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Categories: Korean, Chicken Wings
Neighborhood: Murray Hill28th St-Broadway (R, W)
34th St-6th Ave (B, D, F, V, N, Q, R, W)
33rd St-Park Ave (6)
Mon-Wed. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Thu-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 4:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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Yes, it's still open! Don't let the "closed" title or "shady entrance" fool you...or you will miss out on some scrumptious goodness. They're just "Mad for Chicken" now.
Find your way to this address, take the stairs up to the second floor, and then order the chicken wings and rosemary fries. Chicken wings will never be the same again (that is, if you haven't had Korean fried chicken before). These are some serious finger foods, with great drinks to match! I am a fan of tropical fruit - so the lychee soju was a refreshing complement!
They also have some good sushi here too. But really, go for the wings. Garlic wings...so good that you'll want to save the after-gum.
This place is a great if you're in the mood to have some great chicken wings/legs, but that's about it!
It's a hip joint to check out if you're just in the mood to socialize and get some appetizers. Unfortunately, the only thing on the menu that did taste good was the chicken, which was absolutely delicious! One of the problems that I had was that the music was too loud, that it was had to have a conversation with the person across the table from you. Also, everything else on the menu was pretty pricey, which I assume was to pay for the atmosphere. My friend ordered a $5 Sprite, which came in a small glass that didn't come with refills. Plus, the seating was uncomfortable. Since they wanted to have a relax atmosphere, they have couches as their seating. Well, your dining table is in the form of a coffee table, so we had to crouch or sit on the floor to eat our food.
So if you're in the mood for chicken wings and legs, this is the perfect place to go to on a late night in New York City! If not, I highly suggest going somewhere else with more of a variety of food selections and a place where it's less noisy.
If I mated delicious and stupendous, the creation would be Bon Chon's Chicken Wings. Nom nom nom nom nom. Would this be like eating your own babies? Hmm. Nom nom nom. I am no cannibal. However, I might commit infanticide if my younglings were savory pieces of Soy Garlic Chicken.
The fried chicken is different from any I have ever tasted. I have tried breaded wings, wet sauced wings, batter-dipped wings, and even X-Wings. This twice-fried poultry pieces take the cake. The fowl is bursting with flavor, without being drenched in sauce. The skin texture is crunchy but not dry. Many chicken eateries fail in this area. After eating a lesser piece of meat from those restaurants, you feel like your throat just endured the Sahara.
If you like potato wedges get their massive rosemary fries. The service, cleanliness, and atmosphere of the restaurant was great as well! Go to Bon Chon today!
I swear it took us 20 min to find the front door... once you find the little staircase that brings you upstairs to what seems like what would be a little hole-in-the-wall chicken joint, you open the doors to find this really trendy full-service bar.
The chicken was awesome... we ordered the half spicy/ half (regular, garlic?) chicken wings because it was our first time there and had no idea what to ordre besides that... Never had the Korean fried chicken wings before, but these were damn good...
Scrumptious friend chicken! Courteous and prompt service, extremely reasonable prices, particularly given the location. Extremely cosy seating. Very easy to miss the entrance, since you have to go upstairs, so keep your eyes peeled.
The food is awesome, the chicken is the best around, tastes somewhat healthy and the rice is really good.
However, portions are ridiculous. It is enough to fill you up 3/4 the way, but for $10 for 8 pieces of small tenders, and a little rice bowl, forget it. I will pack my ham sandwich from home. Much more intelligent move.
Nickle and dimers in this joint!
NOT CLOSED
OPEN
BONCHON IS OPEN, OPEN, OPEN.
Whoever put that it was closed on yelp is a fat cruel cunt that wants all the Korean chicken goodness for cuntself.
IT IS OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bon chickie chicke CHON chickie chicke chicke CHoN
OH BABY YEAH YEEEEAAAAAH
Chon Bon BON BON BON Chon…
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THIS PLACE IS NOT FUCKENE CLOSED....
I just called them, they are open till 4am tonight.
Whoever said this place is closed is a cruel beech.
This place is as good as being closed. This place is GROSS!!! We ordered the eggrolls, cheese ramen, and spicy fried chicken combo. Eggrolls were okay. The crab meat was imitation crab but the cheese make up for it. Cheese Ramen... mehh I think not. When they say ramen, they really aren't kidding. It's really Shin Ramen, yes, the one u can buy at super market for $1 and they charge $10 for it. If I wanted something I can make myself, I'd make it myself.
The the fried chicken.. ohh man... I've never had worse fried chicken in my life! Yes it''s super fried, Yes it's crispy and yes it's spicy. And that's it! I can go the KFC @ Herald Square with my hot sauce and I will have a happier time eating.
This place doesn't have good fried chicken, it has a good vibe and loud lounge music.
I'm in love with a fried chicken wing and her name is BonChon.
I think they sprinkle crack on the wings. Yes. That must be it.
That explains the secret entrance and the Korean hussies. Damn you BonChon! I'm going through withdrawals at this very moment.
I went here yesterday for what ended up being a really, really early dinner. It was only with the assistance of Yelp and the glowing 5 star recommendations from Yelp friends that I summoned the fortitude and navigational skills to find this place. Between two stores, lies an open door with a man at a desk. You enter, say the code word: BonChon, and he informs you to proceed to the second floor. You cautiously walk around the back, proceed up the stairs, and are confronted by several Korean people and lots, and lots of metal. This is apparently BonChon chicken. Just so you know.
I ordered the medium combo with the soy garlic sauce. This comes with 3 drumsticks and 8 wings as well as a selection of crudite and dipping sauce. I was surprised to see a couple order the same dish next to me and share it, as I thought this was perfectly sized for 1 person. It's a little pricey at $16.95, but the taste is incredible. The skin tightens into a flavorful shell that is just amazing. I found the wings to be better than the drumsticks due to the higher skin to meat ratio, so you may want to take that into account when ordering. These were among the best wings I have had -- very surprising for a chain restaurant. Unfortunately the decor is quite austere (everything is metallic), and the music selection is something only a teenage girl in the 90's could love. So 4 stars overall for that.
Beware, cash or AMEX only.
What do you want me to say?! After roaming around "after bar/lounge" drinking semi-heavily in the AM morning, fried chicken will surely taste damn good. It's fried chicken- drumsticks and wings w/ 3 types of sauces..minus all that breaded crap .. and proclaimed to be "nutritiously enriched". Well.. it IS fried in vegetable oil, but if you want to be technical about it, there are plenty of other oils they could have used that would have been the slightest chance healthier.... I don't care how many ways you spell it...fried food is just NOT healthy. AND... if it was healthy, where the hell is the nutrition information on their website? Uh-huh.
Holding resistance- I had to limit myself to one piece, but that didn't work out exactly well. I had two, ok, maybe three at most... it was a delicious fried piece of chicken I have ever tasted. The skin was quite crispy and marinade was a tang of sweet. Easily beats Popeyes and definitely KFC, dare I contest probably a little bit healthier alternative....but who knows by how much.
I am anti-fried food, but Bon Chon comes close to breaking that resistance. I'll have to apply the litmus test next time...
The BON CHON branch is CLOSED as of May 3, 2009. It was in a very unmarked building anyways... how unfortunate, they open pretty late too with a full service bar.... it's still open, but under new management, "MAD CHICKEN"
A simple algebraic equation.
Crack=Whack.
Chicken + Crack=Bon Chon
Bon Chon Chicken=Whack
If lovin this chicken is whack, I wanna go back.
I love the whackness. BAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!
Do me with a drumstick.
Bon chon is still open at this location, they just changed their name to Mad for Chicken. The phone number still works.
Also, they don't do delivery but they do have take out (slightly cheaper).
medium order ~$15, large order ~$20
Not your father fried chicken. Unless your father is Korean, then maybe it is your fathers fried chicken. Regardless, it is a taste that is not easily duplicated. Crispy chicken glazed with a tempting sauce, it is hard to resist eating the whole plate of chicken. So why resist, devour it all! You earned it!
The service is pretty shoddy here, but the chicken makes up for it, and it seems like they cook it to order so it makes sense that it takes a while.
Nice large private restrooms, somewhat respectable, somewhat dodgy, somewhat stocked, 3.5 Flushes
I love their chicken in its crispy goodness. I love the white radishes and the soju. I LOVE their fries.
What I don't love is their preference for Koreans. Yes, being Chinese, I am usually ostracized by the staff. After sitting for a good 2 hours ordering what needs to be ordered, my Korean friend comes strolling in. Right away, the waitresses and waiters ushered out the popcorn and other goodies to our table as soon as he utters his Korean words. I wonder if I can sue for this type of preferential treatment.
I like the one at Northern Blvd., in Queens better. Same chicken, less discrimination.
Thursday night dialogue:
- "Grant, man, this is crazy."
- "What is?"
- "I'm a black man from Brooklyn. And I let a white guy bring me to a Korean bar in an office building at 3:00 a.m. for fried chicken. And it's some damn good chicken."
- "True. Wait, did you just take the last drumstick?"
And that about says it all. While I didn't feel moved to invoke God, crack, or some combination of the two, this is indeed some damn good chicken. And a really odd late-night experience. It's a wonderful town.
I actually haven't been here, but thought I'd post. I talked to my coworker who's a big fan of this place. He said they're still there, it's just a different name. I dunno if it's true. All I hear is that the chicken here is mad goed, yo.
The bonchon is just amazing! Crispy on the outside but tender inside. And their choice is soju is great, I loved the lychee soju I had, though they were on the weak side...
You can go with a group of friends after a early night's drinking, or those who just craves fried chicken!
A lone three-star review can't topple the Yelp powerhouse perched on the second floor of that pivotal block where Korea Town and Fifth Avenue proper disintegrate into seedier Chelsea.
But here it goes.
BonChon's signature fried chicken is inarguably delicious. The lightly crisped skin doesn't overwhelm the flavor (soy garlic or spicy) of the chicken, and exquisitely balances the two salient, polarized schools of thought on fatty meat - chewy and crispy.
However. A perfect basket of wings isn't enough fodder for five stars these days, especially with places like Croxley Ales (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) dishing out the goods for a dime a pop. The service at BonChon was horrible. We were approached by no less than five waitresses asking for our order, after we'd already placed it. We were reseated twice; the second time being almost immediately after we'd re-settled. Our first plate of chicken took nearly forty minutes to arrive (this was mitigated by the second order, which took about nine minutes). The Kanye blasting from the surround-soudn speakers rather inhibited conversation, and the bill was a eyebrow-raising $22/pp, which was a little irritating, given that the aforementioned Croxley's (and company) is just a hop-skip from home.
Oh my goodness gracious.
I have a fear of hype. You could even say that it's a phobia. When I walk into a place like BonChon with 2999834985 reviews and a 4 star average, I am pretty darn skeptical.
I was blown away. The chicken was everything I could ever want and more. It was as if T.I. was gesticulating and singing "Whatever You Like" while sexy dancing drumsticks plunged into my mouth to the heavy beat of the song. The soy garlic was crispy with a savory yet not overwhelming flavor, yielding delicious juicy meat. I was definitely aroused. This doesn't usually happen to me at a restaurant. I was FULLY aroused. Even the vegetables on the side were delicious, particularly the adorable radish cubes. In my fantasy music video they are made of "ice".
The french fries were aiight. I thought the portion was completely absurd for something that cost us a whopping $9.00. It was less than half the size of a small at Pommes Frites and while the sauce was delish it didn't make up for that. The chicken was definitely worth it, but I'm not likely to return unless I've got a shitload of dough and can order at least a large for myself and a pitcher of beer. Payday, please come soon!
Was there meeting a group of friends from work. Had I not had my phone GPS, i would've been lost finding this place. The front is so obscure. Feels like going up to someone's apartment.. Anyways I like the decor as well as the scenery. Very hip and trendy. We occupied a large table in the back
I have to agree w/ everyone. THE CHICKEN WAS THE BOMB!!! Very juicy and crispy. The spicy ones were way too spicy for me. Friend rice was good too. I enjoyed their house wine, as well as some of the cocktails my friends ordered. Their bar is awesome, albeit expensive. All in all, I had a great experience there.
Move aside buffalo wings and expensive butt implants I can not afford, my flat asian ass has finally found something to fatten it up...BONCHON CHICKEN!! SO YUMMMMY!! The chicken wing skin is sooo delicious!! It is sooo crispy and juicy! The drumsticks were a bit dry though, so get the wings instead. The spicy ones were more flavorful but I really can't handle spicy but I just kept eating it b/c hell, my tongue was already burning..and everyone finished the non spicy ones :(
This place is also very lounge / nightclub looking, doesn't look like a place to eat chicken wings.
Also, the coors light was as a friend put it, "This should be called Coors SUPER light" b/c it tasted watered down. The kirin red was better but not that much better. But the beer comes in a pretty lighted up container..that takes forever for the beer to come out of. Also, they only accept American Express here...so minus 1 star.
I have mixed feelings about this place. There are times when u walk in and this place is a quiet and mellow other times the place has a long line, a wait with loud music playing, you'd think you were in a night club. A night club that serves you fried chicken. haha
Maybe this is young urban korean american culture and i'm an ignorant chinese american twinkie (asian guy but white on the inside).
As for the chicken it is truly remarkable! Their batter is sooooo good! it's sweet, savory and a little spicy... I'd say it's a euphoric mix of flavors in your mouth. It's fantastic!
So the entrance is kind of sketchy but who cares the spicy chicken and rosemary fries are sooo good. Their Lychee Martini Rush is tasty and I'll be sure to come here again and again.
After I got stranded in North Haven because Bolt Bus broken down, 3 fellow passengers and I took the matter in our own hands. Called the cab to descended down to New Haven to catch a train.
In this "Plane, train, automobile" like journey, those fellow passengers blossomed their conversation with "Korean Fried Chicken" I have never heard of such a thing. Curiosity killed the cat, I decided to get one.
First of all, the elevator skips the floor this place is at. So DO NOT TAKE THE ELEVATOR!
The place is very loungey and club-like. It was middle of afternoon so I was in no mood of boozing. So I decided to order take out.
I was a bit intimidated with the pricing of $16 for their medium sized chicken. I think there were at least 9-12 pieces. I guess it wasn't so outrageous.
And it was gorgeous. It had rich taste of butter. And this confusing but seductive mixture of sweet and spicy. I finally understood why those fellow passengers were raving about this.
If you want to stay frugal, I would recommend ordering takeout.
Okay, ya, sure the food was actually quite good. You can't go wrong with big spicy fries and plump, juicy chicken wings. Yet, the service was slap-in-the-face crappy. My fiancee and me waited nearly 40 minutes for our food (and 20 minutes for our beverages), and we were only one of three parties when we initially sat down for lunch. Forty minutes for chicken wings and fries! During the wait, several other parties sat down long after we did and had their food and drinks served almost immediately (and still before us). It was so irritating and insulting. I certainly cannot justify ever going back, and as much as we wanted to pull a dine and dash because of this horrific experience, our only retribution manifested in the form of no gratuity, and of course a bad Yelp review.
Why some people get better service than others is beyond me. But service is an important part of the dining experience, at least for me. In terms of BonCRAPChon, all I can say now is: been there, done that...but never again!
I think Bonchon is overrated for what it is. Yes, it's delicious chicken, but really, 12 wings for $17? I can buy a week's worth of grocery for the price of an after night out munchie here, but I'm sure there could be more regrettable things after drinking.
They also make a killer vodka gimlet, one of the best I've had, like ever. mmm.
The atmosphere is your typical k-town bar/lounge, which is obviously very sexy. [eye roll]
I wish I had known about this place the first time I visited NY. On my recent trip, one of my friends sought to find this place. Thankfully we did. It is indeed a hidden gem on the 2nd floor of a building. Believe me, the signage is hidden and it is hard to find. But once you're in, you will experience the awesome vibe of this lounge/bar/restaurant.
Now, on to the important part. Soy garlic chicken is the bomb! The rosemary fries were ok and the portion for that was rather small. Their sushi rolls were pretty good! Need I say more? I wish they had something like this in California.
Bonchon gives me every excuse to return to New York.
A grab a large chicken to go and I bring it back to Long Island Friday night. (Yes, I brought this into Local West and asked the kitchen to put it in the fridge)
The Long Island Railroad is smelling my chicken with Korean radishes.
Heaven!
*You will not find this place on 5th ave because there is no sign*
All of my Yelpin friends are…
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Yes, they're still open. They changed their name to Mad for Chicken, that's all. I just went there last week!
It looks shady when you're looking at it from the street, because you have to walk into a small hallway and take a ghetto elevator up to the second floor. But once the door opens, you walk into a chill and dimly lit lounge that's bumping music. It totally feels like you're in an Asian night club that serves fried chicken.
We went during the week, so it wasn't super crowded and we didn't have to wait too long for our food. The soy garlic friend chicken is delicious. It's super crunchy and oily and you get addicted after the first bite. I also tried the ramen, which was pretty good, but the fried chicken is what you want to order while you're there.
Minus one star for the spotty service.
I give it a 3 star because I thought that the soy garlic chicken was too salty and didnt have enough garlic taste to specifically be called soy garlic flavor. the chicken itself was good. Way crispy and not dry.
the seafood pancake was just... meh... ive had better. not enough seafood and again too salty. But hey what do you expect from a happy hour place right?
Who doesn't like a good piece of fried chicken? Well this is not like grandma's. Not unless your grandmother is Korean and working in the back of this place!
I have been the first person there, and had to wait for the oil to get hot while the host walked around the corner and got PinkBerry for us to munch on as an app.
They definitely spice the batter with a hint of crack to get you coming back for more. The soy garlic is a flavor you will dream about until you return. The wait can be ridiculous on a weekend, but it is well worth it. You won't see many people without wings on their table, as it is what they are known for.
Another amazing side is the rosemary potato wedges. They are insane! I am salivating just writing about it. I need some tomorrow, who's comin' with me?
Bon Chon was my first introduction to Korean fried chicken and I was hooked after the first bite. In fact, I used to live 2 blocks away and the proximity was a little dangerous. A few weekends ago I went back with friends for the first time in nearly a year. Ordered the same thing that I always have, which is the mixed wings and drumsticks with soy-garlic glaze. Yes, consistent with all the reviews, the skin is delightfully crispy, sweet with a hint of savory and not at all fatty, and the chicken is nice and tender. For the taste alone, you can end up eating well beyond your stomach's needs as is often my problem. But if you do limit yourself to 3-4 pieces, you could arguably finish dinner still feeling relatively healthy. The prices are also very good. For $15 or so, you get about 20 pieces of chicken, including the big drumsticks, that will feed 2-3 people.
The restaurant definitely isn't closed, btw.
Ok...I was actually going to give it a lower score, but my conscience prevented it because it wouldn't be completely accurate in my mind. I've been there twice now. I think the service and the seating sucks, but the chicken is so darn good, it's hard to really diminish the score based on the other factors.
Atmosphere: It's cramped, loud, and the seats are horrible. It's attempt to have a modest trendy design end very quickly. The entrance is in a bad place as it is smack in the middle of where people are walking through to get to either of the rooms on each side. The seating is set up as the typical New York, Get to Know Your Neighbor-style and I'm NEVER a fan of that. The bathroom...was....bad.
Food: Outside of the AWESOME fried chicken, this place is just "eh". The chicken, hands down, makes this place. I've tried a few other dishes and I would not go to Bon Chon for any other reason. The choice between Garlic Soy and Hot and Spicy (if I recall) are perfect. There is no need for any other flavors. They are fantastic!
Service: Dodgy at best. The hostesses were very unsettled and unfriendly, the waiters were ok, but very transactional. I don't really recall getting checked up on either time except when it was time to clear the table and give me the check.
Overall: Would I go there again? Yes, for the chicken, that's it. That item will make or break this place because if the chicken was just so-so...you wouldn't find me visiting.
God damn that was hot!! I was not expecting fried chicken to have such a kick even though I heard so many great things about this place, I could not have been prepared for this. I really had to find out for myself. Flavorful, juicy chicken drumettes fried to perfection. I really don't think I've had better tasting fried chicken in my life and I've had some good fried chicken. I just recently came back from Panama where I *thought* I had the best fried chicken ever. This by far tops it, I have to say..you just can't deny the spicy kick of this chicken, no way, no how.
Why not 5 stars? Service was just so-so and overpriced cocktails. I mean I do enjoy the loungy feel to the space, not at all what you'd expect to experience in a fried chicken joint. It's not easy to find though and you have to go up a steep set of stairs to get there. But, It's worth it, the chicken is worth it. Try it if you haven't already!
Came with the bf on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty dead. I think there was only one other table with people at it.
We ordered the soy garlic combo and the ddok boki. The soy garlic chicken was mm mm good. Crispy with a nice balance of sweet and salty and the best part was... not even greasy!! The ddok boki was good too, whew spicy! But gooood. I could see how this place would be packed on a weekend night with the dim lights and smooth vibe ha. It was a bit expensive though, came out to $30 for those two dishes which seems like a lot for fried chicken but is worth the good quality. I'll have to come back on a busier night to see what the crowd's like. And I heard if you go to one of the karaoke bars nearby they deliver...?!
Is it open or closed? No clue. All I know is that happiness is a plate of soy garlic bon chon chicken wings with a bottle of soju on the side. Take me away from here, bon chon.
I've never had fried chicken in such a cool atmosphere before. The soy garlic chicken is crispy on the outside and fingerlickin' good!
It's a bit hard to find if you don't know what you're looking for. It's on the 2nd floor of a pretty forgettable building and actually seems a bit shady. But once you walk in you're greeted with loud music, and stainless steel furniture and an awesome lounge scene. It's definitely not your ordinary fried chicken experience.
Yeah fried chicken.
I was a little skeptical, since Koreans are not know for chicken and i was so wrong. OMG KFC (korean Fried Chicken) is the best friend chicken on the face of the earth.
the Place: when you are outside it looks just like a regular building, then inside the hallways, it looks like you are going to go get a massage with a happy ending, but when you get to he 2nd floor walk up its an amazing place, club like place, concrete walls and a good vibe and nice background music. The girls thats serve are friendly and courteius.
Foot takes a bit to come out but since its fresh, i could wait. the soy garlic and the really hot ones are very very finger lickin delicious. drinks are also ok since they do have a bar.
Price is ok, it gets expensive after a few rounds of chicken.....
i will recommend this place to anyone (im very picky) that wants to try something new.
Neighborhood: Murray Hill
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Murray Hill
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Westerleigh
Category: Korean
Fort Lee, NJ
Category: Asian Fusion
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