Restaurant Review: BonChon Chicken

You will never get enough of BonChon’s non-oily, yet crispy and crunchy chicken—it is truly yummy!
Restaurant Review: BonChon Chicken
A glimpse of BonChon: the restaurant has over 30 beers from all around the world. (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)
10/4/2010
Updated:
9/29/2015
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/bonchon_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/bonchon_medium.jpg" alt="A glimpse of BonChon: the restaurant has over 30 beers from all around the world.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)" title="A glimpse of BonChon: the restaurant has over 30 beers from all around the world.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-113539"/></a>
A glimpse of BonChon: the restaurant has over 30 beers from all around the world.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)
When you walk into BonChon on Fifth Avenue, what you see is neither a fried chicken restaurant nor a Korean restaurant.

What you do see is a nice bar with dozens of good beers from all over the world. You see delicious fried chicken coated with Korean garlic sauce. There’s a projector playing retro and pop music, which adds to the nicely furnished setting. A friendly staff greets you.

The theme is close to that of a sports club. BonChon represents a combination of great food and a fun atmosphere.

“Chicken that is tasteful and nutritiously enriched” is how BonChon describes itself. Indeed, a demanding and comprehensive double-frying process, organic fresh chicken and olive oil, and a final touch of garlic in the sauce all add up to the healthiness of BonChon’s chicken dishes.

BonChon’s dishes are cooked in a way that is different from the form of mass production that most fried chicken chains use. Chefs at BonChon put time and thought into each piece of chicken that is going to be served.

“You don’t know how much effort we put on it,” says Simon Lee, who was trained by professional BonChon chefs in Korea before opening the restaurant on Fifth Avenue.

Americans believe that an extra layer of buttermilk makes the crunchiness of chicken. But BonChon believes that good fried chicken comes primarily from good raw materials.

After 10 minutes of frying organic unseasoned chicken coated only with fine flour, BonChon chefs take the chicken out of the oil and shake the pieces carefully in a strainer for 10 minutes before putting them back in the oil. In this way, the crust won’t be overcooked while the chicken is still raw.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/bonchonchicken_henry285729_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/bonchonchicken_henry285729_medium.jpg" alt="The bulgogi wrap: A unique wrap filled with traditional Korean stir-fried beef Bulgogi.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)" title="The bulgogi wrap: A unique wrap filled with traditional Korean stir-fried beef Bulgogi.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-113540"/></a>
The bulgogi wrap: A unique wrap filled with traditional Korean stir-fried beef Bulgogi.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)
BonChon retains the purest taste of great chicken. In addition, the traditional Korean garlic or spicy sauce can be added to give it very special Asian flavor. You can try it at a small extra cost.

You will never get enough of BonChon’s non-oily, yet crispy and crunchy chicken—it is truly yummy! BonChon’s menu also includes a list of side dishes, starters, and snacks—both American and Korean style.

Though making BonChon chicken demands time, it takes only eight minutes to serve a normal order.

A big fan of sports, owner Simon Lee intends to make BonChon a high-end sports club restaurant. “When we have good fried chicken and soccer games, what else would we ever ask for?” said Lee.

Sounds like a winning combination!