The Order:
Korean Fried Chicken. It’s the new KFC. Ok, not that new, but still not the first thing most people think of when they crave fried poultry. Today was a lovely Friday afternoon, perfect for pickup (especially when a restaurant doesn’t actually deliver to your office!), so we decided to place a six-person order from BonChon Chicken and make it a Friday Fried Chicken Feast. Figuring out the right amount to order was no easy task (unlike our last big order from CPK), so we decided it was time to go big or go home and we went big.
The complete run-down? Two Large Fried Chicken Lunches (both with French Fries, but one all soy garlic sauce and the other with half hot sauce), one order of Zucchini Fries, and one order of Kimchi Coleslaw. For those scoring at home, that gave us 8 drumsticks, 24 wings, and a whole lot of fries.
The Meal:
Three of us headed out into the sunshine and arrived at a surprisingly empty BonChon (Summer Fridays?). No matter. Our food was ready and waiting, neatly packed up in one big bag. By the time we got back to the office, the smell was overpoweringly delicious, but everyone had to be patient because sorting out all this food was not easy!
The calm before the storm
We set up a little buffet line, one of us put together a “perfect plate”, and it was time to chow down.
Perfect might be a bit strong, but you get the idea...
The universal verdict? High marks all around. Quotes like “This is my favorite fried chicken ever” and “If I were a chicken, this is how I would choose to be fried” were bandied about, but what about specifics? The flavoring in the skin was the key to the whole operation and that’s what kept us coming back for more. Sauce-wise, the original soy garlic was definitely more popular, partially because a few people thought that the hot sauce was bit too spicy… Meanwhile, the fries were both very greasy, but tasty. In particular, the Zucchini Fries (with special dipping sauce!) were a nice change of pace, but not exactly something I’d recommend if you need to fill in your food pyramid. Finally, the Kimchi Coleslaw added an interesting diversity of taste and texture, making it a welcome way to round out the meal.
My only issue with the food was temperature, as if it had been a little hotter, I know I would have loved it even more (maybe the distance from restaurant to office played a factor there?). On the whole though, BonChon Chicken was an excellent lunch and I can’t wait to get the gang together for round two. Try it for yourself and you’ll never look at fried chicken the same way again.
Check out BonChon Chicken’s menu (or try one of their 2 other SeamlessWeb locations on Chambers Street or John Street) and feel free to give us recommendations for future orders in the comments.