Taiwan Popcorn Chicken - Irvine

So glad we stumbled upon Taiwan Popcorn Chicken the other night. Having grown up in Taiwan, this store is literally the fried carts commonly found in day/night markets in Taiwan. If you're not familiar with these fried carts, they will literally throw everything and their kitchen sink into the deep fryer, fresh, for you. Everything just tastes better freshly fried, and that includes popcorn chicken (the name of the store), calamari, oysters, and even pig's blood cake. They do sell other stuff like bento boxes (also filled with fried goodness) if you're looking for more of a meal. Parking is quite good as it is located within a large strip mall.

Welcome to this atypical Taiwanese fast food place that shockingly lack customer service, LOL I sent 2 reviews in Yelp on this last year on forcing customer to spend at least a minimum of $10 before can use credit card and the previous Happy Hour promotion is limited on each receipt and per in person . Next, I know, the owner took the Happy Hour away! When others and I complained about the bad customer service in Yelp, probably due to Covid too, the owner made all these kiosks at the front of the restaurant so we do not need human interaction! Therefore, just get used to ordering from kiosk and learn how to do it, is not hard. You can even order online too! For the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken owner(s), I am just warning you that your foods can be good but if you do not have great customer service or member reward system, your business cannot thrive! There will be other businesses going to see this weakness of yours and opened up another eatery and become your competitors. I LOVE Kaya Restaurant at Culver but the owners and the staff have the lousiest customer service that I seen. When people asked me where is a good Korean tofu restaurant, I always said Kaya but warned them that lousy service so they will not be in shock! Everyone went there to eat the great food and experienced the lousy service that I mentioned. After pandemic, they only survive not long and closed down a few months ago! This proves again that if you are looking to maintain your business and looking for profits, you not only provide great foods but you need to have great customer service! Lacking in customer service will make your establishment become less competitive when market changes! Let me know if you need me to help develop your front employees and/or help you to develop your business! I support you only because my youngest daughter love your foods and do not want you to put of business or not making money when I see the potentials there! Let me know if you want to sell your business!

Popcorn chicken flavor was great and well cooked. Sausage was a tad odd but still good and the wait time wasn't bad. Seemed pretty extreme to charge for adding basil to the food which was basically inedible.

Real Taiwanese popcorn chicken place. many options and I really like the fried oysters.

While it can be labelled as snack food, the galleria of Taiwanese fried foods at Popcorn Chicken pack a heavier punch than most trendy restaurants at food halls. Ordering used to be done through a scantron, which I may prefer now as some cashiers don't always capture what your order is. That hiccup aside, there are just so many options that you're unlikely to find anywhere else. The biggest standouts were the taro items (taro egg ball and taro mochi(? cake , cartilage, and oyster. The taro egg ball, our favourite and often sold out, is a dense ball of taro battered and fried, with an egg in the center. It's not comparable to anything I've had before, and the starchy sweet taro contrasts so well with the seasoning used at the store. The egg just adds additional richness! The other items are just what you'd expect. The main attributes that make Popcorn Chicken stand out are the quality of the fry (using some kind of starch such as tapioca giving it a bit of a chew and ruffled texture on the exterior, and the seasoning. The seasoning reminds me of hot broths at hot pot condensed to powder form, and mixed with the salt and pepper seasoning on fried pork chops. This isn't your typical basil and garlic popcorn chicken, this is something that would hold strong in a bowl of rice. The only knocks I have against Popcorn Chicken is the consistency. It seems that some days they're much more heavy handed on the seasoning and spice, and others they're incredibly light despite providing the same level of desired heat each time. Which is unfortunate, since that's what makes the food stand out and keeps me returning. Be sure to ask for the sweet and sour dipping sauce! This isn't provided unless asked for, with no charge!