kai eatery

tl;dr: delicious, cheap, filling, homey chicken. great service. recommended: spicy chicken bites and gua bao 
finally got around to reviewing this place! i've been visiting since i saw a friend tag this place on facebook. i was so, so excited when i first saw the advertisement for kai eatery on my newsfeed. as a taiwanese kiwi, i miss the familiar taste of traditional taiwanesefriedchicken. kai eatery brought all those memories back with their wonderfully flavourful chicken. 

food: i usually come here on my way home, so i get everything with that in mind. i mostly get the chicken bites (spicy or not), which are small morsels of deliciousness. the chicken is moist and marinated nicely - they are best enjoyed hot as the juices explode once you bite into one. i also quite like the two gua baos that i had. the taipei gua bao was close to a traditional one, especially with the addition of crushed peanuts. my favourite is, however, the heihei gua bao simply because it has the delicious chicken in it - yum! i definitely need to try one of their specialty sodas once i get the chance. 
i bought 2xl chickens (one spicy and one regular) home for my parents once. my dad refuses to eat anything that he isn't familiar with - he absolutely loved the chicken and asked that i buy it again. i'd say that's a win.

service: the owner and staff here are extremely friendly and polite. they're also attentive in that they remember you if you visit often (guilty as charged), which is great as well. speed is fast but quality is never compromised. there are also chairs around if standing for a bit is too much for some people. sometimes there may be a line or people waiting around, but it's always worth the wait. 

price: reasonable price, especially for a university student like me. one serving of chicken bites is quite filling and satisfying for me. at $7 per serving, that's a pretty good deal. 

overall, thank you kai eatery for bringing delicious taiwanese chicken to auckland. i'm so happy that there's a deliciousfriedchicken place around school - it's a great addition to the restaurants and food trucks available in the city. i'll definitely keep nagging my friends to come here for a quick bite. good stuff :)

they are primarily known for theirfriedchicken but we just came from lunch so just grabbed some bubble tea. they are located inside a container just off wakefield street near aotea center. just walk down the road a bit to see the shipping container shop. you can tell they're open when the front is open.

they didn't have any of the taro fresh milk tea so i went with the brown sugar one instead. the tea was quite nice but the pearls a bit harder than i like. the straw just fit inside the drink container which had a screw cap.

thefriedfood smell was really nice as i was ordering.

boy this place did not disappoint! it was my first time that i tried kai eatery and got the xlfriedchicken hot n spicy and it was truly the biggest juiciest tastiestfriedchicken i have ever had. got that along with the peri peri fries as a combo and it was filling. very satisfying and definitely will go back for more.

update:

tried their original xlfriedchicken today.

it was exactly the same with what i tried in taiwan-- crispy outside and succulent inside. yummy like always.

one thing that stops me from visiting more often is the price-- $9 for a piece of largefriedchicken is a bit pricey for students.





finally got to try this taiwan style chinese food. i think their signature menu is the xlfriedchicken, but i've tried it multipel times at taiwan so i ordered something else instead.

the braised pork on rice: the diced pork belly (more like pork belly mince) is nicely braised in soy sauce, with some marinated green vege on the side. and normally there's some tofu in the bowl , but today they are out of tofu so the stuff offered a drum stick instead. it's very nice of him and i would like to go back to try the one with tofu on the side next time.

the taipei gua bao: hands down for this one! what a high quality and delicious bao! for me it's better than many restaurants & bars. the pork belly is melting in the mouth! and the vege is very fresh! super yum!

matcha& redbean bao: amaaaazing! it melted a bit on the way to home. but the taste wasn't affected by this! the deepfriedbao was very crispy, and the matcha ice cream matched perfectly with the redbean.

the periperi chips& the latte were average, not bad, but not as amazing as those food i mentioned above.

service was very friendly.

would definitely recommend their baos!

the dish:friedchicken xl original + peri peri shoestring fries
will probably put me off the majority of asian fusion restaurants. thefriedchicken, served in truly xl servings, was much too sweet for my tastes. the bread-crumbing was weird again with an almost doughy texture underneath the crisp outer. the shoestring fries on the other hand were well done. a solid punch on the peri peri saltiness without overpowering spice. fries themselves were crisp but the texture was off - the interior of the fry seemed almost frozen but the flavour masked it and made up for it. value was average - large portions for a hefty price. overall, worth a try but beware the asian fusion taste.

absolutely adore the xlfriedchicken 😍 huuuuuuge (like legit bigger than my face) piece of crispy, perfectly spiced, juicy chicken, served in an innovative package to keep hands clean. have had their chicken several times, in different forms, and never been disappointed. the menu looks exciting, so will keep returning and trying new stuff ❤

decided to try this place after seeing instagram photos and was not dissapointed!! service is quite slow but the food is worth it. we got thefriedchicken bun (can’t remember the menu name for it) and bubble tea. the chicken was seasoned well and tender - the drink was also very nice and came in a convenient bottle.

decentfriedchicken gua bao from friendly counter staff :) bao was super packed with sauce and salad so a bit messy. sadly they had run out of the pork belly which was what i was really there for. food truck conditions mean a small amount of outdoor seating right next to queen st. takeaway boxes seemed pretty extreme for one bao! they pop open dramatically when you undo the tabs. maybe i'll be back, or maybe i'll stop complaining about auckland gua bao and just head to taiwan again.

in love with their chefs special xlfriedchicken and kumara fries!!! the chicken is so thick and juicy and the crunchy seasoning on the outside tastes so amazing! definitely my favouritefriedchicken place!! they are so friendly too!
can't wait to try everything else!

first off, impressive and innovative packaging! i ordered the original xlfriedchicken and the taipei gua bao.friedchicken was xl-sized indeed, crispy and juicy meat inside. deliciously seasoned! taipei gua bao was amazing - the pork belly was so tender and it melted away in my mouth, perfectly complemented by the soft steamed bun, crunchy peanuts, and salted vegetables. it was around an 8-minute wait, but i was the only customer. service was amazing, the lady was upbeat and friendly and made sure i knew how to make the most out of the packaging. highly recommended!

crispy, juicy, irresistiblefriedchicken. served hot and straight out of the fryer. chicken has good amount of seasoning. nice little location close to uni as well if you feel like a yummy snack.

food - 4/5
ambience - 4/5
service - 3/5

good taiwanesefriedchicken. flavorful tastyfriedchicken. for afriedchicken, it was not a crispy at all. a bit disappointing on the crispiness side, but still worth trying.

only get thefriedchicken. everything else is average. got the originalfriedchicken pieces which were succulent, crispy on the outside but still moist on the inside and coated with chicken salt and spices. the onion rings were very oily and coated in batter with a similar consistency to a spring roll so bits broke everytime i took a bite. the tumeric flavor was nice on its coating. the drinks were not great. got the egg flavored pudding milk tea with pearls. such a tiny amount of pearls, was unsweetened (i couldn’t adjust the sugar levels) and the milk tea was so watered down, worst milk tea i’ve had yet i paid $7.50 for it... their specialized drinks on the board looked colorful but were very icy and had little flavor. got the strawberry and mango one for $8. the bottle was cool though. good snack food only for thefriedchicken but on the pricier side

decided to try this out after seeing people raving about this place, also, i love food trucks. ordered thefriedchicken and couldn't go beyond a couple bites. the seasoning was quite unpleasant to my taste as it was almost sweet and overloaded with msg.

very good on the go lunch or snack place. i love the taiwanesefriedchicken it is the best! they also make good decent drinks.