Instagrammer Lennardy & Restaurant Labyrinth Owner LG Han Opening ‘Everything Har Cheong Gai’ Food Kiosk

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Famous owners

The kiosk, which has fun-looking branding with pop colours, is founded by four friends who are all har cheong gai lovers. This includes food personality and chef Lennard Yeong (aka @lennardy on Instagram), one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Labyrinth’s chef-owner LG Han, restaurateur Tay Jianli (who also ran defunct seafood restaurant Momma Kong’s), and Bevin Desker, the former head of corporate development at food tech company TiffinLabs.

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The menu

Har Har Chicken!’s menu offers har cheong gai in various iterations, like fried wings, popcorn chook, rice boxes and burgers (throwback to McDonald’s Ha Ha Cheong Gai Burger from 2018, anyone?).

The Har-burger, for instance, features a whole fried har cheong gai boneless thigh cutlet wedged between buns with tomato, lettuce and creamy mayonnaise. There’s a spicy version, zhng-ed with sriracha mayo.

You can get a popcorn chicken snack to munch on too, called Har Har Pops, which is served with mayonnaise or chicken rice chilli.

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Prices, which will be confirmed at a later date, tentatively start from $3.20 for one prawn paste chicken wing ($18 for six). Rice-based sets like the Har-ty Boneless Thigh Rice, or Saver Rice Box with prawn paste chicken wings, your choice of chicken rice or fries, achar ’slaw, cucumber and chicken rice chilli, are expected to cost between $6.90 to $9.80. Meanwhile, fries sets are priced from approximately $4.90 to $8.20.

Customers who order the rice sets can also top up for an extra fried egg, fries or popcorn chicken.

To celebrate its July 5 opening, a day before International Fried Chicken Day on July 6, Har Har Chicken! is running a promotion from July 5 to 7, where you can get a Har-ty Boneless Thigh Rice Box for free when you purchase a Har-ty Double Wing Fry Box.

Each customer is limited to one redemption while stocks last, and you will have to redeem the freebie by following the shop’s Instagram or Facebook page and showing it to the kiosk staff.

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Concept took two years to hatch

The pals took two years to craft their concept, with fried chicken being a common theme with them. Jianli’s restaurant Momma Kong’s had served zi char-style jumbo har cheong gai wings before it closed in 2021, while Bevin had experience in launching fried chicken brands like Phat Fingers, La Takorea and Southern Soul during his time at TiffinLabs. LG, Jianli and Bevin, who knew one another from their university days in the UK, eventually decided to focus on har cheong gai, with LG also roping his friend Lennard in.

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LG then came up with a base recipe for har cheong gai, and the partners went through “10 to 12 rounds of recipe-testing” before they agreed on the flavour. “We also debated and discussed what's suitable for the mass market,” LG tells 8days.sg.

He points out that there is a gap in the market to offer prawn paste chicken for individual diners. LG explains: “At zi char restaurants, it comes in big portions — 8, 10, 20 wings. So we offer flexibility in portion sizes. You want one wing, you can just buy a single wing. You can also have them as [popcorn chicken] to go!”

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The friends decided to open a mall kiosk for accessibility and to let customers tapow their food conveniently. “As a young vibrant startup, we are embracing the use of technology, from self-ordering systems to leveraging on delivery platforms and the use of social media marketing,” LG shares.

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After their Junction 8 outlet, they plan to open “three [more] outlets in premium central malls by this year”. LG adds: “Depending on the response from customers, we hope to hit all the major malls in Singapore in the future. There are no plans for a dine-in outlet for now, but we are receptive to public feedback. If there’s a demand for the product to be better enjoyed dine-in, we're open to the idea.”

But will he ever do an ‘atas’ fine-dining-style har cheong gai for his kiosk? LG replies: “The answer is no. For now, there is only one fine-dining in my heart, and that is Labyrinth!”

Har Har Chicken! opens July 5 at #B1-K15 Junction 8, 9 Bishan Pl, S579837. Open daily 10.30am-9.45pm. Facebook, Instagram

Photos: Har Har Chicken!

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