Pelicana Chicken (Balboa Avenue)

I noticed that Pelicana Chicken was opening in a post last month, the latest in the "KFC invasion" of the Kearny Mesa area. In fact, I think there are more places serving KFC than pho in the area these days! Then just a few weeks later, while running some errands, I noticed that Pelicana was in soft opening mode. So, the next time I had some late errands to run (Pelicana currently opens at noon), I decided to stop by and do a takeout order.

I parked and walked into the shop and was greeted in a very cheerful and smiling manner. I was told that the place had only been open for less than a week at this time. So even though the place opened at noon, it was empty.

I know prices like this are pretty much the norm these days, but the amounts on the menu still gave me pause.

I placed my order and was told 30 minutes. So I made a quick Nijiya run and returned. I waited another 5 minutes and my order was good to go. At least it wasn't sitting around, right. 

I was wondering how the wings would hold up on the drive home, so I ordered the 9 piece Original Fried Wings ($15) and got the Original Sauce on the side which added another $1.50. It's free if you order it on the chicken. 

   The chicken held up quite well after the drive home. This batter is more of the "laquer" type and it was still quite crunchy. Not much seasoning though, so it really needs a sauce. The sauce came in a presealed container and was like a sweet (emphasis on "sweet") chili sauce that was kind of weak overall.

The Mul Kimchi was also provided in a presealed container.

   

This was not as crisp as I enjoy and much too sweet. Man, read that ingredient label. You know, sometimes I'd rather not know. It has sodium saccharin and aspartame, i.e. Equal®, and sugar (glucose) no wonder it's so sweet. Oh, and in case you didn't get your daily allowance of aspartame and want an extra one of these....well, that'll be $1.50.

I also considered getting the Sea Snail Salad, but really didn't want to pay another $24, so I just went with an order of fries ($6). As well as the wings held up on the drive home, the fries were a total fail.

You can tell by the color, these weren't fried enough. It was dry and they barely seasoned it at all.

Well, at least the chicken wings held up quite well.

A week later, I decided to give Pelicana another go. This time I decided to have the wings sauced and I figure I'd cover myself by ordering the "Crispy" Chicken Wings ($16) and went with the Soy Based Sauce. The young man working was awesome and efficient and I did the same Nijiya run. Timing was great as my order was approaching the counter as I walked into the restaurant. 

These wings are more heavily battered.

 The wings were somewhat unevenly battered, the pieces on the top were quite crunchy, but for some strange reason, even though I liked the fact this wasn't swimming in sauce, the bottom pieces had gone mushy. For some reason, the meat of the wings were drier as well. This soy based sauce was also too sweet for my taste.

Personally, I prefer the "original" prep to the "crispy", which is actually more "crunchy".

I'll chalk these visits up to the "soft opening" for now. Though the presentation, menu, and food has a definite corporate "feel", the folks working were very pleasant. We'll see what things are like in a couple of months.

Please read Soo's post here.

Pelicana Chicken
7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 12pm - Midnight
Fri - Sat 12pm - 1am

Comments

[Junichi]

There sure is more KFC joints than Pho around Convoy these days. Ironic how the original was crunchier than the crispy.

[kat]

hope they can improve by the next time you go

[Kenneth]

Meh. Another chain opening in San Diego. I do my best to avoid all of them and just get my meals from locally owned joints. Their prices certainly don't seem like any kind of bargain either.

[Kirk]

I don't think having all of those KFC places is sustainable Junichi....we'll see. It seems like the sauce did in the "crispy" version.

I hope so too Kat!

Yep, I'd much rather support local Kenneth. I thought the prices here are on the high end.

[Soo]

Thanks for the link Kirk! You should try the chicken there. I enjoyed the chicken more there versus take out.

[Kirk]

I'm going to do that in a couple of months Soo. Though I don't think it'll make things less "overly sweet" at least it should help the texture. Though those fries were terrible.