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Mon-Sun. 4:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
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The chicken is legit - tender, juicy and flavorful. The original is the best although the spicy chicken was just as good. It reminded me of the sauce that goes on nakji bokeum (spicy squid)
They only serve three varieties of beer - OB, Hite and Pyramid, but boy was I happy when I saw the chilled mugs because really, you can't go wrong with chicken and beer.
There is no sign to this place, so just know it's right next to the KFC/Taco Bell joint.
My friends and I always come out here for a late night snack when all food joints other than fastfood places are closed.
I love everything on the menu, although the items are pretty pricey for just snacking. The chicken bits are huge, nothing compared to the scrawny drumsticks at KFC across the street. They're very generous with the sauces, making my mouth exploding with sweet and peppery flavors.
And yes, they do diligently check IDs now, although Korean restaurants are notorious for letting youngsters slide.
I'd rather come out here and get some good food and good cheap beer and give my poor older folk neighbors a break! I'm guessing a lot of other college kids have that in mind too; I always find big groups of Korean Berkeley students hanging out here.
Ugh! I popped in recently with a few friends and noticed some changes.
Chicken: Tasted different.
Decor: Different
Staff: Different
Curious, I called my friend he told me it changed ownership. I dont know how true this is but from what I've experienced I would say its probably true.
Almost $25 for a large strawberry soju cocktail? It was weak, and no buzz.
I remembered coming here with my friend. We would pop in late and he'd call the owner ahead of time to ask him to save us some of the roasted chicken because it would always sell out. I'll give it another shot. After all, this was my go to spot when I was in the East Bay.
I seriously did not know that koreans had fried chicken. Before this I've only had southern fried chicken. I come here and a whole new world opened up to me. SO MANY DIFFERENT FLAVORS that KFC does not have!
haha, I liked their Yang Yum Chicken so much that I remade it at home and called it YUM YUM chicken. It was quite a hit.
We ordered a sausage and kimchi stew, cold noodles soaked in a red sauce, and the garlic chicken. The garlic chicken was delicious, stew was okay, and the noodles were just bad (but I had no idea what the hell I ordered so maybe that's why). Next time if I come here maybe I should let other people order because nothing we ordered really stood out except maybe the chicken.
I love OB Chicken ... reminds me of Korea ~~~
My parents used to hang out here back in the day... who knew I'd be hanging out here some 10+ years later.
Things I love:
- Their chilled mugs that turn your beer ice cold.
- Their fried chicken (#1) (sooo much better than their yangnyum chicken... which I find to be overly salty/saucy..)
- Rabookki (ramyeun + duk bokki) is alot spicier than other places and ohhh sooo good with that ice cold beer.
- Their cheese covered anything... cause cheese is delish (but must eat in moderation.............)
- Their service. I can't mention some things (dying from curiosity!?!?!?) but they are chill to the maaaax.
- Their yogurt soju's are light (but creepsters) and well blended.
- The atmosphere.. very casual and laid back...and they play all the Korean pop hits :P again and again and again and again~~
- Portions: I always leave walking crooked cause I over-eat... but its so damn good.
I LOVE YOU OB!!
I have been craving dobukki for ages and have finally found a place where I can say has amazing dobukki.
They were quick to seat us but as soon as business picked up we were kind of forgotten and left to our own devices in the corner of the restaurant. One of the servers was a really nice guy but another didn't really seem like he wanted to be there.
I loved the dobukki and the fried dumplings I stole from my friend's plate. The portion sizes are amazing and it was great to share food with everyone. I would recommend this place if you like spicy dobukki!
Ok, so when did they start opening @ 5pm during Sundays? We found out the hard way by going there @ 4pm.
Along with having a long weekend, my beau and I wanted to relax a bit and was disappointed when they didn't have the traditional kimchi/tofu soup. So we reluctantly ordered the fish cake soup, and...
... it was the best decision we made. It made a tiresome weekend into a bearable one. It was almost as if my grandmother came back from the grave to make me this dish when I used to feel sick. It had the ability to clear the sinuses with its peppery tartness, making for a perfect cold-weather soup.
The chicken was a bit heavily sauced, but the true gem was the soup.
This used to be Koko's back in the days where underage drinking was rampant and frequent fraternity… Read more »
I figured that even though this place serves Korean beer and bar food, that I could go on a weeknight for a quiet round of snacks. Key word: QUIET. I've been in the working world for a while now so after a long day of slaving away, I just want peace and sound of mind. I step into this place and it is reminiscent of an Asian American college night. Less frat, more Christian. Not only that, the restaurant bumps up the K-pop as if they are straight up in LA K-town.
All of us in the surrounding booths were smaller parties of four or less which do offer some privacy. At the time, there was only one server who seemed frazzled by all the work but got it done nonetheless. I ordered the dukbogi with chicken and mozzarella. It comes out on one of those hot plates. I abstained from ordering a separate chicken dish knowing this one had chicken in it, but the chicken here is more slathers of boneless breast. It's quite spicy and unfortunately, the hot plate kind of dries out the dukbogi a little. You also get salad (mostly cabbage) with Thousand Island dressing and pickled radishes (helps cool down the spiciness).
For something more substantial, I got the budae chigae (Korean army stew) but this one was very seafood influenced. It had ramen noodles, mussels, squid, shrimp, mushrooms, one big radish, and sausage clumps (very soft and easy to eat).
Cost of items:
-dukbogi with chicken and cheese: $14.90
-budae chigae: $17.90
-bottle of OB: $5
-two bowls of rice: $2
Hell yea, it's expensive. There were actually a lot of items I wanted to order but since it was just us two, I did limit myself. Next time I'll try the soy/garlic chicken and cheese corn (I've been looking for this for so long!).
Korean Fried Chicken.... three words that encapsulate bliss.
I love korean fried chicken... growing up in SoCal, my parents trekked with us in tow from the san fernando valley to gardena (a good 1.5 drive, longer in traffic) just to partake of korean style fried chicken. While I was in a long distance relationship with a great guy in hawaii, I had my favorite korean fried chicken places in honolulu. Alas, but here in the bay area, I knew of no such place to get my lip smacking kfc (korean fried chicken on!).... UNTIL tonight.
Thanks to yelp, my brother and I found OB town! We drove by this place in our neighborhood all the time, but somehow neglected to catch on that such a great korean fried chicken place existed. Who knew? For whatever reason, it's easy to drive right past this place (the entrance is in the back.. so from the front, it looks like an abandoned building).
All of my nostalgia of hawaii and my ex and my parents and our family car drives through LA could be unearthed with bites of the garlic fried chicken at OB town!
The guys running the place are super nice. Service is good. The restaurant itself is a cross between hip lounge, korean pop music lounge, indoor picnic in the park, tropical rendezvous.... okay... i know that doesn't seem to make sense.... but trust me walk into this place, and it feels like you've walked into another world... hip, cool, young, and curiously tacky then you blink and the red lighting makes the space seem ultra cool. It sounds weird, until you see it for yourself.
Overall, the chicken was delicious...sweet, spicy and garlicy sauce on top of some juicy pieces of fried chicken. One order satisfies 2 people easily. IRONICALLY, kfc (of the kentucky variety is right across the street)... if the kentucky fc folks only knew that korean fc is THE place to be!!
I like this place a lot, and will surely be back.
I love that they call the place OB town... much cooler (and less offensive to non-hawaii local folks who don't take to the "O" word... (that ends in -ental). Yikes.
Oh and next time I'll partake of the cold beer in the frosty mugs with the chicken and garlic fries! Cheers.
Delicious...big portions...if you like spicy bbq chicken...this is the spot. Id go here again!
Certainly different from anything in the Telegraph/Shattuck/University/College areas around campus. There also aren't too many college students inside, which is a nice change. You'll also note the loud k-pop dance tunes (which seem to be straight from the charts in Korea) and bar-ish atmosphere as soon as you walk in.
Service is no-frills, but OK. A twenty-something guy took our orders and periodically brought our food out (it came in spurts, with our group ordering at least eight dishes total). As a whole, the place isn't amazing, but nothing's problematic and the music is entertaining and encourages/forces you to talk as loud as you want.
I ordered the slightly spicy/sweet (I think it was called that) fried chicken (it was #4 on the menu, maybe?), which consisted of ten or so medium-sized, battered chicken pieces sitting in a sweet, mildy spicy sauce similar to that used for orange chicken. Rice costed $2, which I passed on, but I would recommend that you get it, even though the chicken plates cost anywhere from $12 to $16. The chicken was decent, though limited in taste and texture. We also had fried squid as an appetizer for the table; there was a lot of it, but I didn't particularly like it alone (bland) or with the sauce (too strong).
This is a fun place to go with a group because of the atmosphere. I bet it would be even better if you wanted to drink too. The food is not the most subtle and nuanced, but it's interesting and worth a try.
This isn't a place that I'd come to once a week or that often - maybe once a month or two? The food (namely the chicken) is definitely pretty good, especially when you're hungry, and especially with the radish side dish and the yogurt soju, but it's quite heavy and unhealthy.
But I'm still a fan!
It opens late (till 1am), and is good for slightly larger parties. Service is pretty efficient and good, and has its own small parking lot.
My favorite is the Garlic and Soy Sauce Chicken, and the Sweet and Spicy one. yummm
The one thing I never been to while attending Berkeley was Korean chicken. I had a lot of it back at home, but assumed there really wasn't any up here, until a friend told me about OB Chicken Town.
This place is pretty small, yet I never really seen it completely packed. Maybe I'm coming on the wrong days. The chicken here is expeeeensive. The key to enjoying this place is to put the price out of mind. The chicken here is good. Not holy-crap-the-best-chicken-evar, but pretty damn good. I like their plain old regular Korean friend chicken. Their marinated fare is OK, but after eating a lot of pieces, starts to be too much. On one visit, we happened to order a plate of the "most spicy chicken ever" they had on their menu (I think it even had a warning on how spicy it was). Being a true Korean, I decide to take the plunge.
Oh man. I made a mistake. It was ridiculous. I can take lots of spicy food. The "spicy" they serve in American or Americanized joints is like mild to me usually. But this was different It was one of those creeping burning sensations that totally takes over your mouth. Any bite of ANYTHING will leave your mouth miserable from pain. We sucked it up and ate the rest of it. Still, this dish in hindsight was a worthwhile experience.
The thing to do here, if you didn't know, is to drink with your food. You can get either beer, soju, or flavored soju. I usually don't like Korean beer (as it has no depth and tastes like water), but it goes well with the food here. The more you drink, the better the food tastes. Its a genius combination.
The location is kind of far to get to without a car and its kind of pricy for "poor starving college students", but if you have the means, definitely give this place a try.
Came here last night to get food to go. $2.80 for two awesome chicken kabobs with veggies, I will definitely be back!
My question is: how drunk do you have to be to think the ordinary is extraordinary? I was told that OB has out-of-this-world chicken and is the spot for the beginning or the end of many drunken debaucherous nights. I was excited!
Instead I found an empty restaurant. Okay, I'll judge after the chicken.
Chicken #1: Garlic Fried. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) Huge pieces. Crispy skin with yummy garlic flavors. Too bad that was the only part with flavor. Once you get past the skin, its just bland meat. Maybe that's why it comes with dipping sauce.
Chicken #2: Sweet and Spicy (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) More like sweet and sweet. No spiciness at all! The chicken was soooo heavily battered with a thick glaze. It looked like sweet and sour pork! Soggy and pratically tasteless. Bleh.
$14 each plate for maybe 8 pieces of chicken?! Not worth it!
What a disappointment!
Great little chicken place. I've been told it's not particularly authentic, but that's not really the point - it's very delicious. My personal favorite was the Honey Garlic Fried Chicken - really great crispy outside and soft delicious inside. They even remove the bones for you, for the most part anyway. It's a little confusing to get inside - you have to go around the back to the parking lot. The front doors looking from Telegraph are actually permanently locked, and used as a wall. Like I said, a little confusing. I'd definitely recommend going though, probably some of the best chicken I've eaten.
Korean bar snacks and tasty fried chicken in a variety of flavors. My personal favorites are the spicy and sweet fried chicken and the stir-fried rice cakes with vegetables.
Our first night there, we were probably the only non-Koreans in a packed house. The second night, we were the only ones there, Korean or not. (Yes, we went 2 nights in a row and didn't regret it one bit)
The pitcher of Oriental Beer is actually a mega 40 plastic bottle served a couple of frosty mugs. They also have soju cocktails, with one of my favorites: soju and yogurt drink. I think I had 5 or 6 shots to myself.
I would give this establishment 5 stars except I think they're long overdue for a facelift.
Yum give me some Korean Chicken!!!!!!
Who doesn't like fried food? haha.
Went here for friends birthday. Good place for groups.
Parking lot is kindof small, but no worries plenty of street parking. =D
I don't know how many times I must have driven past this place, never realizing it was there. So when my neighbor Jason C. called me up to see if I was interested in trying the Korean fried chicken that everyone is raving about on yelp...how could I turn him down?
I think my big mistake here was ordering "to go." Anyone who knows anything about ANYthing knows that generally, "fried" and "to go" are a pretty sad combination.
On the other hand, the chicken was good. And I'm sure it's much better when it hasn't been packed underneath napkins in a styrofoam container and then bagged in plastic. I'll skip the garlic fries next time though - they definitely weren't knocking me up.
A little pricey, but the portions are huge.
OBBQCT, I'll see you soon. I need to eat you the way you were meant to be eaten.
GARLIC FRIED CHICKEN. Just saying those words triggers a pleasant chemical release in my brain. Gaaarrliicc Frriiied Chickeeenn (whoooaa, that feels good).
I live a bridge away from this restaurant, but I'll fake an excuse of going to IKEA in Emeryville just to taste that delicious fried goodness at Oriental BBQ afterwards. The Sweet & Spicy chicken is okay, but nothing to write to Yelp about like my favorite garlic fried chicken. I've also had the tofu w/stir-fried kimchee and it's a winner because it taste like tofu with stir-fried kimchee. There's only a couple of banchan appetizers, which was a let-down, but now I know to not go there for that.
Oriental BBQ is kind of a dive with a ghost town exterior facing Telegraph Ave., with the entrance via the parking lot. The interior is like an asian western saloon with Korean pop music playing. I found the tunes catchy after a bit. Service was near non-existent after dinner was brought to the table, which is why maybe a crackhead managed to panhandle at each table before being shown the door.
Despite the lackluster ambiance and the word **whisper** oriental **gasp** in the name, I haven't hesitated to return and will do so again to try more of the menu.
I love this place! I wouldn't go here every day though because I think that'd be a health hazard. But the fried chickens are delicious.
What I usually order:
- spicy fried chicken
- lemon sauce fried chicken
- spicy rice cakes
The three are delicious. But the spicy rice cakes are too spicy for me, so I usually can only eat about 1/3 at a time, and take the rest home.
As for the chicken plates, it is big enough for two people, or three puny girls. I ordered the non-fried chicken (I think it's "grilled" on the menu), and while it was okay, it wasn't nearly as good as the fried ones.
I saw that they now sell lunch box options! I wanted to try them, but the fried chickens were calling out to me. They looked good though (I was looking at the other tables). Maybe I will try those next time.
Price is okay, if you are sharing the chicken by 2 people.
A great restaurant asset for Berkeley / Oakland. It's not listed on the menu, but you can ask for a half order of the chicken (which is a good idea if there's only 2 of you). I also really liked the laboki (spicy ramen stirfry with rice cakes and an egg)
Definitely a returning customer. I was introduced to this joint by my big brothers of the fraternity when I pledged and ever since then I absolutely fell in love with this place. I've ordered on multiple occasions, their take out which is extremely fast!
Unlike many Korean restaurants, they don't serve small dishes. They usually give you daikon, which is really good to soothe the spiciness out of your mouth.
My favorite dish of all time is their "Red/Sweet &Spicy" Fried Chicken. You seriously can't go wrong with it. It's actually not super spicy, its quite mild. The mini salad with mild Thousand Island that comes with all Fried Chicken dishes are also quite good.
Another all time favorite is their Duk Bok ki (sp?), which is an extreme spicy [yeah I cant take spicy foods], this is when the daikon comes in handy. Usually they serve the duk bok ki with a boiled egg, ramen and fishcakes soaked in their super spicy sauce. The duk bok ki is always fresh and soft [I can never make it as good as them!]
The only thing I dont suggest is the Dol Sat (sp?) BBQ Chicken, the chicken is way way way way too dry and FLAMING spicy! haha, seriously not edible for my mild taste buds.
Overall, this is the closest place from campus for my beloved Korean Food.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE OB Chicken.
My fondest memories of living in Korea definitely revolve around the food, and I remember faking fevers and telling my mom that the only cure would be to order me some Korean BBQ chicken (yang nyum tong dak). The best part was that in Korea, you could get piping hot food delivered to your door at any hour of the day. I'm not sure why we ever left.
Anyway, I've had cravings for that chicken ever since I left Pohang as an 8-year-old, and I wasn't able to satisfy them until I got to Berkeley and some friends of mine told me to try this place out. As soon as the told me that they have Yang Nyum Chicken, I was out the door.
I only get the Yang Nyum Chicken here, and even though I've tried other chicken items from the menu that friends have ordered, Yang Nyum beats 'em all. The people who work here are really nice, especially if you can speak Korean, and they'll usually give you some food on the house. I've always gotten either soup and/or calamari.
OB, thank you for reuniting me with my childhood love.
I hate to give less than 3 star reviews. Really, I do. In a perfect world, every meal I shoved in my mouth would be 5 stars. Unfortunately Oriental B.B.Q. Chicken Town didn't meet my standards.
Fool me once, shame on you. Actually, with this place, it only took one time. I was fooled by fellow yelpers into believing that this place served up some bomb Korean style fried chicken. What I had was chicken (I think) that was fried but overly sweet and with a weird smell. I ordered the Garlic & Soy fried chicken. The chicken is all deboned, except for the wings. My problem with this is that you can't tell what part of the chicken you are eating. It's like they don't want you to know. It's a mystery but I don't like mysteries in my meals. I'm totally a breast man, but I don't think there was a single peace of white meat on my plate. The meat itself was stringy and rubbery. The sauce was sweet which boggled my mind because it was garlic & soy.
Before writing this review I decided to give the chicken a second chance. So the next day, I popped those mystery pieces of leftover chicken into the oven and crisped them up. I ate it with rice and sweet chili sauce. Wow, what a difference. Totally better tasting and more appropriate way to eat their chicken. The meat was still stringy and unidentifiable, yet more tasty. Hence the second star.
Overall, I guess I was expecting something different. I was expecting some bomb fried chicken with a Korean twist. From my seat in the restaurant, I could see the KFC/Taco Bell across the street. I would have rather spent 10 bucks on a bucket of KFC Extra Crispy chicken rather than blow $40 bucks on an order of garlic and soy fried chicken, garlic fries and a seafood dish that my partner ordered.
And to think I passed on having a fried chicken sandwich from Bakesale Betty that same day for lunch because I was going to have fried chicken for dinner. Boo Hoo.
We heard that the fried chicken here was supposed to be incredible and crispy. The fried chicken was overpriced and not good, although crispy. I think it would be a good place for college students to go and have some soju and "bar" food, but it wasn't my scene. However, I think the yogurt soju was really good. Thank you to a previous yelp reviewer for suggesting the yogurt soju. I won't be going back.
After an evening pounding brown-bagged 40's at art murmur, the hike back up Telegraph will leave you hungry and ready for that crucial last drink to keep off the hangover and some tasty food to fill you up. Skip the grease at Church's chicken and the neo-bohemian Pizzaiolo (rye whiskey and bitters aren't the preferred pairing with warm mickeys). Don't be tempted by the combined power of the KFC / Taco Bell, just cross the street, and it's as if your entering some magic kingdom of chicken, an oriental chicken town, one might say.
The decor is kind of cracked out - decorated like a traditional korean village, with thatched roofs sticking out of every wall, and the tables / booths set up underneath the roofs. One one side is a huge plasma screen tv (I'm guessing traditional korean villages were missing this detail), and two space heaters are dangling precariously from one of the roofs (i'm guessing the fire marshall missed this detail).
The waiter(s? only ever seen 1) is friendly and seems way overworked, but runs from table to table with pitchers of beer, bottles of soju, and the finest in olive-oil fried chicken.
The chicken. Damn. I never thought I would proudly say that I enjoy eating boneless fried chicken. I grew out of chicken tenders in middle school, or, at least, I though I did.
The soy sauce and garlic chicken is where it's at. Don't be tempted by the sweet and spicy or the original - both are good, but just don't have that kick, and the sweet sauce is just too overwhelming.
I highly recommend the dok boki - tubes of rice shaped like the string cheese you ate as a kid, sitting in a tasty red pepper sauce. It's served with lightly cooked onions and some potstickers, and, damn, is it tasty. I was crazy skeptical when my girlfriend first ordered it, but I'm a true believer now.
I'm kind of scared by the extreme usage of cheese in the menu (pretty much anything, including the chicken, can be ordered with it), but everything I've seen coming out of the kitchen looks pretty awesome.
Although it's open late, avoid staying too long. The dishes are a bit pricey, and the free-flowing booze will quickly empty your wallet.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this place..garlic fried chicken and apple soju so far are the top favorites.. I have yet to find someone on the menu that tops this. Love the late night hours too :)
I came here again this weekend and thought I'd further emphasize the excellence of this place. The Bul Dak is spicy and delicious, but I have to say the rice cake kebabs are what keeps bringing me back. I'm thinking of going back today just to order 2 orders of them.
I also tried the regular fried chicken for the first time. It was the perfect combination of crispy, tender and tasty. I love this place! 5 stars forever!
Holy crap this place is freaking amazing. All the chicken dishes are worth trying (Yang-Nyeom… Read more »
This place is legit. Went there with my man to watch the Laker game and get some chicken. We ended up with spicy grilled chicken with seafood. The price was a little high until the food came out and we were served twice as much meat as you would get in an average entree some where else. We were going to get another small side dish Kim Chee something or another, but the waiter informed us that this was not what we thought of Kim Chee and that it was on the menu for the older Korean generation, so ok we passed.
Can't wait to go back and get one of those fried chicken dishes in over indulgent sauce. I'm drooling.
OB Chickentown = unique.
While I was a Cal Student, I probably ate this every weekend. It is a definite return to place for its food. I went there enough so that I still remember my numbers of #2, 3, 4, and 35 despite being removed from berkeley for over a year.
The chicken was to die for. I still have alumni friends that laments over the fact that they cannot try this chicken one more time.
I absolutely loved this place, needless to say. Because it was also so far removed from the campus, many of the students do not even know this place existed. Therefore, it was never overly occupied/had a wait line to get seated. Its decor also catered to that of a sports bar.
Although I do not drink, my acquaintances have always ordered the yogurt soju. A def. must try if you are a drinker.
Other Notables:
Location: Removed from campus... so definitely a location to go to by car... parking is easy to find.
Service: Great. very responsive due to the small dining area.
Hours of Operation: They only serve dinner for the most part. So if you want to catch this for lunch... you are out of luck =/.
*** Due to the change in ownership, the food, thankfully, did not change but....they removed the big screen. I believe if they still had it, it would would have been more occupied.***
The chicken has come home to roost!
I always saw the Chicken Town out of the corner of my eye as I would be grabbing my Grilled Stuft Burrito across the street. Every time I would pass it, however, it looked like a ghost Town. I was too chicken to ever go there alone.
But the time has come.
I'm loath to give out five-star reviews in fear of "star inflation," but the Chicken Town deserves it. I'm a fan of Kyochon down in Southern Cal, but the Chicken Town puts them to shame. There's nothing like downing a big bottle of OB along with some Korean-style chicken wings. That's more than enough to dispatch a bad case of the Mondays.
Although they're deep fried (albeit in healthy Olive Oil, which according to the menu will diminish my risk for coronary heart disease), the chicken is not terribly greasy. We had two orders of chicken at about $12.95 each, which served three people ably. We had enough to take home, and the chicken was still good three days later.
Showed up on a Monday at 6:30 p.m. Empty when we arrived, but filled up by 7:00.
This place is dangerously close to my home. I shall return.
I've spent a lot of drunken nights here, eating their delicious fried chicken. If there's one late night place to go when I have a tinkering for fried chicken, this is the one.
The fried chicken here is great, and there's beer to boot! The alcohol is alright but it's a great place to bring your friends. If you're expecting MAGICAL fried chicken, then you might be disappointed..well unless you're drunk. But it's open late and most of the time when I'm there I'm drunk, so it does in fact taste MAGICAL. They used to not have all of the meal options that they do now, and just the fried chicken menu so that's an interesting change.
It's not accessible if you don't have a car, but it's not too far from Berkeley campus either.
I LOVE the fried chicken here. My friends and I also ordered a sausage dish...I can't remember what it's called....anyhow...it was delicious.
Fruit plate was good too, but if you screw up cutting fruit, you're an idiot, so I'm not considering that with this review.
I agree with some other comments regarding alcohol; it definitely runs up the bill...and quickly.
This place is worth a visit. It's not the cheapest place considering a college budget; expect to spend at least $15/person. Not too shabby for some really good fried chicken/korean fare.
Oh Man
I knew I would miss kyochon and love letter back at home during my anticipation for another semester of academic death at Berkeley, I looked up the nearest korean chicken place and i stumbled across Oriential BBQ.
the yang yum chicken.. just couldn't compare to what I'm used to. I would say its fried chicken that is slathered in dukboki sauce. Its okay.
What saved my experience was the garlic fried chicken. It was a bit unique from what I've been used to and I enjoyed the taste so instead of being dissatisfied with my yangyumchicken (my original target), i left the place knowing there's a new item in my korean chicken menu.
A key note, you don't have to order the full order of chicken on the menu, ask them for a 1/2 order and the cost is cut in half to $7.99
It was 10:45 PM, I was tired, and I misread something on the menu as "will make you shit kimchi." Well, that shrimp was so spicy, I totally went home and shat kimchi.
Part way through the meal, I put down my chopsticks and said "this meal is no longer enjoyable." It was actually too hot. Yeah yeah, I'm sure spicy food is your measuring contest, and you're reading this thinking, "oh, white girl thought it was soo spicy." Well, fool, this white girl is cajun, and she found the meal to be more hot than flavorful, and didn't enjoy it. So there. I had to ask for rice (which to their credit, they brought promptly), and it was still an unenjoyable experience to consume their food.
Perfect for late night, spicy measuring contests.
Ah Korean food... the soul food of Asian culture. I went yesterday with Josh K and friends to try the place he's been raving about for so long.
The atmosphere is rather cozy. Nice secluded tables and it didn't seem too crowded when we went there at 7:30. It's right across the street from a KFC, which is quite amusing to say the least.
The beer comes in giant plastic bottles, but it's Korean beer and therefore, not that great. But it's still a pretty cool idea and quite memorable.
We ordered the rice cakes with cheese and sausage, which was an odd combination of bbq and mochi. Not bad though. We also ordered a plate of the garlic soy fried chicken (which was good, but not exactly memorable), the spicy grilled chicken (which I don't think I can eat again without rice) and the sweet and spicy fried chicken, which had an amazing sauce and was the highlight of the evening.
They did a good job considering there was only one person working the floor. Great food, and I understand why everyone loves it. I'll try to come back again. Perhaps next time I'll get an order of the sweet and spicy chicken and go next door to kfc for biscuits and mashed potatoes.
Be warned, the spicy grilled chicken is very spicy. That means that the "extremely spicy grilled chicken" on menu must be even more so.
The fried chicken, regardless of sauce, is very good and for the most part is deboned. The spicy sweet wings can come over sauced, but if you eat it quickly it won't leave the chicken too soggy. Also, service can be slow since there's only really one guy behind the counter so come with patience or come drunk.
across from KFC, looks like an old drinking haven
you can get split half garlic soy and half sweet/spicy
however, the garlic soy flavor tastes much better, also is a bit sweet
the sweet and spicy sauce version is soft meat, but the flavor is just meh, a little oversauced and not spicy -- so don't get it
meat is deboned except for the wings, also noted it's cooked in olive oil
o deng soup (fish cake) was made very nice, the right kick
panchan with the thousand island salad, heavily pickled radish and that's it
nice touch with the frosted mugs -- they were out of Hite though, so had to settle for OB
Neighborhood: Temescal
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: North Oakland
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: North Oakland
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Temescal
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Temescal
Category: Korean
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