough for all the orders.

Hi everyone, I'm extremely disappointed by the quality of food for my first meal here and found large bones in my hot chicken fried breast fillet!!!! I ordered the hot chicken combo. Frankly, the chicken tasted good at the start however what I received was not what I was expecting and almost broke my tooth on the bone. I have a picture for reference also and have provided the picture to uber eats as I had it delivered. Disgusting food quality provided with a lack of care! EDIT: The owner replied below, but it does not say that the chicken is attached to the bone on Uber Eats where I placed my order. Buyer beware is a potential hazard.

Take a chicken, flatten it to an inch of its life, crumb it, deep fry it, season it and serve it within 8 minutes. That's what Taiwanese Fried Chicken joint Hot Star does for $9. Surprisingly delicious, and very juicy. Definitely worth having a go.

We ordered crispy mushroom and the chicken. The seasoning is like…. almost no season. The chicken got very big bone, we have no problem but it could be a hazard. The crunch is good tho.

although the wait times are long, the food is worth it. salt&pepper, chicken salt, chili are the best combo as it can be a bit under seasoned so having all three is essential for maximum flavour

Nobody does chicken like Hot Star! Be prepared for a bit of a wait though, especially during peak times. But it's certainly well worth the wait. The large piece of flattened chicken was so crispy and tasty. There was a range of powdered flavourings available to elevate the chicken to another level. My only gripe was the bones in some parts of the chicken - I wasn't expecting this. Overall, it was a delicious experience!

Good for a quick easy snack, decent food, the batter was really nice. would be 4 star if it didn't have a bone inside, or it was clearly labelled that it is not boneless.

i love the oversized chicken with plum salt! it tastes amazing! otherwise, on some days i order the spicy salt instead, and it makes the chicken tastes even nice as it has a hit to it! overall, love this place !

I'm becoming addicted to this chain of tasty fried chicken, and it's not difficult to see why. It's a quick and delicious snack that isn't too expensive. Case in point, these fantastic spicy fried baby mushrooms are so moreish and under $5!!<br/><br/>Walking past the Elizabeth St store, I was lured in by the delicious smell, and this time decided to try something different to chicken. With a spicy season these little mushrooms were still tender and juicy, and the spicy coating was crisp and delicious.<br/><br/>The shopfront is tidy and clean with friendly, efficient service. This little cup of tastiness is the perfect snack to pick at on the run; and I'm sure it won't be the first time I try these little morsels of tastiness.

Go Big or Go Home! Love their extra large fried chicken and it is perfect for cheat meals. The portions here are amazing and is perfect for a big meal

So rude. Bad customer service. The food is fine but a little bit unworthy. It's the second time I come to it. Bad impression so I won't be here any more.

pretty good chicken! It's really big and crunchy and flavorful!<br/><br/>They usually have sales / promos which are worth waiting for when you don't feel like paying the full price!

You got to try this. This overly large fried chicken came from the night markets of Taiwan. The chicken is almost as big as your face.<br/><br/>You can choose several flavours. Go for the original salt and pepper.<br/><br/>And you must eat it when it is hot.<br/><br/>Overall rating: 3.5

Note: this is based on a vegetarian’s opinion<br/>I can’t really give a proper ranking as they haven’t tried their signatures fried chicken but I did have some of their sides.<br/><br/>I tried the fried mushroom and sweet potato chips. I love the cajun seasoning I chose, and I thought the sweet potato chips were delicious. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. <br/><br/>However, I didn’t enjoy the fried mushrooms. The combination of the batter and mushrooms didn’t work for me. The mushrooms juicy and I was not use to having its texture with a crispy outer batter.<br/><br/>There is sometime a queue but the service is pretty quick.

Actually pretty nice and satisfying to eat! Have a variety of seasoning options and other options on the menu, i enjoyed it way more than i thought would definitely go eat again!!

Who can resist a fried chicken every time he or she walk past here? They smells and taste good. I love their fried squids as well. Definitely a good snack place.

Good snack when you are craving for deep fried unhealthy food. Love their mushroom, squid and popcorn chicken. Go with the Cajun and chilli salt.

I've been craving for Hot Star for awhile and it was as good as I remember it. Lightly battered and deep-fried it has a light crispness to it whilst remaining juicy inside. I chose the chicken salt seasoning and it is equally addictive as the salt and pepper.<br/><br/>Be weary of the chicken bones however as you approach the final 1/3. I'm not wasting anything however, I'm nibbling my way around that!

How to win a girl's heart. Step 1: Take her out to a night of jazz. Step 2: Top it off with a gigantic piece of fried chicken. Honestly, I thought I knew what affection was. That's until he said the magic words to me after a great show at Paris Cat Jazz Club: "Let's get some Hot Star". I don't believe I've ever felt such emotion to another human being as much as I felt for him in that moment. Perhaps there is a thing as a soul mate, and we both love ridiculously oversized fried chicken.

The only male employee gives you a upset & angry look. The chicken has no taste at all，chicken meat is still dripping water. In fact Elizabeth street store is the worst of all!!!

Tried their chicken wings for the first time today. I asked for salt and pepper seasoning and the wings came out piping hot and crispy after a short 10minute wait. The wings were juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They were delicious, however, the seasoning was a little strange. I expected salt and pepper to be savoury but the seasoning was a sweet flavour? Tasted a little like plum. It was just weird with the chicken. That was the only letdown, otherwise I would order again!

Take a chicken, flatten it to an inch of its life, crumb it, deep fry it, season it and serve it within 8 minutes. That's what Taiwanese Fried Chicken joint Hot Star does for $9. Surprisingly delicious, and very juicy. Definitely worth having a go. 

Hot star chicken is known for its ridiculously oversized fried chicken that everyone in Melbourne is talking about. <br/><br/>We have been here a few times and haven’t found it to busy so the wait wasn’t too long.<br/><br/>Everything is made great on the spot to order and the chicken is made from 100% fresh chicken breasts and coated with a secret breadcrumb recipe all the way from Shilin Market in Taiwan, this is authentic street food at its best. <br/><br/>The crunchy coating has just the right level of crispiness and seasoning. And the chicken inside is tender and succulent. <br/><br/>Kids love the chicken salt flavour we are yet to try the others highly recommend for chicken lovers!<br/><br/>#hotstarmelb #eathotstar #melbournefoodies

Hot star chicken has been pretty popular and their fried chicken are really flavourful. Crispy and salty (in a good way). It feels like there's a lot of msg though and thats the only downside.

Just walk passed today. Having a hot, crispy and tasty fried chicken is this freezing day. Also the size is huge!! Wait for 10 mins, is worth for it.

Not too bad for the price but always waiting in long queue is a bit annoying. Used to have more flavours ? Chicken is ok do watch out for the small piece of bone , and l like fried mushroom

Magic words: FRIED CHICKEN. Does anything really get better than that? EVER?! <br/><br/>This Chicken is also HALAL! <br/><br/>Oversized: That means, the chicken has been hammered out to be bigger than both your hands put together. Breaded, battered, and deep fried for approx 10 minutes so that the inside is SUPER juicy and the outside hot and crunchy. <br/><br/>You can choose sprinkled seasoning from a variety of flavors - we always get Cajun seasoning because it is spicy! <br/><br/>Price: $8.50 approx per large chicken. Will completely fill up one person for lunch or dinner. <br/><br/>Packaging: I love the easy to carry blue box that the chicken comes with. That makes it easy for the grease not to get on your hands. Make sure to grab a lot of napkins! <br/><br/>WIll be back for the sweet potato fries!

Taste is okay, but the waiting time is longer than expected. For my case, I have been waiting for 15 minutes even though there is only two people (including me) waiting.

LIT!: just lost my hot star virginity and glad to say it was better than I expected! I tried two classic oversized chicken- salt and pepper and chicken salt. Crispy all over the outside and tender meat inside. <br/><br/>NOT SO LIT: one of the pieces had a lot of bones compared to the other one, but it doesn't matter because it is still huge. Make sure you seriously love fried chicken because this is a lotttt of chicken.

Hot, crispy, tasty, salty fried chicken the size of your head. It doesn’t get much better than that! The coating is awesome and the chicken is tender and juicy! About a 10 minute wait as they cook each piece to order.

always make sure to get the hot-star chicken whenever you spot them because they're so sinful yet irresistibly good! the chicken is huge and i always feel full after eating it that i decided to no longer have anything else for the whole day. also, their sweet potato fries is to die for! sweet + salty = perfection ❤️

Feeling hungry and cold weather outside, the best choice deep fried chicken , but really dissatisfaction waiting more 15 minute so the staff arranging previously 3 order , so fine first come first served so have to waited nothing to blame , while my turn order only hot big chicken so I waited around 15 minute more for my order ( hot big chicken -1 ) only . But the taste of chicken not bad .

Come on guys are we even sure this is chicken? <br/>Its got this horrible aftertaste on the seasoning thats so unpleasing, Then you may get some nice random browned / bruised out pieces in your piece of giant deep fried slab which was enough for me to stop. I dont care if this is genuine Taiwanese street food, that doesnt mean its good unless you have nostalgic emotions attached to it

DO: The chicken, duh. <br/><br/>DON'T: Forget to order some sides like fries or better yet, another chicken. <br/><br/>TIP: Wash it down with a Bubble Tea next door.

The Chicken is not just big, it is HUGE.  Too big? Maybe, but it is SOOOO tasty you really don't want it to end.  The top half is juicy, perfectly cooked.   As you munch your way down it gets a big drier/and has bones at the bottom.<br/><br/> It really does taste like good-old, genuine street food from Taiwan. <br/><br/>The matcha drink was like drinking a Green Tea cake.  Very satisfying indeed!<br/><br/>No, it is not quick...especially does the fried food take time.  But, yes, it's worth the wait!

This is a review for the Hot Star half, as I have not tried Gong Cha. We always visit this branch of Hot Star because there are never any people lining up, unlike on Swanston St. Anything deep fried here is delicious, enhanced with equally unhealthy and delicious seasonings. The signature large chicken is worth all the hype. Just as good for a nibble on the go are the chicken bites and curly fries - they even give you toothpicks! My only gripe is how slow it is since they do start frying after each order (usually the same person taking orders), so it can get inefficient if there were other people besides me.

The chicken was a bit of a letdown as it was overwhelmingly oily where spurts of oil would shoot out for every few bites. There's a HotStar joint in Brisbane and the chicken is very crispy and tender. It was probably an off day I suppose.

My babes and I were shopping with her sister at a new Asian grocery store at the top of Elizabeth Street. On our way back to the car, we passed by Hot Star and the scent of fried chicken immediately made us hungry!<br/>The Hot Star & Gong Cha outlets are funny little take away joints. It seems wherever there is a Hot Star, they cut the original shop space in two and build a Gong Cha next door.<br/>I ordered the Fried Squid Tentacles, my babes ordered the Large Fried Chicken and her sister ordered the Sweet Potato Fries.<br/>The Fried Squid Tentacles from Hot Star were just like the ones I've had at market stalls during Lunar New Year festivals earlier this year. The squid was tender and it wasn't overly oily. The only downside is that a small bag for $6.50 isn't enough for me.<br/>My babes Large Fried Chicken is incorrectly labelled; it should be called a Massive Fried Chicken! My first bite was delicious! The slightly sweet batter was still quite hot, as it came straight from the fryer, and it crunched with every bite contrasting with the tender and moist meat. The only downside was that you had to eat around the chicken ribs and a wing bone once you got to the last quarter of the fillet. A part from that, it was a highly enjoyable fillet that I'd definitely try again!<br/>My babes sister wasn't that hungry so she had a small bag of Sweet Potato Fries. Although they weren't crunchy, the fries were just how I like it! Little sugary morsels of sweet potato that went well with the chicken breast. Again, the small bag wouldn't be enough for me but I guess if you're having a massive chicken breast by yourself, you probably wouldn't have room for much else.<br/>All three dishes made a simple and easy take away meal that I would have over the KFC dinner for two. Can't wait to try Hot Star again, maybe with a Gong Cha drink next time.

I like the chicken, tastes good. but for the owner, PLEASE buy another deep fryer. You know that most of your customers order chicken, and it is very time taking to cook only few pieces each time. Think about how you earn money too per hour.

The worst customer service by hot star staff. Ordered the chicken bites at approx 12.30 yesterday noon.. The guy who was serving us must have had a fight with his girlfriend or he must be damn rude. The worst customer service guy I have personally meet. The chicken bites were under cooked... I will never visit this place again and will not revomend it to anyone!

Excellent fried chicken.. Can now see why Hot Star Large Fried chicken is so popular every time I walk past. If you like hot and spicy differently get the hot seasoning, the chicken was nice and juicy and well priced. I can't wait to go back to try the salt and pepper seasoning and the curly fries! I also really want to try the Crispy and the chicken bites.

Terrible waste of $8. Sta.... Terrible waste of $8.<br/><br/>Staff put a ridiculous amount of chilli powder covering every inch on the back of the fillet. Unedible and live up to its "hot" star name.

I see why it's mobbed. I’ve been wondering what was up with Hot Star Large Chicken ever since I saw footpath-clogging queues packed 20 people deep at their shopfront on Swanston Street in the weeks before Christmas. Turns out there was an online coupon deal for this Taiwanese fried chicken chain. It’s chooking its way across Asia and expanding into Oz. Already has a fan base here, fer sher. Now that the throngs have gone -- I don’t stand on line for fast food -- I reckoned I’d try the one on Elizabeth.<br/><br/>This is some seriously large chicken -- it’s bigger than your face! It makes parmas look puny. I don’t know how they get a quarter-chicken to spread out so much -- steamrollers? Industrial presses that used to stamp door panels at some now-defunct auto factory? To show you that it’s real chook, Hot Star leaves the ribs and cartilage at one end -- careful as you eat it! The meat on the one I had was white and tender. But you don’t eat fried chicken for the meat, do you? Not me! It’s the breading, baybee! And the brilliance of the Large Chicken concept is that there’s MUCH more surface area to put under a crunchy coating. Colonel Sanders’ Extra-Crispy is still my flava fave, but I don’t give my money to Amerikan mega-korporations, so I’ll spend it on this Separatist Chinese one instead.<br/><br/>I didn’t think I’d like Hot Star, but I did. I grew up eating Kentucky Fried and buckets from chicken shacks run by black folks in the American Southern state of Maryland. When I was a boy, I would have liked Hot Star’s massive mashed chicken better than any of that down-home stuff. Mmmmm, breading...<br/><br/>As for Gong Cha next door, I still don’t get the attraction of bubble tea. I drank plenty of varieties in Vancouver, Canada, where it’s a huger craze than here. (Just wait, though...) I had a matcha green tea with red beans. OK, flavoured milk. Not worth the $4.70 it cost. And what’s with the Asian obsession over red beans as a sweet? Every time I’ve had them, all I can think of is the campfire farting scene in Blazing Saddles. Beans are not dessert, people.

I’m sure long-time Readers will know my love for Taiwan I go quite regularly and at least once a year I’m not sure what is it but I really like the food, people and culture there. That’s why whenever a new Taiwanese franchise ventures into Melbourne I get extremely excited, because they satisfy my constant cravings for Taiwanese food. Hot Star on Elizabeth St In the past year we’ve seen Chatime and Gongcha bubble tea outlets opening in Melbourne, this time it’s Hot Star Large Fried Chicken ! I have shared with you how much I like their XXL large piece of fried chicken in this previous post . So you can imagine I was thrilled that they were opening in Melbourne. Their first store opened a couple of months ago on the busy Swanston St, I have been meaning to try but have heard the long queues so wanted to wait until it died down a little. Then last week I got the good news that Hot Star was opening another store on Elizabeth St once again next to Gong Cha. Mr Bao and I went down to Hot St

Drinks anyone? Bubble tea? Yes please. I'm a convert after thinking bubble tea was for those missing home and wanting their traditional fix. How wrong I was. Having been introduced to the world of bubble tea I'm impressed.<br/><br/>Gong Cha is part of the bubble tea phenomenon sweeping Asia and now Australia. Conveniently located next to fried chicken sensation Hot Star in Swanston St, Gong Cha offers the best in fresh bubble tea Taiwanese style. Grab your chicken from Hot Star then grab your drink from Gong Cha. The World Loves Melbourne was invited by Gong Cha to sample their classic bubble tea.

This Saturday I went to two stores.  It was when the AFIS info day was on. So I will talk about them both This Gong Cha is in Elizabeth st is in the city and is a brand new store. The Green tea drink that I had was not overly sweet but flavoursome. Here you can opt for no ice or less ice like I did. Without the ice it was great and easy to drink. The service there was minimal but what do you expect? Bing Boy in QV I had a get one free voucher all thanks to Bing Boy, but I paid for the other myself. All the bings are priced under $10 but if you want extras you have to pay about $1-$2 extra and I think its cash only. The bings were great. I really loved the salmon one better than the veg. The salmon one was fresh but the flavour was doused in a little bit too much mayo. But still it is great for you and they do your bing within 5 minutes. Here you can choose your fillings and sauces.  And like Melbourne Central you can watch them make it. The service there was friendly. The guy there was

A classic example of one item done impeccably well without compromise, Hot Star has indeed found a new home in Melbourne with foodies queuing up on a daily basis for their crispy chicken fix.

Established in 1992 by Mr. Wang in the famous Taiwanese Shilin Night Market, Hot Star is unique for several different reasons, one of which is the special cross section slice, which includes the chicken breast bone. Cooking the meat on the bone ensures the chicken is tender, juicy and distinctly flavoursome.

...each chicken breast piece is 30 centimetres long and weigh 250 grams. Due to its size, I can understand why a few people would be worried about the thought of using genetically modified birds. However, I later found out that all they do is take one chicken breast, cut it in half lengthwise (but not all the way through), before laying it flat to make one big chicken breast. They also leave the breastbone hanging in there to ensure that the meat retains its flavour.