Chicken Wing Wednesday - Bonchon

I was quite excited to hear that Bonchon was coming to San Diego. I don't think we've had good K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) in our fine city. I've visited solo and with folks from work four times since they opened at the end of the year.

I'm not sure if it was because we had lunch here....but Bonchon was fairly empty on all my visits.

I had consistently good service on all my visits; though I could do without the blaring K-pop.

The other thing that has been consistent is the chicken wings. The classic "KFC" twice fry method is used here, rendering the excess fat and creating a nice, pleasant, lacquered crunch, without having overdone the batter.

On all visits; the wings have been moist, the meat glistening, with no off dark spots, or broken bones.

Also, kudos for using wings that aren't gigantic, keeping a nice ratio of skin/batter and meat. What made me even more happy was the inclusion of wing tips, which were great for gnawing. One of the bozos I ate with mentioned that adding the tips were making the wings seem more weighty....until I pointed out to Einstein that we weren't paying for this by the pound.

The sauces were much like what I've had at other KFC places in the US and Korea. The spicy tends to be very one-dimensional and the soy-garlic tends to be on the sweeter side.

After the third visit; I decided to just get the soy garlic easy on the sauce. Which suited me just fine and let the pickled radish refresh my palate.

One other thing; I found the wings to be evenly glazed on all my visits as well.

You know; I think I still prefer Kyochon….but maybe I just need to do a comparison. Regardless; I enjoyed the wings.

One of the reasons for going with other folks is to be able to check out items on the menu.

So here goes.

The Seasoned Fries. Had this twice; both times it was seasoned nicely; the cheese adding a milky-salty component. Consistency though, goes both ways.

While the dusting adds a nice crunch; the fries were really dry both times I tried these.

The Bulgogi "Tacos" were more like pseudo-salad wraps. The flour tortilla had the texture of cardboard.

The bulgogi in this case was really bland and not marinated long enough and really didn't bring enough flavor to things.

We had two different fried rice; the bulgogi (the guys just wouldn't give up on the bulgogi) fried rice(sorry, photo didn't turn out) was so bland; it really needed some oomph. The Kimchi-Bacon Fried Rice, while in need of more fermented-savory kimchi sauce, was quite satisfying.

As you can tell by the color; it needed more of the kimchi juice; but the bacon did well....though if they'd put in some Spam...… Still, not bad.

The Japchae was passable.

The noodles were stretchy and chewy. There was enough soy-garlic sauce on this; without killing me with sweetness. The meat was too tough and lacked much flavor....there was also a light metallic edge to the flavor as well.

It's nice to finally have a good Korean Fried Chicken shop in town. Liked the service, the wings are fried to order, and have been consistent across my four visits. I'm not sold on anything other than the wings. But heck, this is a KFC shop, right?

Please check out Kirbie's and Soo's post on Bonchon as well.

Bonchon
4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 1130am - 3pm, 5pm - 10pm
Fri - Sat   1130am - 3pm, 5pm - 11pm
Sunday      4pm - 9pm

Comments

[kat]

nice! I think they have a shop in Kapolei too.

[Soo]

That's cool the wings are up to your standards. I like the wings with the reduced amount of sauce too.

[Junichi]

I walked by a few times at night and the place was packed on each occasion. Can't go wrong with wings and beer. I remember the first time I had KyoChon. Those wings were addicting.

[caninecologne]

Have been meaning to check this place out. I've only had Kyochon.

[Dereck]

Thanks Kirk. I've been stupidly and lazily stopping at Cross Street over the past year or so for the most uninspired KFC, yearning for the real thing. I will swing by here.

[Dereck]

also, just as a very minimal side note, I was frustrated eternally by the wing tips last night at Kin Khao in SF, with not particularly tender or crispy wings, so there might be a little bit of leeway on that point. ;-)

[RedDevil]

Another new KFC place opened in the Atlas market in Poway.
I haven’t been to Bonchon though so can’t compare.

[Kirk]

Yes they do Kat!

The soy-garlic is a bit too sweet; so easy on the sauce works rather well Soo. Unless I'm there with my coworkers.

I hope you get to check them out soon Junichi! Wings and beer.....a perfect combo!

Check them out Dereck! Let me know what you think! Too bad about those wings at Kin Khao. How was the rest of the meal.

Is that Furaido RD? I have it on my "list".

[Dereck]

Kin Khao was definitely not your typical thai place. I don't know that I would have guessed that they had a Michelin star if I wasn't told beforehand. Nam Tok Beans were fantastic and almost crispy, squid was perfect in a garlic heavy acid sauce, and a beef cheek curry stew was ho hum.

It's worth a visit I think if you are in the area, and it's about $20 per dish, so cheaper than other starred restaurants I have been to (other than in Spain)

[RedDevil]

Yes, Furaido.

[Kirk]

I'm not sure if you saw my post on Kin Khao Dereck....it was good, but definitely not Michelin Star in terms of execution/food/service. I kinda thought of it being hipter-fusiony and actually enjoyed Mourad more.

I have it on my list RD!

[caninecologne]

Ha ha...your fried rice had three cucumber slices as depicte on their menus. We had two kinds today (along with our wings), the bulgogi and seafood rice. Two cucumber slices. Cutting corners already? Ha ha.

[Kirbie]

Funny, Mr. K has been bugging me for a return visit everyday this past week. I am glad we finally have a good KFC place in SD.

[Kirk]

Hopefully, the fried rice was ok...in spite of being shorted one slice of cucumber CC.

Sounds like Mr K needs his "fix" Kirbie! ;o)

[caninecologne]

We really enjoyed the fried chicken much more than the rice but we wanted to give it a try. Loved the crispy batter and skin. Need to return with Bert and the teen.

[Kirk]

I'm sure Bert will enjoy the chicken CC.