Fu Ge Stone Oven Chicken (Jiaoxi Main Store)

Review

Fu Ge Stone Oven Chicken's main store is on Baiyun 3rd Road in Jiaoxi, the strip locals call roast chicken street. Supertaste featured it on the TV show 2 Days 1 Night Go, calling it one of the most popular stone-oven chickens on the street, with crisp skin, plenty of juice and tender meat, and strongly recommended by locals. When a business outlet rounded up online discussions, Fu Ge was listed with the original kiln chicken shop and Volcano Chicken as top picks on Jiaoxi's chicken street.

The star is a whole stone-oven chicken with golden, crisp skin and meat that keeps its juices; one diner noted that herbs are stuffed inside the bird, giving a faint medicinal fragrance. Gloves are provided so you can pull the chicken apart yourself, with chicken-fat dipping sauce and pepper salt. Other dishes Supertaste mentions include stir-fried Sanxing scallions, xilu stew, house stone-oven roast suckling pig, grilled mackerel and stone-oven salted pork, so it works best with a group ordering a spread.

Diners most often praise the tender, juicy chicken and crisp, non-greasy skin, generous portions, well-liked sides such as bamboo shoots and fried dishes, and a convenient on-site car park. Criticism includes chicken that some find under-seasoned, a dipping sauce that is mostly chicken fat, pepper salt that is hard to spread evenly, and disappointment if expectations are too high. Weekend mealtimes are busy and you may need to wait.

According to Supertaste's listing, it opens around 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and until 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays; no fixed closing day is listed, so call ahead or book. There is a car park beside the restaurant, and toilets are outside. Dishes are designed for sharing, so the more people the better; three or four people sharing one chicken plus a few stir-fries is about right.

It suits family gatherings and anyone driving to Jiaoxi for the hot springs who wants a Yilan-style meal before or after. First-timers should order one stone-oven chicken plus stir-fried Sanxing scallions and xilu stew for a taste of Yilan. Pull the chicken apart with gloves while it is hot, try it plain before dipping in pepper salt, and spoon the chicken-fat sauce over rice.