It’s Halloween. It’s also Wednesday. With an invitation to its Halloween Bacardi Party, it gave us an opportunity to try Indochine Kitchen + Bar. Rumour says it’s owned by the son of Phnom Penh’s owner. And it so happens that Wednesday is half-price wing day — now there’s no excuse to not go and order some wings.
Food
So we did. We started with the Garlic Butter Chicken Wings, which is the most popular flavour out of the 3 wing flavours. Although not advertised, from the chopped garlic and chili to the pepper lemon sauce, it’s hard to deny that it’s like a replica of Phnom Penh’s Deep Fried Chicken Wings (which, in case you forgot, didn’t really impress us).
Garlic Butter Chicken Wings – Garlic chips and lemon pepper dipping sauce
Honestly, I liked these ones more than Phnom Penh’s. They were well seasoned, garlicy with a nice kick to it. They were piping hot as they arrived at the table, with crispy skin indicating that they were fresh out of the fryer. The size of wings is smaller than Phnom Penh but I didn’t mind. It was my favourite flavour of the evening as well.
Mr., on the other hand, preferred the Honey Garlic Wings. The quick toss in the honey garlic sauce didn’t make the wings soggy; they remained crispy with a coating of sweetness and diced garlic. I quite liked it too, but to me, I feel that this flavour is much easier to create since it’s like the honey garlic ribs that most Chinese restaurants serve.
Honey Garlic Wings – Glazed with a honey garlic sauce.
The last flavour is the Sriracha Buffalo Wings. Hmm not very impressed. It was a very thin buffalo sauce, with extra tang from the Sriracha sauce. It’s very spicy, but that’s about it. Dipping in the ranch sauce helps taking away the heat.
Sriracha Buffalo Wings – Traditional buffalo wings marinated with Sriracha hot sauce
Our friends TJ and CL each ordered a main dish. TJ likes Vietnamese food, so he picked Lemongrass Chicken, which he said was not bad.
Lemongrass Chicken – Vietnamese style lemongrass grilled chicken, Vietnamese ham, and a salad of tomato and cucumber on rice with fish vinaigrette on the side.
CL chose Coconut Red Curry. While it’s probably not the authentic Thai red curry, there was a generous serving of beef brisket in the pot. With both entrees under $10 each, I thought they were pretty good deal.
Coconut Red Curry – Thai style red coconut curry stew with beef brisket. Served with rice.
Attending the Halloween party gave us a couple of complimentary drinks each. We all ordered the Mai Tai (well, I ordered it first, then convinced the three guys to follow suit haha). It was refreshing, a little bit sweet yet you can still taste the spiced rum. Recommend you ordering that at Indochine the next time you visit.
Mai Tai – Oakheart Spiced Rum, lime juice, club soda
Service
It’s difficult to judge its service level because it was a party. Different setup altogether. It was busy, with music pumping in the background and guests having a great time. Food did take sometime to come out but at least you know they’re freshly made.
Final Thoughts
Wings are half-price on Wednesdays, which means $4.75 per plate (approximately 8-9 wings). That’s a very good deal, especially if you order the Garlic Butter Chicken Wings — you get to enjoy what’s similar to Phnom Penh’s chicken wings, minus the long wait at the door. Not really a fan of “Asian restaurants”, but I wouldn’t mind going back to try its main dishes.
Indochine Kitchen + Bar
1 East Broadway, Vancouver
604-568-0828
indochinekitchen.ca
VanFoodies.com 
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