4Fingers

The Verdict

We’ve got a love/hate relationship with fast food fried chicken, which generally fluctuates in direct synchronicity with our blood-alcohol content. Basically, the more beers, the better it tastes. But there’s a new chicken joint in the CBD, from Singapore by way of NYC, that’s set to shake up the fried chicken game.

It’s called 4Fingers, and from the outside it might be easy to dismiss as another quasi-fast-food chain that spruiks ‘authenticity’. But if you dig below the surface, there’s some interesting things going on. For one thing, the chicken really is chicken, and it also comes fresh each day, antibiotic and hormone-free. The 4Fingers staple recipe (a zingy Korean fried chicken spice blend) is a traditional mix the company’s founders picked up from a little shop in New York’s Koreatown. Even the sources come from a tiny, family-owned company off the coast of Penang.

The chain has become a bit of a sensation in Singapore and Malaysia, and this is Melbourne’s first ever concept store. Food-wise, you should probably start with an order of the crispy wings and drumettes (you can douse them in spicy sauce or soy & garlic, or a mix of both), then move on to either the Katsu Sandwich (fried chicken and daily-fermented slaw in a crispy Chinese bun) or the chicken chop with fries (a gnarly looking hunk of bird, fried deep golden and served with lime wedges and chips).

Will 4Fingers change the way you look at fried chicken? Depends on your taste for greasy goodness. At least it’s a step in the right direction for fast-food: properly sourced produce with a pinch of old-school seasoning. Authentic AF. 

Image credit: 4Fingers