Being the Woodlander than I am, I was pretty excited for Chic-A-Boo’s opening at Woods Square — whilst my initial impressions of their food a couple of years ago at their now-defunct Ang Mo Kio (yes, there was one in a coffeeshop near Djitsun Mall) and HillV2 outlets were less than impressive, we were pleasantly surprised by their fried chicken after one visit to their Sembawang Shopping Centre outlet, which we have been returning to ever since.

The Set 1 comes with two pieces of fried chicken, a choice of two sides and a drink — the fried chicken at Chic-A-Boo is available in two flavours; the Favourite, and the Hot & Spicy, which was sold out during our visit made on a weekday night at approximately 8:00pm. The fried chicken was a little off from what we were expecting — perhaps being prepared in batches and that we visited at a rather odd timing (though people were still queueing up for seats); the batter felt a little limp and lacked the crispness that I would have thought it will carry, though the spices used in the batter such as the slight hint of pepper was still pretty prominent, and that the chicken was still considerably juicy and tender. Sides were pretty much the usual; the Onion Rings being the same ones that one would find at Andes by Aston’s or Aston’s Specialties outlets (yes, Chic-A-Boo is a brand under the Aston’s umbrella), while the Curly Fries seemed more like short arches of fried potato that is lacking on the “springy” aesthetic — almost the same as what we have experienced in our recent visit to A&W at Canberra Plaza.

To be fair, the quality of the food served at Chic-A-Boo at Woods Square falls a bit short of the Sembawang Shopping Centre location — perhaps one of the few teething issues for a newly-opened outlet. Also noted that there were quite a number of items unavailable (or at least, some of the items which we wanted to order were); a little surprising considering their scale of operations. The outlet at Woods Square is also considerably smaller than most of its other locations, with all seats being outdoor with the ordering counter and kitchen being situated indoors. Also wished that their staff were more alert to the surroundings, such as to inform queueing patrons to occupy the vacant tables considering how this is a self-service establishment; perhaps an addition of a sign would help. Otherwise, Chic-A-Boo is a great addition for the residents of Woodlands — a spot that I am likely to return to if improvements were to be made to the standard of their food to be consistent as their other locations.