KFC super-fan who spent 18 years hunting for world’s best fried chicken reveals country that came out on top

On an 18-year quest spanning 24 countries and five continents a fast food lover hunting for the best KFC in the world has decided the finest “finger-lickin’ good” chicken is in Mongolia.

Jacky Tan, a 41-year-old marketing consultant from Singapore, began his adventure to find the world’s best Kentucky Fried Chicken in 2005 after finding the Original Recipe tasted different abroad.

Since then, he has taken every opportunity to try the deep-fried delicacy while traveling for work or with his wife Michelle, a 41-year-old assistant who he often has to persuade to take a reluctant detour from their holiday.

Even on the couple’s honeymoon, Jacky managed to visit a KFC in Barcelona, but Spain had the worst he has tried, closely followed by Hong Kong and Australia.

Jacky makes the same order in every country and has developed a ranking he has dubbed TaF-CA, an acronym for taste, freshness, crispiness and aroma – the four key criteria he uses to evaluate each KFC.

Asked why the quest means so much to him, Jacky said: “I don’t come from a very rich family, so I would have to save up to afford a KFC.
“So for me, it’s really a luxury.

“Now of course, I have my own income. I can’t say exactly how many KFCs I have had, but definitely more than 1,000.”

While there are many strong contenders, Jacky’s research found Mongolia stood out from the rest, where he said he had to queue for an hour but the deep-fried poultry was “unique”.

“I visited the KFC in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in 2013 during a business trip with my colleagues,” Jacky said.
“It had just opened and there were loads of people queuing so we had to wait for an hour. But the wait was totally worth it.

“I rank the chicken based on taste, freshness, crispiness and aroma, and the Mongolian fried chicken hit all of these indicators. It’s very unique. I was totally impressed.”

“The KFC in South Africa has a really nice view of Table Mountain, so they have one of the best spots. Their chicken also hit all the right notes but it still wasn’t quite as good as Mongolia,” he said.

Completing Jacky’s top 10 are Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Chile, the Philippines and South Korea.

Trying KFC across the world is not always easy for Jacky and one of the first hurdles is convincing his wife, who does not share the same enthusiasm.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to get my wife’s approval because she says, ‘how come you are doing this, we’re in another country, we should try something different rather than just getting a KFC’,” he said.

To make sure his TaF-CA ranking is valid, Jacky has adopted a consistent approach when ordering KFC.

“So that the ranking is fair, I always order the Original Recipe chicken, two or four pieces if I’m hungry,” he said.

“If the chicken doesn’t make it past my first criteria, taste – because it’s too salty or bland, for example – then I don’t really bother with the rest.”

The UK did not impress Jacky’s experienced palate, ranking 21st, ahead of only Australia, Hong Kong and Spain.

He said: “I visited a KFC near Piccadilly Circus a long time ago and it wasn’t necessarily bad, it just didn’t really make an impression on me.

“I do remember the one in Spain though, because it was too dry and totally bland, like eating rubber. The best thing there was probably the soft drink.”

The US, where KFC is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, also failed to impress Jacky, who places it in 19th behind France and Bolivia.

While he has certainly tried more KFCs than most people, there are still plenty of places to be discovered given the fast-food chain has more than 25,000 outlets in 145 countries.

Sometimes Jacky spots a KFC at the wrong time after having already eaten, but this does not necessarily stop him from giving it a try.

“The one that I ranked the lowest might not be indicative of the KFC standard in the country or that restaurant.

“I also often review my list. That is why Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore rankings are not always consistent

Entire ranking list

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fo...309909.html?amp

Been to 16 of the 22 countries

Stop reading when I saw Malaysia.

But Malaysia it's not chicken, it's burung puyuh

Sohai gpt nothing better things to do

How about Kentucky? Got go there to try?

UK one is salty like shit. Even Malaysia one is better.

It's mentioned in the article. I also bolded it for you still you fail to read

also depends on the branch

some branch are shitty while some actually cares about their product

his list is accurate enough

malaysia no5....-----> jokes heaven...

We are used to it

But ang moh find ours better. Not based on angmoh jilat kaki youtube review.

Based on family/friend everytime visit here sure crave KFC.

Ewww....
Our kfc like shit leh.....

This. So damn true.

Go try the ttdi one or those that you realise the agong always go one haha.

since Texas started kfc gone gg liao

No way US higher then Australia... this fella never try the chips there

US KFC all charp lap already.... you go California, hardly can find/see any KFC, you probably see more Jollibees and Popeyes

vegan

The QC is shit. Eating KFC is like buying lottery ticket.

#KFClifematters

Soviet here....
The chix smaller like bird.....
Oh wai...chix is bird that can't fly....

The taste not like long time ago.....oily.....
Original too salty.....
I can't eat HS cos long time ago eat too much green cili.....

Malaysia KFC is good
the chicken is good compare to angmoh country one....

If you compare other food that is offer, Malaysia will be lower down the ranking but still say it is top 10



https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishabassi/australi...an-american-kfc

Its true. Vietnam KFC was so bad i threw the chicken away.

You wouldnt know how good KfC in Malaysia is until u tried from neighbouring SEA countries. Just that the chicken size here is too small

You sure aaa?

The size is more fitting of a pigeon.

KFC Malaysia is heaven-sent.

... if you compare to A&W Malaysia today.

don't know who made the ingredients in A&W. no QC. one meal - any meat-based meal - in A&W can can send you immediately to high-blood pressure ward.

unfortunately i have not patronized foreign countries KFC to gauge this other than went to MacDonald's when i was in Perth, Australia ages ago.

This!
Kena the wrong staff will kena Kung Fu Jiken with dirty sock flavours?

This post has been edited by olay biscuit barrel: Apr 6 2023, 08:20 AM

malaysia use anak ayam

Nope.
The one in Mongolia is the 1st outlet in the country that just opened.
Of course 1st day doing business in new country & serving sux food, no correct?

If he has tried it in early 2019 he would have been seriously sick due to food poisoning caused by poor internal hygiene checks, the city’s Metropolitan Professional Inspection Agency said, adding that 247 people had reported food poisoning symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting.

Which prompted the company to temporarily suspended operations of all KFC restaurants in the country to conduct an inquiry, as 42 people were hospitalised and hundreds showed food poisoning symptoms after eating at one of the outlets of the fast-food chain.

This post has been edited by DarkNite: Apr 6 2023, 08:30 AM

i dont eat a lot of kfc, even in MY
once i eated kfc in edinburgh and it was hairy
LOL

My friend lived in canada. when he come back the only fast food he wants is kfc.

KFC at canada for him sucks big time compared to msia

Some singaporean agreed that msian one better as well (no suprised)

if bolehland KFC can get no 5, unker lost hope for the original recipe.

i am craving for kfc but i know i will be dissapointed if i eat it.

the standard dropped so much in the last 10 years

wrong...the best is Bazaar and Pasar Malam's KFC

Kampung Friend Chicken, or
Kamheong Fried Chicken.

my cousin stays between UK and HK traveling both countries also will eat Msia kfc when back, she told us UK and HK ones fails big time

go overseas to eat kepci ?

bukan he or another kfc fan say meresiah one the best? lel

Before the great chicken scarcity, Malaysia's OR KFC was certainly one of the better ones. Based on my limited exp the ranking is consistent with what I tasted.

I didn't eat KFC much in foreign countries, but South Afirca definitely was the worst so far... really forced myself to finish it and this guy list it No.2!!

Burung puyuh where got so big lel.

cant trust SG's tastebud

malaysia's...size aside, there're no herbs inside the chicken...making the chicken tasteless

all rely on the skin only

Alot of chain also marinate on the surface...case and point 4 fingers

not sure WM 4fingers but EM's 4finger really tabulih oh

the chicken is even smaller than KFC

This post has been edited by MR_alien: Apr 6 2023, 09:07 PM

Yup, Mongolian jiken is the best, even our expeeem and pohlis also tabole tahan.

Kentucky fried chic (anak ayam)

Puih, angmoh taste bud knows what?

Come Asia instantly everything taste good.

Texas don’t have the aroma

viole doxed.

his real name is Jacky Tan!!!!!!!

CC joek hotdayum rtk74 xcm

he singaporean

so amoi is actually aunty?

is ur mum

ok la... me mum is 1/2 amoi

meaning she 50 yo now, otw to become grandma?

Kinda.... me dun hab kids so not yet

Been to 14 of them
To be fair
Kepsi in Malaysia can rank from anywhere from 1 to dead last

Ayam work in kitchen some 20 years ago
Fried jiken using pressure was ayam daily task

During morning shift when not many customer
Everything follow SOP
How many times flour the jiken sequence
Put inside cola follow timer exact time new oil
Ayam fried the world no1 original kepsi

During lunch time the baya comes in
The quality depends on his mood

During dinner rush hour
Holy cow rush out the jiken

Near closing time
Please dont come
Kekwa

Jolibee lagi sampah...mkn ayam dgn gravy....fried chicken itself too dry and tasteless. ayam kunyit, ayam percik lagi sedap from any Jolibee

U study medicine?

dia blum try Marybrown

also malaysia kfc depends on branch one la, some really kecik than my 2"

my kfc is the crappiest in the world.

Kek rupanya Jackie Chan's hokkien cousin

I will take Ayamas roasters Ayam percik over KFC anyday

Bos, boleh kasi tips mana agong always go one... Need to keep in list.. tq

somewhat true from my limited experience

kfc msia > thai, spore, bali, jakarta

Btho aeon big for me
Everytime I visit cheras will go there if Ada chance

There was once I at KK, we had 20* people so ordering like 30-40p ieces. ( The rack only like 3pieces on display) , it's still another 40 mins to 10, and they tell us no more chicken.

This post has been edited by AyamBlend: Apr 6 2023, 11:06 PM

The first thing my relatives did the moment they reached klia is eat KFC!! They missed the aroma and taste which they said is missing in HK, Australia, US and UK. So the ranking could probably be quite accurate. I tried China kfc and they have the best mash potatoes. Because of this, I started using China potatoes which is so much nicer than US potatoes

Kekwa
Each franchise usually has 2 cold rooms
1 freezer and 1 chiller
Fresh jiken (still soft) will store in chiller
Frozen jiken (batu) will store in freezer
Usually jiken finish is chiller habis
Freezer still ada stock but
Next morning will thaw for next day fried jiken
Kekwa

I tried UK and Aus KFC. Both lose to Msia

The good thing is that they have spicy wings

SG #7
topkek
Nearlee

I've tried KFC in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, China.

In term of taste, Malaysia KFC is still the best.

To be honest, i also rank all the kepci around the world. And kepci malaysia is really not bad. All those angmoh and china kepci really cant pakai.

US one is the best hands down.... last time I tried after visiting Graceland at one of their branch..pergh terangkat habaq lu. DArk meat FTW with kentang putar dia .. sehinga menjilat baldi wa cakap lu.

I'm living in UK now, but looking forward eating KFC when go back holiday in Malaysia

What is dark meat ?
But take note the only thing being compared is the chicken

got try Taiwanese jiken or not?

Have you tried other KFC? If you haven't, then your ewww is not valid.

Surprised to see Indonesia on top of us.

Dude their chicken is so damn dry. The only thing I like about KFC Indonesia is their Pepsi Blue Float.

nope...
i study computer...

my area kfc try all...same...
other country no try cos no money to fly....

Good. Can learn how to program Tetris.

Recently someone recommended Tetris movie in lowyat. Man of culture.

too bad my programming all throw back to school liao...
now more into adobe software...

Got sovietmoi KGB ah

I watch Tetris machem hnnghh je those KGB

Looks like Asia do fried chicken better than the US or EU country

Maybe good ingredients are more affordable here in Malaysia compared to US and EU . So there they skimp on the ingredients ??

Ohh yeah.. the US folks are weird bunch they have different terms being used for certain part of the jiken based on the meat.
Being US they are very simple folks, they call it by how they see it... if you look closely at jiken they actually have 2 shades of color lighter and darker flesh after you cook it.
We in Malaysia just call it by the parts.. like "Akak , kasik says semua bahagian thigh ya!" and in America they stop and imagine the end product first.. and they will say it like this" Yo nigga, give me some dark meat with some side of cornbread"

Anyway.. dark meat is also what we Malaysian always order , drumstick and jiken thigh ..sekian

kfc--south africa.
i see what he did there. owai