04-014 Dicos

04-014
Dicos

At the beginning of 2023, some excitements in fast food industry happened here. We saw another restaurant chain setting their feet on Hongkong. The name of the restaurant is Dicos. At the time of writing, it ranked 29^th on the Wikipedia list of largest fast food restaurant chains.

Dicos, a fast food chain from China

“What is Dicos? The 29^th largest fast food restaurant chain? Never heard.” I guess this would be the answer for most people. Yes, Dicos is not that international. It is a fast food restaurant chain originated from China. The restaurant is specialized in selling fried chicken and chicken burger. Dicos is very popular in mainland China and has almost as many restaurants as McDonald's. At the time of writing, there are more than 2500 Dicos nationwide. This is why it comes up on the list.

People nowadays like to mix politics with everything. After all those hassles in 2019, locals here have a mix feeling on Chinese brands. But I don’t care! I was overjoyed to see Dicos coming here. After hearing their opening news, I grabbed my friend to try their chicken together in no time.

First Dicos in the city, opened in North Point

Their first outlet was not opened in the Central Business District. It is in North Point, one of the old districts of Hongkong. Most residents in that area have a strong tie with China and they are normally pro-government. I am not sure if this is the reason for Dicos to choose North Point to open their first restaurant. And the restaurant is not large. It is a smart move indeed. There would not be much to lose if the business ended up failing.

However, the business is surprisingly good. It was already 8pm but the restaurant was almost full. We only managed to find a seat at the far end of the restaurant.

Cashier of Dicos, looks just like a normal fast food restaurant

The interior of Dicos looks similar to those of other fast food restaurants. Their food also look similar to those selling in KFC. But a closer look will show some differences. First, they don’t sell chicken breasts. You can find nuggets, legs and drumsticks but no breasts. And apart from the standalone shrimp patty burger, all other burgers are chicken. No beef, no pork, no vegetarian. Only chicken, chicken and shrimp, nothing else. And it also got some unique dishes such as the side dish “Chicken strips with cumin”. Cumin is a popular ingredient in the Xinjiang area of China.

The menus of Dicos. They also sell curry chicken rice.

I show you their menus so that you can also know their price.

We ordered chicken nuggets, the “Xinjiang” chicken strips, 5 pieces of fried chicken drumsticks, some French fries, and a cup of Pepsi. Food is nice. It tastes better than KFC’s but not as good as Jolly Bee’s. However, their ketchup is horrible. They don’t know how to make ketchup.

Our food -- Fried chicken drumsticks, Chicken nuggets,
Chicken strips with cumin, French fries and a cup of Pepsi

If you do not know (or care) about their background, Dicos is just another fast food restaurant. But the waiters are all from mainland. I can tell from their accent. And they speak with each other in Mandarin. Also, over half of the customers inside the restaurant speak Mandarin. I bet they are all from mainland China, being happy to find some ‘local’ food in this semi-foreign city.

Their Sichuan pepper powder is good. But the ketchup is horrible.

Do give Dicos a try if you got any chance to visit Hongkong or mainland China. You can find Dicos in Taiwan as well.

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