Korean fried chicken is an extremely popular food enjoyed worldwide. It is typically eaten as a meal, an appetizer, anju (food that is served and eaten with drinks), or craved midnight snack. Up until now, Bonchon in Allston has remained my favorite Korean fried chicken restaurant in the Greater Boston area. With quality chicken, a variety of perfected sauces, and a crispiness like no other, Bonchon is very well-received by Asians and non-Asians alike. The restaurant gets a lot of take out orders, mostly by college students who are looking for a quick bite to bring back to their apartments to eat with friends. From my memory of my most recent visit to Bonchon, the soy garlic topped all the other sauces. The sauce choices include soy garlic, hot sauce, and plain. Spice lovers may prefer the hot sauce over the soy garlic, however, I personally could not handle the spice paired with the hotness (temperature wise) of the chicken. The spiciness also prevented me from eating a lot of the wings, which destroyed the whole purpose of eating finger foods. Soy garlic proved to be the best sauce, especially when devoured with the side of radish. Radish is a necessary supplement to fried chicken, as it provides a cleanse to the, at times, overpowering flavors of sauces like soy garlic. I’m definitely the one always asking the server for seconds, as the refreshness of each bite adds so much more to the dish. One dish I ordered at Bonchon that blew me away, very unexpectedly, is the budae-jjigae or spicy sausage stew made with ham, sausage, spam, baked beans, kimchi and gochujang. Having gotten this at a lot at Korean restaurants in the past, I didn’t expect a restaurant that specialized in fried chicken to do the dish complete justice. However, I was wrong. The soup base, the most important aspect of budae-jjigae to me, had the perfect flavor of spiciness and also richness. I also tried their cheese tteokbokki which wasn’t as sensational, but was still enjoyable.
Last week, I tried the new BBQ Chicken restaurant in Allston which is actually owned by my dad’s friend. After my parents were unsuccessful in finding a restaurant that wasn’t completely booked that night in Seaport, they decided to pick me up and treat me to good Korean food. I was stunned by how BBQ Chicken’s take of Korean fried chicken differed immensely from Bonchon. BBQ Chicken is a franchise that was established in 1995 in Korea and was brought to the US in 2014. It’s popularity heightened immensely after the well-known kpop boy group, BTS, was the face of their brand. From the start, the restaurant itself had a fun and friendly environment and well-established theme similar to restaurants in Korea. My favorite from what we ordered was the Gangnam style wings as well as the Gang-Jeong boneless chicken. They closely resembled the taste of the Korean fried chicken I ate many years ago in Korea, filling me up with nostalgia. The crispiness was made to perfection and the quality of the chicken was outstanding. Overall, I appreciated the wide selection of chicken and the successful execution of bringing Korea to America.
