All those complaining about the size of Kyochon’s wings, take note! The space age Korean Fried Chicken joint is celebrating their one year anniversary with a wing eating contest. According to Fork in the Road the competition is open to the public, there will be five rounds, and both hot and sweet wings are being served- so the competition will not only test speed but spice tolerance. The event will take place on Sunday, March 13th and the winner will get a $250 gift card, a mention in an Epoch Times editorial and (most importantly?) the title of King Kyochon. I guess they aren’t expecting the ladies to compete? First and second runners up get $100 and $50 gift cards, respectively.  According to the Kyochon Facebook Page the first 20 people who fill out this registration form and return it to the store  on 32nd and 5th will be entered for free (and as of Monday they still had spaces left.)  Good luck!

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

Speaking of celebrities and where they eat lunch in Midtown… looks like  Kyochon (on 5th Ave. btw. 32+33rd) has a new fan. Take that, haters!

Related:
The Really Early Word on Kyochon
Korean-Fried-Chicken-Palooza: Kyochon vs. Bon Chon vs. Mad For Chicken

The problem with Korean Fried Chicken is that it’s actually so good that you’re willing to go through a lot to get it. I discovered this a couple years ago at Mad For Chicken (a branch of Bon Chon Chicken at the time.) Both patience and the lunch hour were tested as 10, then 20, then 30 minutes went by with neither food served nor drinks refilled. But a year ago, when Zach first posted about the place, it was our only lunchtime option. It cost more than you wanted to spend and often took a lot longer than you really had time for… but oh, that chicken! Crisp, sweet and sticky, it made all the worries of time and work melt away.

That’s why when Kyochon’s ‘coming soon’ sign went up last February, I rejoiced. Korean Fried Chicken without the interminable wait? Yes, please! Or so I thought. If the year-long delay didn’t set me straight, the lines out the door after it opened certainly did. Clearly, waiting for Korean Fried Chicken is just a requirement. It’s the way it is. So, the question becomes, with Kyochon finally here, Mad For Chicken across the street and a Bon Chon a few blocks away (and another opening up on the same block as Kyochon), how do they stack up?

With the alternating hype and dog-piling on Kyochon, a clear, unbiased fried chicken smackdown was in order. I gladly stepped up (arteries be damned.)

At each place, I ordered a mix of hot and mild chicken. With all the complaints about the size of the wings, I also made a point of trying out the drumsticks too.

Mad For Chicken

The Chicken: Hot & Spicy is my favorite here. It starts with a warm tingle and builds up with each bite until my face is sweating and my mouth is on fire. The garlic soy has a milder flavor, which was a bit too subtle for me. Both share a sweet candy-coated shell that provides a satisfying crunch with each bite and tender, juicy flesh underneath.

The wait: At minimum, you’re waiting half an hour for the chicken at MFC. If there are only two occupied tables in the place, the servers are still running around frantically and chances are you won’t see them between ordering and getting your food unless they are serving someone near you. That said, the lounge space is comfortable and if you are partial to the occasional beer with lunch, it is an option. Once, I saw a pair of guys working their way through a table keg at 1pm. I wouldn’t recommend that if you’ve got meetings in the afternoon.

Bon Chon

The Chicken: My first bite into a drumstick at Bon Chon, I was mostly surprised at how little MFC had changed anything about their chicken after ‘breaking up’ with the franchise. It’s exactly the same. Morally, that might be sketchy, but practically, it means more good chicken to go around.

The wait: The biggest problem with Bon Chon’s 38th St location is that the space isn’t well organized. Anyone in fast food should know that you need to keep your lines in order. If you walk into Bon Chon when a crowd has accumulated, there’s just a horde of customers milling around, some waiting to order, some waiting to pick up food and very little distinction of who goes where.

Waiting for your order, you can sit or stand in the bar area, just be sure you’re in shouting distance or you may miss your order. When I went, we sat at the bar and waited 25 minutes without an offer of a drink or water or a beer, which I was really contemplating after a while. The staff bantered with a couple guys down the bar from us and occasionally yelled out order numbers. They also sometimes left orders sitting behind the counter until people asked for them.

Kyochon

The Chicken: I loved Kyochon’s garlic soy chicken. It’s profoundly garlicky, which I liked, but I was still tasting it hours later, which may put some off. The coating isn’t as crisp as the Bon Chon recipe but the flavor is the star.

The hot and sweet on the other hand is a bit too over the top. The spiciness overpowers and the sauce is thick and messy. It would probably benefit from being washed down with a cold beer, but I didn’t see that on the lunch menu. As often reported, the wings aren’t huge. Ten will satisfy, but won’t stuff you. A dollar a wing isn’t cheap, so an order of meaty drumsticks is a nice alternative.

The wait: Presumably in response to all the poor reviews in the first week, Kyochon has put a lot of effort into softening the delays. Waiting in line outside, just to get in another line when I got inside was much less annoying after getting free wings to snack on.

The ordering/waiting area is about as poorly put together as Bon Chon’s, but since they give out buzzers that go off when your order is ready, you can go upstairs and wait instead of getting knocked around in the crowd.

The Verdict:

Mad For Chicken is the only option where you don’t have to wait in a line. It’s got a relaxed space to wait in and if you’re up for such debauchery, there are always table kegs to pass the time. Bonus: free popcorn! The chicken is as good as it was before they split with Bon Chon. That means if you’re in Koreatown, and don’t want to trek over to 38th btw. 7+8th, you don’t have to to get the magnificent slow burn of the spicy chicken. The menu is made for sharing, so, you’re only hitting the Midtown Lunch price range if you are splitting an order. Still, it’s a big pile of chicken that you are getting. I’ve never walked out of there hungry (unless I had to run because my order took too long).

Bon Chon is the best bet for those on the west side who can’t take the time to get to 5th Avenue just to wait half an hour for their food. The chicken is glorious, but beyond the wait, the service could use some improvement. When the branch of 5th Avenue opens up, it’s biggest pull would be the outdoor seating area in the back of Caprese Cafe (providing they keep it.) Sitting out in the sun eating those spicy morsels is what dreams are made of. Bon Chon’s menu adds a bit more value with the inclusion of sides in each meal. Ultimately, you’re still paying about $1 per wing, plus another $1 for the side.

Kyonchon is solid as far as I’m concerned. Clearly they had some problems the first few weeks, and the wings are shockingly small, but at least they are actively trying to improve things on a daily basis- with a quarter of the staff dedicated to greeting, managing and directing customers. That’s got to be costly, but it makes a difference. The wait to order goes by pretty quickly and as an added tip, be sure to wait upstairs once you’ve put in your order. There’s no reason to stand in the middle of the mess downstairs. Given the size of the wings, the price is a little steep, but I find that the drumsticks make a good alternative. They’re plump and juicy and provide a better value with more meat for your money.

Mad For Chicken, 314 5th Ave (Just south of 32nd Street), 212-221-2222
Kyochon, 319 5th Ave (btwn 32nd and 33rd). 212-696-0150.
Bon Chon, (Two Locations)

• 207 W. 38 St. (btw. 7+8th), 212-221-3339
• Coming Soon to 325 Fifth Ave (btw. 32+33rd)

Related:
Forget Buffalo Wings, Who’s In the Mood For Some Bon Chon?
Mad For Chicken is So Not a Midtown Lunch… But Damn That is Some Good Chicken

Related:
BREAKING: Kyochon Closes for Retraining!
The Really Early Word on Kyochon

From Lunch’er Alyssa in the ML Inbox: “Just went out to get Kyochon (on 5th btw. 32+33rd) today and was informed that they’re closed for the next two days to retrain all of the employees due to the poor reviews they’ve received. Further proof that all those too-early reviews just ruined it for everyone else.” Clearly, your voices have been heard.

Related:
The Really Early Word on Kyochon
Cast Your Judgements on Kyochon Now That It’s Open For Lunch (That’s Right… You Read That Correctly)

While we were urging people to give Kyochon some space yesterday, Eater was doing the opposite- posting a Good/News bad news about the chain on their first day of lunch service that seemed to fall mostly on the bad news side.  Is this the case of a chain breaking off a bit more than they can chew? (The new K-Town location is the largest location they’ve attempted to open in the U.S.) Or do they just need some time to get the place operating properly?  One thing is for sure, they spent far more time planning out the decor than training their staff on how to handle a lunch rush.

More photos of the Day 1 weekday lunch, are after the jump…

Related:
Cast Your Judgements on Kyochon Now That It’s Open For Lunch (That’s Right… You Read That Correctly)

Here at Midtown Lunch, we’re pretty into Korean fried chicken whether it’s here in Midtown or in Downtown or even in Los Angeles (where Zach seemed to really like a branch of Kyochon that had been open longer than a few hours.) These places are delicate operations of fried goodness. We already know that many of these Korean fried chicken places sometimes have issues of serving food in a timely manner. So it’s probably not a great idea to judge a place when they’re not firing on all cylinders. It’s not fair to the place, and most of all, it’s not as useful for the readers of Midtown Lunch. I’m going to show you why…

Last week I walked by when they were handing out samples at Kyochon. Wonderful right? I was really excited because hey, free chicken is good chicken. Just look at that thing. It’s fried well with tiny crevices ready to soak up the sweet or spicy sauce. Sure there’s not much meat on this thing, but it’s still fried chicken (How bad can it be?!) Even though most of the time I like anything fried, it’s also good to be mindful of the fact that when there are free giveaways, it often doesn’t reflect what the real thing will be like. Compare what happens when ice cream places do free cone days… it’s never a cone bursting at the seams and dripping down the sides. It’s usually just a dainty little thing.

And when you look at this chicken from afar… you see what I mean. Notice it’s the same size as my thumb. Now logic tells me that it’s very unlikely that any successful franchise will succeed based on a business that sells chicken smaller than fingers. Like seriously. Can we all just hold on to our horses and wait until Kyochon is running on all cylinders  before giving it to them?

Kyochon wasn’t even open for lunch until TODAY, so maybe we can all just be a little patient here. Clocks were adjusted for daylight savings, maybe people can make use of the extra light at the end of the work day, instead of lining up for a soft opening and then getting their underwear all in a bunch. It’s fried chicken people, it’ll be good. Just relax.

Kyochon. 319 5th Ave (btwn 32nd and 33rd). 212-696-0150.