BB.Q Chicken Returns to Convoy

Back in the fall of last year B(est of the) B(est) Q(uality) Chicken returned to San Diego taking the spot of a Convoy institution Ichiro's. Now honestly, I wasn't all that thrilled as my experiences  with the chicken at the former location. The chicken had a strange fishiness, that even the Missus could make out. So I really wasn't in a rush to check them out.

But then, my good "FOYs" Candice and "Xiāngjiāo" mentioned how much they enjoyed the chicken from bb.q; though that was tempered on the other end of things by my other "FOY" ChrisR who was kind enough to email me:

"Too much breading and not enough meat on the wings, though the proportion was okay with the legs. The soy-garlic sauce was blunt, overpowering, and, bizarrely, faintly sweet."

So, ok....looks like I had to check them out.

Just to be clear; each time I visited, I placed online orders......and each time I still had to wait when arriving at my given time; actually, on my last visit, I purposely arrived 10 minutes late....which made me worried about my wings just sitting cooling their heels....well, I guess chicken don't have heels...let's call it "cooling their metatarsals"....but I ended up waiting another 10 minutes for my food. Guess lunch business is booming?

On my first visit; I really wanted to "taste the chicken". That is, just breaded and fried without all the sauces and such. Unfortunately, wings were not available prepared that way, so I ordered the Golden Original Boneless (8 pieces $13.59). I also was curious about the Kimchi Fried Rice ($12.99). Man, almost thirty bucks for lunch!

I actually really enjoyed the Kimchi Fried Rice.

 It looked quite dark and that egg was overcooked for my taste, though the edges were nice and crisp. I really enjoyed the smoky spice, it was nicely seasoned, good pickly-fermented tones and decent saltiness. This was a nice version that I'd gladly have again.

As for the chicken......

 On the good side; unlike the chicken at the former "bb.q" there was no fishiness. The chicken was somewhat unevenly breaded, though it was nice and crunchy. In my opinion, this needed more seasoning as I thought it to be fairly bland and it seemed to have been fried fairly "hard" as the meat was on the dry side. At least it wasn't greasy.

The pickled radish, while a bit on the sweet side helped to cut the "fry-o-lated" flavors....

In some ways, at least in my opinion this was a much improved version of BB.Q Chicken. And of course, since I try to do more than one visit before posting, I returned and this time ordered the Ddeok-Bokki ($12.99) and got the Soy Garlic Wings (8 pieces $14.99)....man, who'd have thought we'd see the day when 8 wings cost like fifteen bucks???

As for the Ddeok-Bokki.

This was seriously not to my liking; the rice cakes were under-cooked and hard. I also like a nice coating on the Ddeok-Bokki, but this was more like a broth, which other than having some spice was really weak and watery. I'll pass on this in the future.

As for the wings.

The wings weren't evenly coated in sauce and I found the breading to be more hard then crunchy. The sticky sauce had barely any garlic flavor and was more cloying sweet than anything else. I'd prefer a more balanced flavor and more savory tones as well. The chicken, like on my previous order was also on the dry side. The drumettes were on the large side which threw off my preferred batter/skin to meat ratio, especially since the meat was on the dry side.

Still, my friends really liked this place so I decided to give them one more try. I wasn't in the mood to dish out thirty bucks for lunch so I just ordered the Spicy Galbi Wings.

Perhaps in some way, the third time was the charm. The wings were still more hard than crunchy, though the meat was quite moist this time around. While still being on the overly sticky and sweet side, things were somewhat balanced out by a mild spiciness and savory notes. Also note that the drumettes on this visit were on the smaller side which I prefer. So, if I ever come back, I'll try something inline with this flavor profile.

Overall, I find the breading on the wings here to be on the overly hard side. I also think the glazes used are on the sweeter side and lacking balance. Though I guess it's all about personal preferences. You just might enjoy the wings here like Soo does. So, give them a try and let me know what you think.

bb.q Chicken
4344 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 1130am - 9pm
Fri - Sat 1130am - 10pm
Suday 12pm - 9pm

Comments

[Jason]

Speaking of Korean fried chicken, the trend is moving northward. Both Bonchon and Cross Street have moved into the Carmel Valley area although fortunately in different malls. Glad to see that the KFC trend has taken off although I wonder if we're hitting peak saturation.

[kat]

at least the fried rice was okay

[Kirk]

Hi Jason - I do think we've hit "critical mass" with regards to KFC....though I definitely prefer that trend to the "hot chicken" thing. I've notice a definite trend on businesses opening up "north" and will hopefully get around to cehcking those out once I'm convinced that we're in the endemic stage for Covid.

Yes, that fried rice was quite good Kat!

[Som Tommy]

I thought the chicken wings were way to sweet.

[Loren]

Honestly it's one of my favorite places to go for Korean Fried Chicken and easily beats Bonchon and Calvin's which had been the previous leaders. The Galbi wings were outstanding and honestly we just liked the pure fried chicken as having a great salty and savory taste. It also doesn't hurt it was in the gateway drug to my wife and I getting into K-Drama (don't judge me lol). Perhaps we need some kind of 'great Korean chicken off'?

The fried rice also made for a delicious lunch on monday - though I don't understand why or how CHEESE became a thing everywhere in Korean food. Maybe someone can help me with it?

[Kirk]

Me too ST!

I prefer lighter and crisp wings Loren, the batter is a bit too hard and the sauces too sweet and sticky; though my friends really like the place. If I recall cheese found its way onto the Korean after the US military occupation and later globalization - probably much like Spam in Hawaii.

https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2020/03/17/how-cheese-changed-korean-cuisine

Glad you found a go-to KFC place!

[Soo]

That's great you tried a bunch of flavors. I always get the original.

[Kirk]

Yeah, I wanted to try some of the other flavors to get a nice "range" Soo!