Noshwellmenu

[rating:3]

Prime Time Chicken is now located on Main near the corner of Hastings in what used to be a Chinese Bakery. It used to be somewhere near Gastown. We passed by it all the time but never ventured in. With a shiny new restaurant, the large red letters on the front windows of Prime Time Chicken and Chinese Food called out to us. I don’t know if it was the steaming hot containers stacked with heaps of fried chicken or the Chinese food or a combination of both, but something was telling us we needed to go in. Sometimes I wonder how we get ourselves into this mess. But we’re here, and we’re going to have ourselves some Prime Time Chicken.

(Clockwise: 1. KFC, eat your heart out. 2. Coke. The greasy meal’s best friend. 3. The Chinese food.)

Inside, we noticed the fried chicken on the left and Chinese food to the right. The back of the restaurant has a number of booths, and the restaurant feels like a hospital cafeteria. The cheap lighting, orange coloured booths and sickly baby blue tables makes me slightly nauseous. It’s not the tidiest place to dine, but we’ve seen worse.

A petite, youngish girl donning a white triangle chef’s hat asks for our order. The menu is small and simple: chicken, fries, poutine, salad and ice cream. Did I mention this place is cheap? Our three piece chicken (two thighs and one drum sticks) and home cut fries with a side of gravy and coke came to just $6.50. Our meal was served on orange cafeteria tray. A cheap paper plate holds our fried chicken and a little styrofoam cup is filled with gravy.

(Clockwise: 1. Prime Time Chicken on Main Street. 2. Gravy. 3. Home cut fries.)

We head to the back and bravely sit down. The chicken is surprisingly juicy and seasoned well. The skin is nice and crunchy but slightly chewy. The home cut fries were decent — crisp and well seasoned. The gravy was surprisingly tasty. I’m pretty sure the gravy is instant and is loaded with sodium but at this point who cares — they tasted good with the fries.

At $6.50, our meal was darn cheap and tasted alright. We didn’t try the Chinese food, nor did we want to. But it was clearly popular with the locals. Line ups were forming as we headed out. We would probably consider returning to Prime Time Chicken if we happen to be in the area. Next time, however, we’ll grab it to go instead.

Perfect for: Cheap, greasy, fried poultry and home cut fries. Preferably to go.

The Details

416 Main Street Vancouver, BC
604.568.6999

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