Phat Jack: Korean-owned hawker with juicy fried chicken & thick burgers in One Punggol Hawker Centre
Punggol’s first hawker centre made waves when it first opened back in December 2022, and since, One Punggol Hawker Centre has seen throngs of old and young alike flocking to its stalls for a quick and affordable meal. One of the stalls that caught my attention in particular was Phat Jack.
Phat Jack is a stall selling Korean fried chicken and burgers. Its vibrant red sign gives the stall a modern look, and its menu, containing only chicken, burgers and sides, is relatively straightforward too.
I paid Phat Jack a visit on a Friday afternoon, in which the hawker centre was packed with patrons, making it hard to find a seat. The stall was also only being manned by a single staff, so I had to wait for around 15 minutes for the staff to finish preparing the previous order before even getting my order taken. After which, I had to wait another 50 minutes for my order to be ready.
While the long wait left me feeling a little impatient, I was still excited to finally receive my food.
What I tried at Phat Jack
I ordered 4 items on Phat Jack’s menu, starting with the Yangnyeom Fried Chicken Burger Set (S$7.20), consisting of a boneless fried chicken thigh coated in in-house Yangnyeom glaze and homemade slaw sandwiched between brioche buns.
The wrapping around the burger was dripping with the slaw sauce. The fried chicken within the burger was thick and I was excited to take a bite.
The Yangnyeom Fried Chicken Burger was certainly a messy dish to savour, but I enjoyed it all the same. The fried chicken had a crispy exterior while its meat was succulent and juicy. The slaw added a bit of extra crunch to the burger, and also provided it with a bit of sweetness.
The fries on the side were very average, and tasted like regular frozen fries. The star of the Yangnyeom Fried Chicken Burger Set was definitely the burger, and I thought that it was quite well-priced.
The King Oyster Mushroom Beef Burger Set (S$8.60) was the priciest out of the 3 burgers available on Phat Jack’s menu. Filled with a grilled US smashed beef patty, teriyaki king oyster mushrooms, caramelised onions, pickled daikon radish, cheese and Yangnyeom sauce, I expected the burger to be a little thicker than it actually was.
I loved the various elements within the burger that added layers of dimension to it, with sweetness from the onions and pickled daikon radish, and the savoury flavours of the cheese and yangnyeom sauce.
The beef patty was meaty and not too dry, while the oyster mushrooms were nice and fresh. I did find that the burger was a little more average in taste as compared to the previous Yangnyeom Fried Chicken Burger, though, and did not stand out much from other burger places.
The Wingettes & Drumettes were the biggest highlight of my meal at Phat Jack. The fried chicken wings were available in two flavours: Yangnyeom and Soy Garlic, and could be purchased in sets of 6 pieces for S$6.80, 12 pieces for S$12.80 and 18 pieces for S$19.80.
I opted to try both flavours, and upon opening the boxes of wings, I was surprised at the amazing generosity of the sauce. Not only did the sauces fully coat the chicken pieces, there were even pools of sauce at the bottom of the boxes!
Perhaps the long waiting time could be attributed to the freshness of the fried chicken, as each piece was super juicy, hot and crispy. The Yangnyeom wings had a slight spicy kick to them, that nicely balanced out the sweetness of the sauce. The Soy Garlic flavour was delicious too, with a hint of a caramelised taste within.
The Wingettes & Drumettes were certainly worth the price, though I’m not sure if I’d wait for almost an hour for them again.
Finally, I tried Jack’s Skinny Cheese Fries (S$4.50). The cheese covering the fries was blowtorched, giving it a slightly charred surface.
The fries themselves were not that outstanding as they tasted like regular skinny fries, and because of the waiting time, they had become a little cold by the time I picked them up from the stall. However, the cheese element made this dish stand out, as instead of just using nacho cheese, like many other stalls, Phat Jack added real cheese. The blowtorched cheese had a barbecued aroma and the portion of fries was very generous too.
For just S$4.50, I found this dish to be a steal.
Final thoughts
The main issue plaguing my experience at Phat Jack was the incredibly long waiting time, which was further exacerbated by the fact that there was only one staff manning the stall. While I had the time to wait for my dishes to be prepared, patrons in a rush may struggle with the waiting time.
The food itself, however, was fantastic and priced relatively affordably. Perhaps the long waiting time was an anomaly that only happened on the day of my visit, so hopefully future patrons won’t experience something similar. I’d suggest for there to be a more efficient system in place, such as allowing customers to place pre-orders online, in order to avoid long waiting times.
I think that in the future, if I were in the area and I had the time to wait for the food, I would dine at Phat Jack again.
Expected damage: S$6.80 – S$10.60 per pax
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