Midtown Lunch

Back in August, we announced the opening of a brand new Bon Chon location in Turtle Bay, but never got around to a full review. Since I’ve never been to Bon Chon (criminal, I know), I decided it was most definitely time for me to venture over.  Korean fried chicken places can get a bit expensive if you aren’t careful, but there are four lunch specials on the menu that all clock in at under $10: BonChon Chicken Lunch, LaFrieda Korean Bulgogi Burger + Frite, Balsamic House Salad, and BonChon Marinated Chicken Fried Rice.

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We got a tip earlier this week that the Bon Chon on 38th btw. 7+8th had been closed by the Health Department. Upon investigating yesterday, it turns out that the restaurant is open for business with a Grade Pending sign in the window. According to the DOH website, the restaurant was shut down after a failing inspection last week and re-opened on Monday with an A-grade worthy 11 points. But the trip over there wasn’t completely futile! It turns out they’re now serving $2.99 tap beers (including Brooklyn Lager, Stella, and Sam Adams) all day long Monday – Wednesday and at off peak hours the rest of the week. And now we know those tap lines are most likely clean.

Related:
Korean-Fried-Chicken-Palooza: Kyochon vs. Bon Chon vs. Mad For Chicken

Our friends at Scoutmob have got a great deal today at one of our favorite places in Midtown… get 50% off at the Bon Chon on 38th Street (btw. 7+8th), and the best part is you don’t have to buy anything. All you have to do is enter your cell phone number and you score the coupon for free. But wait… there’s more. To sweeten the deal the awesome folks at Scoutmob have $100 in BonChon gift cards to give away to one lucky lunch’er who subscribes to receive their daily email. To enter, just follow this link and sign up by entering your email address in the box at the top ( where it says “join the nyc mob”). Already a Scoutmob member?  Post a comment below and we’ll make sure you’re entered to win the gift cards too.

So… just to recap.  Enter your cell phone number, get 50% off Bon Chon texted to you for free (on 38th.)  Enter your email address in the box at the top of the page, and you’re entered to win $100 worth of Bon Chon gift cards.  What are you waiting for?  You have until tonight (3/7) at Midnight to get the 50% off, but you can enter to win the gift card by signing up for the Scoutmob email through Friday (3/11) at Noon.  Good luck!

Last week Grub Street reported that a new Bon Chon will be opening on 51st and 2nd Ave., and this morning Lunch’er “Joyce” was kind enough to send along these photos.  It may be technically out of bounds, but if you work in Midtown East it means no more trekking down to K-Town for fried chicken!  Unlike the two locations in south Midtown (on 38th btw. 7+8th, and 5th btw. 32+33rd) this new location is actually owned by a former manager of the Bon Chon on John Street (not to be confused with the one on Chambers which recently lost its “Chon”.)  Our Downtown site always had good things to say about that location, so we’re guessing this one should be just as good.

They’ve launched a website at http://www.bonchonmidtown.com, and you can track their construction progress on this Wordpress blog they set up.  They’re hoping to open in early 2011.

Now that the newish Koreatown location of Bon Chon has had a couple months to settle in, it’s time to really give them the once over. The opening was much more low-key than Kyochon’s, there haven’t been any lines out the door or anything, which is a good sign. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been some long waits and service confusion. See what we’ve found after the jump.

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The opening of the new Koreatown Bon Chon has been much more subdued than when neighboring Kyochon opened the door on its spaceship themed chicken shack. While the lines haven’t been particularly long, the wait is still classic Bon Chon. The new, faster frying process owner Simon Lee told us about last week doesn’t seem to have been implemented yet. As of 1:30pm, customers were being told that any order would take at least 20 minutes. My small, mixed order took half an hour to show up.

Also note that the entree options, which include tonkatsu and bulgogi tacos(!) are not available yet, but hopefully will be in the next day or two. With less than a week under their belt, clearly, this is all still a work in progress, so have patience and, if you’ve got the time, enjoy the leisurely pace by watching the Yankees game playing on one of the projectors.

Related:
Let the Fried Chicken Wars Begin: New Bon Chon Opens Today