Bonchon Revisited

It's funny how timing and seasonality will drive our cravings. One real interesting thing, at least for me with having the Big List is to notice habits. For instance, I was recently wondering how Bonchon was doing and decided to drop by for the lunch special....if it still existed. When I took a look at the list, I noticed that all my visits were in January. Granted one of them was a take out visit....but that was in January as well! And I also realized that I hadn't been to Bonchon in three years!

So, I decided to drop by for lunch and arrived a few minutes after 11. Man, the exterior of the place is looking kinda worn down.

It was almost strange to see tables and chairs in the place. The last time I was here, everything was stacked and moved to the side, making it a huge cavernous space.

I went and ordered what I'd enjoyed the most during my visits; the lunch special 8 piece wings soy-garlic, with pickled radish as the side, now priced at $13.45. For some reason, I was craving kimchi, I hadn't ever tried it at Bonchon, so I went with a side order ($3.15). The young man working was very efficient and quite nice. And soon enough my wings arrived.

    Man, I forgot how much mul kimchi is provided. These weren't as sweet as I recalled and provided and was a good foil for the sweetness in the wings.

The baechu kimchi actually wasn't bad. Slightly fermented, good spice, I was rather surprised.

 As for the wings; well it's a personal preference; I prefer crisp over highly battered and too crunchy. I enjoy smaller wings with a good skin to meat ratio, rather than jumbo, meaty, and often dry wings. This is why I had enjoyed getting the wings from Bonchon. So, how did these fare? Well, it seemed to be more "sauced" than I recall, though it was evenly coated. The sauce seemed a bit sweeter as well, I would have enjoyed a bit more pungency. The coating was crisp, but I'm glad I had this onsite since I don't think it would have stood up as takeout. The wings were moist, the meat tender, though I did see some black spotting, which can lead to off flavors, but this was fine. And for some reason, it brought back memories of our "KFC" visits to places like Kkanbu and Mirak in Seoul.

Well, in the end, perhaps I'll find a new K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) place in the future, but for now Bonchon will do just fine for a yearly (January) fix!

Bonchon
4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So, tell me, where are you getting your "KFC" fix these days?

Comments

[kat]

nice

[Som Tommy]

Haven’t been in a while. Need to get that lunch special

[Franklin]

I’m going to grab Tommy and eat some wings today

[Loren]

Gotta go back there sometime, they were the first real KFC kind of place I ever tried in San Diego and they remain an OG favorite for me. Thanks for the reminder of this little gem.

[Soo]

Pelicana is my favorite https://www.hungryones.com/2022/11/pelicana-chicken/

[Kirk]

I enjoyed it Kat!

Hope you like it ST!

Lol Franklin, enjoy!

Yes, I've always their style of KFC Loren.

I wasn't too fond of the super crunchy batter Soo, but I gotta get back there one of these days.

[Kim B]

My favorite is B.B.Q chicken. I believe there is a location in San Diego

[Kirk]

Hi Kim - Yes, we've got a BB.Q Chicken here. This is actually the second iteration of the chain and it's better than when it was previously here:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2022/03/bbq-chicken-returns-to-convoy.html

It great hearing from you and hope all is well!
Thanks for the recommendation!

[Franklin]

Tommy and I went on Friday. It was ono

[Kirk]

Glad you enjoyed Bonchon Franklin!

[TimberMTBbells]

Have you tried Don Chicken in Encinitas? Probably not a part of San Diego you'd expect to find great KFC, but my wife and I recently gave it a try and were really impressed with their crispy, juicy chicken and good prices. The place itself is very low key, in an out of the way shopping plaza. I ordered the chicken sandwich lunch special with crinkle cut fries and a drink for $12.99. And my wife had the chicken katsu plate with rice and cole slaw ($15.99). We also had the picked daikon salad. It was all quite good. The owner seemed like a nice guy. He told us it's a Korean chain with hundreds of locations in Asia, but only a few in the USA. Apparently, this is the first Don Chicken in all of California. I'd love to hear what other people think. Thanks!

[Kirk]

Hey Mr T! Yes, I have Don Chicken on my list. I just don't get up there too often these days. Thanks for taking the time out to comment!