Yakitori bars have been sprouting up a lot recently in Singapore, especially with the pairing of cocktails and Japanese meat skewers gaining immense popularity. Nestled along the cafe-strewn street of Bukit Pasoh Road lies Chikin, a new Yakitori bar that dishes out hearty meat skewers with a twist.
Opened by the owners of Sum Yi Tai, Chikin is an unassuming bar which specialises in clever cocktail infusions, comforting Japanese eats as well as Szechuan mala yakitori—the first of its kind. Combining traditional Japanese methods with mouth watering Szechuan flavours, Chikin aims to reshape the way we think and feel about Japanese yakitori forever.
The first floor features a neon-lit open concept kitchen and bar with a gorgeous marble bar top and the walls are covered in cheeky murals that encompass Japanese pop culture elements. With a mixture of hip-hop and clubby tunes playing in the background, stepping into Chikin almost feels like being in a club.
Chikin’s menu boasts a variety of Izakaya-style dishes to complete the dining experience. Among these are spicy variations of Japanese street snacks and comforting Japanese favourites and with a namesake like Chikin, it is not hard to guess that most of their skewers are going to made of chicken.
Ensuring no part of a chicken goes to waste, their selection of yakitori features several unconventional parts such as windpipe, heart and cartilage—which are surprisingly delicious if you are ballsy enough to try them.
Using Japanese methods of grilling skewers over binchotan flames, Chikin marries the art of Japanese Yakitori with mouth watering Szechuan spices in a creative effort to combine the best of two Asian disciplines.
We opted for a selection of 6 different chicken parts—the thigh meat (S$3), skin (S$3), ‘oyster’ (S$4) which is essentially the breast meat portion of the chicken, heart (S$3.50), cartilage (S$3.50) and chicken meatballs (S$4.50)
Spice lovers will most definitely fall head-over-heels with this. Their meat is pre-marinated in a mixture of Szechuan spices and just before serving, is dusted with more Szechuan spices. With varying degrees of spiciness, get your lips ready to be numbed in the midst of savouring the succulence of the grilled meat.
Our top three favourites were the chicken skin, chicken thigh and chicken heart.
The skin was incredibly crisp with a light dusting of spices to give it a slight kick. The heart may seem daunting at first, but it is actually really tasty with an interesting texture to it—tender and not off-putting at all.
Overall, this is a great place to hang out be it after work or not. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves from the great skewers, friendly staff, right down to the sexy interior (of which is perfect for selfies).
Chikin
6 Bukit Pasoh Road,
Singapore 089820
Tel: +65 6910 2742
(Closed on Sundays)
Mon to Fri: 5pm – 12am
Sat: 6pm – 12am
Nearest Station: Outram Park