Midtown Lunch

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!

Curious if Kyochon or Mad For Chicken have changed since Clay did his Korean Fried Chicken Palooza back in March? Doesn’t sound like it based on reading this Serious Eats: New York “fried chicken face-off”. MfC is still delicious but takes forever, while Kyochon has its flaws but is cheaper and makes the spicier wing.  Of course it’s hard to take a fried chicken opinion seriously from a person who feels guilty about eating potato wedges… (we kid because we love, SENY!)  If you’re addicted to the korean fried chicken, however, we do recommend you read the comments of the post. There’s some real good stuff in there, including an intricate comparison of the different wing flavors, plus some Korean fried chicken cooking factoids from food genius J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.  Of course once the new Bon Chon opens on 5th Ave. btw. 32+33rd (this week hopefully!) Clay will most likely be holding a Korean Fried Chicken Palooza 2… you know… for “science”.

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.)

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After closing for retraining on Thursday, Kyochon (on 5th btw. 32+33rd) is back open and the blog DelicatesseNY stopped by for a take out lunch the other day. Sadly the post is written in French, but we popped it into Google Translate and let the hilarity ensue!  It sounds as if the wings are still super small, but Stephanie seemed to enjoy them anyway.  She also seemed to be saying (and, granted we’re just going from google translate here) that Midtown Lunchers are hard to please, and not everybody wants to eat a whole chicken during lunch for under $10.  Also, Kyochon is fantastic and she will definitely be back.  Maybe the retraining worked? (Take that early haters!)

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

“Here’s a menu… come back on Saturday”

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)

Photos Courtesy of ML Correspondent “Ultraclay”

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…

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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…

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