Downtown Lunch: Bon Bon Chicken

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)  But now he’s starting to make me mad.  Super cheap Chinatown food?  Fine.  Vietnamese?  Ok… a little angry, but I can take it.  Mexican corn?  Urgh… but Korean fried chicken??!?!?!  Now I’m super pissed.  You’d think with Koreatown being part of Midtown Lunch, we wouldn’t have any trouble finding the stuff.  There are a few options in and around 32nd street but none of them are open for lunch (bastards!)  Oh… but Downtown?  They’ve got one.  (Cue the steam exiting ears.)

Dowtown Lunch: Bon Bon Chicken

Bon Bon Chicken doesn’t look super inviting on the inside. I felt more like I was in a train station or a waiting area. I never thought about eating there until Zach screamed at me one day, “dude do you realize there’s a place downtown where you can get Korean fried chicken for lunch?!” Relax guy… “it’s just chicken,” I said.

Dowtown Lunch: Bon Bon Chicken

I was under the impression that the Koreans didn’t do anything different to their fried chicken than any other country where I’ve sampled it. I was wrong. Damn that was some fuggin amazing fried chicken and I’ve had it everywhere from New Orleans to North Carolina. You get a choice between spicy or sweet (I went with the sweet), but if you want spicy and sweet they offer a few dipping sauces, one of which is like a spicy chili sauce.  The texture was perfect, giving you a beautiful crispy bite without the grease and keeping the juice of the meat trapped inside.  They’re a little sticky on the outside, but not as messy as buffalo wings.  It’s not super cheap, but they have a number of different options for under $10.  I went with the $7.75 Small wing/drumstick combo box, which is best described as the “if-you-want-to-be-healthy” portion.

Dowtown Lunch: Bon Bon Chicken

It comes with a little roll which wasn’t anything to write home about, but the chicken was definitely Midtown Lunch Downtown Lunch worthy.  If you want some more variety to balance out the meal, I would try the spiced up kimchi coleslaw for $2.25.    If you go after 2 though be prepared to wait. They even have it written on the wall, “After 2PM your order may take 30 minutes.”  Ignore at your own risk.  It realy does take that long (but is well worth wait.)

Bon Bon Chicken, 98 Chambers St. (btw. Church+Broadway), 212-227-2375
http://www.bonbonchicken.com

Photos and post by Daniel Krieger

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22 Comments

  • Kimchi cole-slaw?! holy crap, I’ve never thought of that, but it sounds interesting, and looks delicious. Those wings remind of for fried chicken wings in coca-cola, which are also sweet. those arn’t coca-cola fried chicken wings are they?

  • Mmm… just within my range of travel-bility…

  • Hey Daniel, was that you hanging out on a stoop yesterday afternoon in Carol Gardens? With a few other people?

  • Bon Chon chicken on Northern Blvd is my favorite. This is an exciting discovery and look forward to making it my Tuesday lunch spot next week. Anyone want to join?

  • Oh man, bon chon is the shizz.

  • Thanks a lot.

    Now I can’t get up and go to lunch, thanks to a kimchi coleslaw boner.

    I’m quitting my job and moving downtown.

  • Another vote for Bon Chon here. I’ve been making the rounds to these places based on this writeup, a really good Korean uh.. Chick-Off:

    Korean Fried Chicken Round-Up

  • yeah mama do you live around there? was that you with the big dog?

  • wait is that you standing outside my apartment with binoculars and a raincoat?

  • LOL!

    I was walking with the BF, I had a teal top on and a short pageboy haircut. I was heading to Lucali’s for some awesome pizza and wine. Next time I’ll say hi!

  • The chicken is terrific. Grab some next time you are downtown

  • This place rules! They also do pretty fast delivery at night. I live in the financial district so they will come to me. One note: if you’re ordering any of the boxes (the bonbon box is my fave) you can get a mix of the sweet and the spicy. Perfect for sharing. I call so often, they know my voice. Best place ever and way better Korean fried chicken than at Bon Chon in Koreatown, in my opinion.

  • Next week: The ML Stalker Competition

    Mamacita VS. CockChug & his wife/hamster/doll/buttplug

  • Another Bon Chon fan here.
    Not a fan of the wait for my orders but none the less it’s good.

  • Ah so that wasn’t you walking the dog..I guess I didn’t see you Mamacita

    anyway it’s funny that I haven’t been to Lucali’s but live a few blocks away..I can’t really find a time when I’m willing to wait on line for a few hours for pizza.

    Also I just found what I think may be the best pizza place in Brooklyn. You need to go if you haven’t yet: Luna Rossa.

  • haha, stalker competition. i’ll be sorry to miss that. i’ll be in vegas, eating in and out burgers!!

  • Wow this looks good.

    This column is the main reason i keep this blog on my rss feed after switching jobs from midtown to downtown.

  • Luna Rossa looks good, I’ll have to check that out.

    I’ll be in LA all next week, make sure to trash the Tuesday ML profiler for me!

    Blondie, I’ll be hitting up In n Out too! Also Tommy’s chili burgers and Rosco’s Chicken and Waffles.

  • ……no Blondie……no Mamacita…….next week will be very dull.

    Wayne ,love, get ya purse, we’re going to Gaysupermans blog next week.

    Have a very nice weekend…blah blah… enjoy the double doubles, girls.

  • Oh goodie – I just love a good gay-superman bashing

    While we’re there maybe we can also club DocChuck like a baby seal

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