Midtown Lunch

It came out last week that the Bon Chon Chicken location on Chambers St. had been cast out by the company for using unapproved sauces. This leaves the larger John St. location as the only one downtown, and that might be for the best based on my experiences at both locations last week. The Chambers location was still called Bon Chon and prices and everything seemed the same. I decided it might be worth a look at what they’re serving there since that location has never gotten an ML review, and I also revisited the John St. location for some head-to-head Korean fried chicken comparison. Read more »

In a review of Bon Chon Chicken on Serious Eats NY, it was noted that the location on Chambers St. has lost its affiliation with the company. Sure enough, a look at the company’s home page offers up an oddly-worded note titled “Official notice for 98 Chamber St. branch.” Apparently they have been receiving complaints that the chicken tastes different, and the company concluded they have gone rogue and are using different, unapproved sauces.   The note refers customers to the John St. location.  This is similar to what happened last year with a Midtown location before it became a Mad for Chicken. Has anyone gotten chicken from the Chambers location recently and noticed a difference?

Korean food has to be one of my most favorite cuisines of all time.  Good soup? Check.  Awesome BBQ? Check.  An affinity for fiery condiments and sauces? Check and check.  So the first time I had even heard that there was such a thing as Korean fried chicken, there was no decision making to be done. It was simply a matter of dropping what I was doing and proceeding to the nearest purveyor of that delicious, crispy treat.  That place happened to be what was once Bon Chon on the corner of 32^nd and 5^th Ave.  Even though it’s now still essentially the same thing, a little part of me died the day they closed their doors.  So you can imagine how thrilled (and I do mean thrilled) I was to find that Bon Chon had moved in practically next door to my workplace.  There could be no waiting.  Lunchtime was now. Read more »