Date # 73: Bon Chon Chicken

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  Douglas and I have been getting requests to review Bon Chon Chicken since its first branch opened in Ayala Triangle Gardens. We’ve always responded with the words, “Sorry, but we’re not willing to go to Makati for fried chicken.” But ever since then, Bon Chon Chicken branches have spread throughout the Metro like wildfire. After a Bon Chon Chicken branch opened in Katipunan, we knew we didn’t have an excuse not to dine here anymore.

   Bon Chon makes use of the double frying technique to cook their chicken. Frying it for the first time removes all the fat, which is why the meat of their chicken is very lean. The first instance of frying also creates the “paper thin crisp” texture of the chicken skin. The chicken is then fried for the second time, but this time, with the secret sauce.

   You order over the counter, fast food style, but they serve you your food on your table. Even if you have to wait about 5-10 minutes, you’re ensured that your chicken is freshly cooked just for you.

   Douglas and I ordered the 6pcs. Chicken Wings. (P185) We got them in two flavors: Soy Garlic Flavor as well as Hot and Spicy Flavor.

   The taste of the Soy Garlic variant is not too strong—you need to have a few bites before you can fully identify the flavor, which is sweet and savory, and a little bit salty towards the end. The spiciness of the Hot and Spicy variant was also not too strong—it felt like light, tiny pinpricks on my tongue and lips.

   The best part of Bon Chon Chicken is the crispy skin, which sort of feels and tastes like kropek (shrimp crackers).

    One serving of this isn’t enough to satisfy one person, though. Each piece was quite tiny since the chicken was divided into many parts.

     You can also ask for the spicy mayo, although I wasn’t too fond of it.

     For more value for money, you can choose to order their rice meals. We both got one order of Chicken Drumsticks Rice Box (2pc, with soda) (P145) each. We didn’t like their drum sticks as much, though, because there was not enough sauce to add flavor to the chicken. That’s because drum sticks have less skin and more meat, and the skin is where most of the flavor is. The meat was bland all over.

   You can also observe how some parts were dry, while other parts were juicy. Maybe that’s the price we get for wanting chicken with trimmed fat. But a good side of having the chicken cooked twice is that you’re assured that every bit of the chicken is cooked. That’s good news for people who can’t stand seeing blood on chicken.

    We normally enjoy watching anime or movies together after eating. (Some tables in Bon Chon have sockets!)

  We got an order of French Fries (P45) to munch on while watching. I thought that there was too much salt coating the fries, but Douglas liked it that way.

    Lastly, we got an order of Bulgogi Wrap (P125). This was quite sweet, mainly because of the beef’s marinade. I also wish it were meatier since it had more vegetables than meat.

  This was a good order overall, though I don’t imagine why anyone would pick this over Bon Chon’s signature dishes. :P

  Douglas always tells me that he won’t marry me unless I learn to finish my meat to the bone. I never do unless the chicken is really good.

  Overall Verdict: Overall, we truly enjoyed our Bon Chon experience. Bon Chon has a charm to it, mainly due to how addictive their chicken wings are. The only downside we can see is that their food is not very filling—after eating everything that we ordered, we still had room to eat more (and we ordered two orders of the wings!). Maybe it’s because you’re consuming lean meat? I’m not sure. I’m also not sure if theirs is the kind of food I’d travel for, but now that they’ve expanded all over the Metro, I guess I won’t hesitate to eat in Bon Chon once in a while.

Bon Chon Chicken

(Various locations)

Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights,

Quezon City

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With and For Love,

Rina Caparras and Douglas Chong

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  CamDoug Trivia: If you look closely at the laptop in one of the pictures, you can see that we were watching Nodame Cantabile.