Dining Spotlight: BonChon

What’s twice-fried and covered in soy garlic and hot sauce all over? Answer: Chinatown’s most talked-about new dinner entree. Korean-style restaurant franchise BonChon recently opened its first Philadelphia location at 1020 Cherry Street, and ever since, the crowds have been unrelenting. BonChon’s concept was first produced in 2002 in South Korea. Since its start, founder Jinduk Seh has expanded the brand internationally, planting dozens of Korean fried chicken establishments throughout the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and the U.S., where it is headquartered in New York City. The popularity of their budding outpost has certainly manifested itself at their newest location, which has been so packed since its soft opening on Valentine’s Day weekend that management has temporarily terminated both lunch hours and the option of take-out service by phone.

This bi-level hangout tucked away on Cherry Street is small but lively, with dozens of televisions channeling in an eclectic combination of sports and K-pop music videos. There’s a bar downstairs, and the booth and table seating on both floors gives off a kind of upscale/urban diner vibe. BonChon offers decent drink specials, like $15 pitchers and $7 Johnnie Walker/Green Tea Cocktails on Thursdays, but it’s the chicken that keep fans flocking. Guests can choose between wings, drumsticks, and strips (or various assortments of the three) in sizes small, medium, large, and X-large. Each piece is coated with a praiseworthy sweet and savory soy garlic sauce, or mouth-burningly hot, yet deliciously addictive hot sauce. For now, guests are encouraged to place their orders for chicken as soon as they’re seated, since these babies are in popular demand and can take up to 45 minutes to be served. (For the record? 100% worth it.)

Though the Korean fried chicken is BonChon’s crowning glory, it’s menu is filled with numerous other winning dishes. The Bibimbop is a local fave – BonChon offers this signature Korean dish of steamed rice, vegetables, and red pepper paste, served in a pot with a choice of bulgogi, spicy chicken, seafood or tofu. Their Shrimp Shumai was drizzled with a lip-smacking dijon sauce, and the Avocado Salmon Ball was almost too good to share between two people, with forkfuls of crabmeat, cucumber and tobiko coated in spicy mayo and unagi sauce. For a happy hour or dinner experience that’s wholly satisfying, we absolutely recommend a visit to Chinatown’s newest restaurant!

Check out their full menu of items here, and be sure to follow BonChon Philadelphia on Facebook, where hopefully we’ll hear news of their phone take-out and lunch options being restored soon! Do you prefer your wings sweet, spicy or super hot? Share your pick in the comments!