Cheers Cut

With Hot Star leading the way in the Chicken Schnitzel game, a new competitor has emerged with not only chicken but Giant Squid.  Cheers Cut has hit the market further trying to infiltrate the Australian food scene with Taiwanese cuisine.

We started off with the Giant Squid. It was a bit of a shame that the squid comes all diced up as opposed the picture displayed on the front counter. I peered into the kitchen to watch them slowly defrost a large packet of frozen squids all stuck together... which was a bit off putting.

Price wise vs quality I think this is very good value and quite frankly delicious treat you can get from this store. The portion size was generous especially for the price you pay and made a great hawker style snack to compliment it's theme.

Then there was the obligatory order of their Fried Chicken just so I can compare it to Hot Star. What Cheers Cut does offer is the choice of smothering your chicken with more seasoning to make it crispier or their sauce range to make it soggier. We stood around hesitating through the choices and she made a suggestion of their Taiwanese Teriyaki which we happily agreed. The chicken was of a decent calibre (tender and succulent)  but that sauce really ruined the experience. It made the chicken so salty it was close to unbearable... and so much so we ended up doggy bagging it just so I can pair it with some rice. 

Cheers Cut promises that they use 100% Chicken Breast that is not processed. So there should be no preservatives or additives and the chicken is not frozen chicken. All the chicken are cooked once an order is made.

I personally love this little area of Chatswood, dubbed The District. Essentially a nicer food court of slightly higher end food calibre as opposed to the usual "fast food" influences of a traditional food court. Cheers Cut store front has a lot going for it. I think based on its appearance I was more than happy to give it a go despite no-one lining up or any type of suggestions. Sometimes I subconsciously do judge books by their covers.

Cheers Cut has plans to open five stores over Sydney before the year's out and potentially more if the support is there. They do have an offering of other Taiwanese dishes that I probably would not go back to try (only because the cuisine itself is something I don't thoroughly enjoy) but I will go back and give their chicken a second chance and possibly with a different sauce pairing. With fair prices, great staff and fantastic store front... there's definitely got some key ingredients there to becoming a possible great franchise.