Cambodians love fried chicken. When I lived there we used to joke about it and call it KFC – Khmer Fried Chicken. They love it. With good reason – fried stuff stuff tastes good! They don’t have hipsters in Cambodia, but from the look of the crowd at Belle’s Hot Chicken in Fitzroy, any hipster would be right at home in downtown Phnom Penh, enjoying the gastronomic delights of the deep fried chook.

Belle’s is in my neighbourhood so I decided to head there for a solo dinner on Saturday night – that sounds a bit sad doesn’t it, dinner alone on a Saturday? Ah well, we can’t get hung up on these things, so there I was perched at the bar ordering a glass of Arneis (apparently ‘little rascal’ in Piemontese) while I contemplated how spicy to order my chicken (it comes in Southern, Medium, Hot, Really hot, Really F**kin hot). I got medium, which it turns out isn’t spicy at all, with a side of broccoli and almond salad. The chicken was good. Better than the Colonel’s obviously, and not too greasy (they soak that up on a bed of sliced white bread which presumably, people also eat. Being a glutard I did not, risking my exposure to the enemy protein to just the chicken batter). Yum yum! How good is fried chicken!

The salad could have been better – the slivers of almonds were a bit light on and the dressing could have been a bit more exciting – but it was ok. I might have ordered fries but had already eaten a big pile of them somewhere else at lunch time, so thought that I should get some vegies in. I don’t know what sides the hipsters get.

I’m no hipster, but next time I want to eat fried chicken, I know where I’ll go.