We got the ball rolling with some Hot Spinach Jalapeno Dip with garlic and freshly made nacho chips. They do not scrimp on the cheese, or on any other goodies. This was followed by the Pork Pot Strips, a towering mountain of fried potato strips with tiny pork slices, fried basil sprinkled with paprika and homemade Cajun seasoning, and served with red pepper aioli dip. This dish is more fun to eat with your fingers.

Kani Crunch Salad with mango chili yoghurt dressing, boiled egg, red and white cabbage, romaine lettuce and wanton strips dusted with nori powder. Definitely a dish for weight watchers or those who are looking for something healthy. The crunch was provided by both the fried wanton strips and the cabbage and lettuce.

One thing I marveled about was how the food was perfect for all ages. Normally, restaurants usually have a kid’s menu as an alternative to the otherwise outsized or weird-looking-or-tasting dishes (in a child’s opinion) that adults crave. Things like the Spinach Jalapeno Dip and the Pork Pot Strips would be fantastic in a children’s party, but just as equally welcome among office workers sharing a drink or old friends getting together to reminisce over a bottle of pinot grigio.

A meaty Clam Chowder of potatoes, carrots and an almost illegal amount of cream served in a crispy bread bowl came next. I started noticing a pattern – no matter what was served, there was always something crunchy in the dish. In this instance, it was the bread of the bread bowl – I found myself tearing chunks of the bread to dip into the chewy, hearty soup. The crisp bread contrasted quite nicely with the chowder’s richness.

The main courses came like a fried freight train. The dishes came in quick succession. The Steak Frites – medium rare slices of steak with double fried French fries, butter, mustard, parsley and herb sauce started things off, with pink, juicy beef done just right and the fries crisp as dawn.

But the moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived – my chance to try the BFC Platter, their signature buttermilk fried chicken served with corn muffins, gravy and Chef Chiloy’s spiced honey. I would sample the fried chicken in neat little bites, first plain, then with a bit of the gravy drizzled on it, then with the honey and finally both the honey and gravy together. I must say, all four combinations worked out exceedingly well, although my personal preference is savory over sweet. That said, the honey and gravy combination is a work of brilliance – the sweetness of the honey becomes but a footnote while the gravy washes over it and turns it into a spicy mélange of flavor. As for the muffins, The Gambler himself would come down from Nashville for a bite, if he’d ever tried one.

No sooner than that, the KClub Sandwich arrived. A club sandwich of buttermilk fried chicken with fresh tomato slices, lettuce and mayo served with more fried potato strips, the KClub is big enough for either three normal-sized people for dinner or one Olympic athlete’s merienda. Another chicken variant was the Orange BFC – orange buttermilk fried chicken served with linguini and an orange slice garnish is like a Chinese sweet and sour done American-style. Personally, I’m not too fond of sweet and sour dishes, but for this, I’d make an exception, as the BFC goes well with the al dente linguini.

As if to assuage myself of all the guilt of trying all that fried evil goodness, the Miso Glazed Salmon with green tea soba noodles was served. This dish and the desserts were the only things that weren’t crunchy, but oh-so-sumptuous nonetheless, with the thick slab of salmon having the right balance of seasoning to complement the delicate hint of green tea in the summer-style cold soba noodles, sans ice.

Speaking of dessert, it came as a trifecta of toothsomeness in the form of a Chocolate Malt Cake, Ube Cake and Carrot Cake. The Chocolate Malt Cake was a winner, using a local version of Malteser chocolate malt balls by Goya but the Carrot Cake had that ambrosial verve much like Food for the Gods. However, the scene-stealer was the Ube Cake, tasting like fresh ube (and anyone who knows what fresh ube tastes like knows it’s as different from regular ube as Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is from Tom Holland’s – you can like both but they’re different either way) in mousse-like cream form.

I wouldn’t recommend eating all of that in one sitting lest it send you into a food coma.

It’s truly a food fight at the Kettle Koral, and it hits the spot, bullseye.