Chicken with that tender touch
Three American university alumni bring South Korea's famed Bonchon poultry to Bangkok
Deep-fried chicken is a favourite treat for all meat lovers – especially kids – and now it comes without the grease thanks to Bonchon Chicken, the Bangkok franchise of the popular South Korean fast food joint.
Opened in 2002 in Busan, Bonchon Chicken was an overnight success as hungry Koreans rushed to dine on the crunchy-on-the-outside and juicy-on-the-inside wings that were fried twice to cut down on the grease.
But what made Bonchon really different from American-style deep fried chicken was that each piece was individually blended with spices and sauces before being fried and then served with a selection of sweet, salty soy and hot sauce. Customers were invited to choose their favourite chicken parts – wing, drumstick and boneless breast – and to enjoy Korean-style side dishes as part of a set.
Today, Bonchon has 12 branches in South Korea and more than 20 franchised outlets in the US as well as in the Philippines and Indonesia.
In Bangkok, the franchise belongs to Pornpimol Wongsirikul and two of her pals. They opened their first branch at Seenspace community mall on Soi Thonglor and quickly attracted local residents, expats and alumni of several American universities.
“I first tasted Bonchon chicken while I was studying in America. It’s very popular and there are many branches in several big cities. My favourite order was Bonchon’s wings, which are spicy, crispy, light and much less oily,” says Pornpimol.
“When my friends and I returned to Bangkok, we decided to acquire the franchise, The response has been excellent, with news of the restaurant spreading like wildfire on the social networking sites. Our customers know they can enjoy fried chicken with rice, kimchi soup and salad. Now we have five branches in Bangkok.”
Bonchon opened its latest branch at the new look Siam Center back in January. A friendly place to hang out, it’s decorated in modern industrial style with lots of wood and metal and can seat 100. To ensure the original flavours, all the sauces are imported from South Korea.
I order the best-seller - 10 spicy Bonchon wings blended with hot sauce and served with sour pickled radish and kimchi coleslaw for Bt230 – and savour the tender meat.
Other popular orders are Bonchon gyoza (Bt120)- eight crispy fried pork dumplings mixed with soy garlic sauce and seasoned fries blended with salt, pepper, garlic powder, parmesan cheese and spices and served with spicy mayo sauce for Bt100.
The Absolute Siam menu features a yummy Bonchon burger, filled with fried bacon, coleslaw and fried chicken for Bt190.
Equally delicious are the spicy seaweed salad (Bt160) with a spicy Korean-style dressing topped with fish roe and crispy fried fish served with rice and the Japanese scallion salad for Bt190. Soup and green salad go for an extra Bt40 a piece.
Pornpimol recommends the Soondubu soft-tofu soup, which comes with a choice of kimchi, pork dumpling, seafood and Japanese oyster. It’s priced from Bt180 to Bt260.
“To offer more variety to our customers, we’ve created the Bonchon chicken joint, sticky rice as a side dish and a seafood series. These are available at Bonchon Thailand only. We’re aiming to give each branch a different character and feel too,” she adds.
Those with a hankering for all things Korean can order pork bulgogi rice bowl, pork kimchi fried rice with seaweed wrap and Bonchon salmon steak. Cocktails, soju, makkoli, beer, wine and whisky are also available.
FINGERS LICKED
<< Bonchon Chicken is on the fourth floor of Siam Center and open daily from 10 to 10. |Call (02) 658 1575-6 or see its Facebook page.
<< Other branches are at Seenspace on Soi Thonglor 13, the Silom Complex and the Circle Ratchapruk.
