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Mon-Sun. 4:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
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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
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.
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!).
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 »
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.
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.
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!
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 :)
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.
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.
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.***
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 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.
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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Okay, dude wth are people raving about? I tried a bunch of stuff that my fellow yelpers mentioned but I was only disappointed.
The chicken was pretty greasy no matter what kind we tried and their spicy noodle soups were straight up ramen. The block of ramen noodles was still stuck together when the waiter brought the order to our table!
The place itself is really really dirty, too. There was like some kind of bug on the table and then the waiter finally came over to wipe it down (only once with a seemingly dry cloth) for us.
I guess I wouldn't mind chicken wings from this place... it's better than, say, Wingstop. But don't have high expectations AT ALL when going to this place.
I'm willing to give this place another try in the future. Hopefully I'll change my mind. The Garlic Soy (or was it Soy Garlic) chicken was the highlight.
This place is pretty good. Three stars for take out and very nice people trying to meet your needs.
I live up the street and have always wanted to eat there, so tonight I walked down and ordered take out. I'm lazy and just want to eat at home.
I intended to have a Korean beer while I waited for my food, but the bottles they sell were large and huge. They offered me tea. It reminded me of barley tea I'd had at Japanese noodle shops. Not Korean beer, but tea is nice.
The people did their best to speak english with me and aside from feeling a little rushed I managed to order.
I ordered #2 sweet and spicy fried chicken. Damn good! $14
Garlic beef and rice? pretty good. $9.5
Asparigus and mushroom. good. $5.6
The chicken stole the show being both crispy and saucy. very flavorful,sweet and spicy. Honest. I didn't want to stop eating it even after I was full of food.
The beef was sort of plain looking but had pretty nice salty flavors and sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Definitely just fine.
Asparigus and mushrooms were OK. just sauteed. The mushrooms were a variety I'd never had before, they looked like a root or tuber but the texture was soft like a mushroom. very mild earthy flavor.
One thing I really liked is that they cut holes in your to go containers by hand to let the steam escape, making sure your food is still crispy when you get home. That's love baby.
I liked the room, kind of small. The music was a little loud. It was kinda cheesy techno pop. not bad. Sort of a party atmosphere.
I was a little bit cold. The heating system consists of funky portable heaters placed here and there. not very effective. Maybe if the room is full of people it doesn't need as much heat.
Since it is so close I will go again with a mind to try some of the spicy cold noodles. and another type of fried chicken.
Hopefully I'll have a companion to share one of those huge Korean beers
and some of their funny soju drinks. I'm sure it'll be fun.
peace
I love spicy food... growing up on kimchee and rice since as early as I can remember has equipped me with a fairly high tolerance for it. I guess that explains why I love that fire chicken at OB House!
However, to be honest, I'm a scared of the "extremely spicy" version of their fire chicken. (yes they have two variations of it on the menu.) Typically spicy foods don't scare me, but I once ordered fire chicken at Playground (another authentic Korean type food/drinking establishment). After I had ordered it, the waiter warned me that it was "very spicy". I looked at him dumbfounded thinking, "Why the hell is he telling a fellow Korean that a plate may be too spicy?" Nothing is EVER too spicy for a Korean... or so I thought...
I shrugged it off assuming he must have thought I was Chinese considering I had ordered it in English... but when I started eating, jesus... I was thinking who the hell eats this shit. Don't get me wrong it was good... but it was beyond spicy essentially making it inedible (of course I managed to eat half of it).
Anyways, back to OB house... Garlic fries are great as well! Also the service is very friendly. Unfortunately, the venue itself is a bit small so I imagine it will be hard to get a table on a Friday/Saturday night.
Also, on a side note, I never knew the OB in the name stood for Oriental BBQ. I always thought it was referring to the Korean beer... shucks.
For all of you who miss Los Angeles Koreatown, its tongtak restaurants (e.g., Kyochon, Bonchon) and want some Korean Fried Chicken (not Kentucky), a visit to Oriental BBQ Chicken Town merits a visit.
1. Orientation: Oriental used to be called Koko Tongtak, but revamped its menu and now features Korean style fried chicken. I have some high reservations about it being called "Oriental" (since I feel like the word "Oriental" has some negative connotations), but I'd overlook this for the fact that there are few Korean restaurants of this sort in the East Bay. I love Kentucky Fried Chicken (yes, I'm one of the few), but Korean Fried Chicken is also on my favorites after this experience. Parking is plentiful, which is a plus. The ambiance is also traditionally Korean in a countryside kind of way, and the thatched roofing and the contemporary Korean pop music permeates the lively atmosphere. It kind of reminds of Toe Bang at Chapman Plaza in Los Angeles Koreatown.
2. Quality, taste and presentation of its famed chicken is consistent and a Yelp Star: we ordered the spicy chicken, as well as the garlic chicken. Both chicken came with shredded julienned cabbage and Thousand Island dressing, although there was no sign of tortilla chips and salsa as mentioned in previous Yelp reviews. Maybe it's because they knew we were Korean? *shrug* The chicken quality was high, and it was never spongy. The meat was always extremely hot, and fresh. The regular traditional chicken is good, although the garlic chicken tends to be a little sweet with the garlic glaze. For the value and quantity of chicken, Chicken Town does this well.
3. Side dishes a hit-or-miss: the garlic fries are delicious and served piping hot with the right ratio of potato to garlic, with bright flakes of parsley. It tastes as it has been frozen, but it hits the spot. The kakdugi (spicy pickled kimchi radish cubes) tastes home-made and fresh, while the mild water-based radish kimchi is a perfect complement to counter the heaviness of the chicken. You can order as much cabbage as you'd like. The dukbokki (spicy rice cakes) is average, as it seems to be a little gummy for my taste, and may be a tad too spicy for the typical non-Korean palate. However, the side dishes on average are not too bad at all.
4. Customer service rating an average: it is not clear why there often is only one server on duty. At times, we had to wait long times for him to come by. This place is extremely popular and often packed, so I guess I could understand.
5. An East Bay Must Visit for you Yelpers: overall, Chicken Town is a little taste, reminiscent of Koreatown in Los Angeles. It is extremely popular with the enormous Korean American population at UC Berkeley (go Bears!), and yet also is family-friendly. Although it serves OB, Hite and flavored soju and fusions of the sort, it also offers an atmosphere that children would appreciate at least for the chicken. One does not need to be any age group, since I was also in a group ranging from late 20s, early 30s and even to late 30s and married with young children, and the atmosphere and staff doesn't appear to treat anyone or us differently. It may help that we are Korean, but the servers are more than comfortable serving non-Koreans. Order with confidence, and enjoy your visit here.
Four Yelp Stars, and a must visit. Now if we could only change the name...lol
OB never fails to deliver on the food. I absolutely love #1, #2, #3, and all the variations of dduk-bok-ki that they offer (with ramen, potstickers, fish cakes, etc.) For all you people who complain about the food being oily or greasy, you're eating fried chicken for crying out loud! What else do you want to complain about, the calories? Get over yourselves and just enjoy the chicken!
OB Beer isn't half bad either. It's not the main reason I come here obviously but it makes the trip down Telegraph at 11:30 PM on a Thursday (or Monday) night all the more worth it.
Take off half a star for the semi-shady location and hygeine issues people have brought up, and half a star for service that is at times pretty lackluster.
Q: Why do the chicken cross the road?
A: To escape from Colonel Sanders, get to the other side and sacrifice their lives to OB Chicken Town.
When I first heard about this place, I thought to myself:
"WTF? Korean restaurant? Fried Chicken? Are they stealing business from the black folks now? TSK!"
I mean, it was much worse of a shock than realizing most of the Japanese restaurants in the bay area are actually owned by the Koreans.
But fuck me so hard for having any doubts.
The Garlic Fried Chicken here is out of this fucking world. It's so well marinated, packs a juicy bite each time, and the batter is perfection! It's not too crispy to the point that it scratches your inner lining of your mouth. But it still has a nice crunch considering how juicy the whole thing tastes!
How good is it?
I took my BGFF (best gal friend forever) here. She actually ate 4 pieces of fried chicken! And she ABSOLUTELY hates and does not eat any fried chicken from Popeye, KFC, Church's, Roscoe's and the like.
Price for chicken are $12-$16 a plate.
2 Orders of the various fried chicken on the menu can probably feed 3.5 people normally, but 1.5 if you go with me.
Have some OB, Hite, or even Soju.
I guarantee you'd want to come back here again, like my BGFF does.
Ummm... AMAZING.
I would originally give it 4 stars but the extra one is b/c I live in San Francisco now and have to work to trek over there to eat my beloved chicken. The extra commute makes you realize just how delicious the soy and garlic chicken is! If you go to UC Berkeley be sure to try this place at least... like 5 times before you leave otherwise your life will be filled with regret that you never took advantage of it's deliciosity.
Definitely order chicken though. I went one time and didn't (obviously I was not in charge of ordering) and it was a waste of a trip! They have this udon noodle soup thing that's also really good and, when eaten in conjunction with the fried chicken, makes you not feel like your going to have an immediate heart attack.
Also, they changed their mugs back to the frozen glass ones - excitement!!! I'm going tonight. Can't wait!!!
I don't like establishments whose monikers aren't representative of what they really are, so might I suggest that Oriental BBQ Chicken Town change its name to Oriental Town. The wooden decor mimics those old-time Korean booze shacks, and they are indeed Oriental, but people should avoid the chicken here, which is rough, fatty, gristly bits fried into soggy, saucy oblivion.
But not all is lost: you can still get Korean beer (I prefer Hite, though this you can only get in the big-ass size), and they actually have excellent cheese dduk bok gi. I'd go back for that and other items, and just try to forget what the restaurant is called.
Please Note: This review is based off the fact that Chicken Town is directly across the street from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
"Ever since then I have believed that God is not only a gentleman and a sport; he is a Kentuckian too."
William Faulkner
"Ever since eating at Chicken Town, I have been convinced that God is not only beneficent and just, but Korean too."
Joanna "Bojangles" M.
I love Faulkner, wrote many a composition on his work while in university, but the man clearly did not know what was what when it comes to Chicken.
Chicken Town OWNS Kentucky Fried. Not in the master-slave sense (though I suppose that could apply), but the Outright Overrules that sad hybrid failure of a chain restaurant.
The name is kind of inane...Oriental (are we in the 1950s?) BBQ (not so much) Town (I mean, perhaps a village, but Town?) But these superficial inconsistencies don't matter when you get to the meat (pun intended) of the issue: This is some damn fine finger lickin' chicken!!!
So I totally prejudged this place. I thought ok the name...sounding like maybe the chicken might be one of those mystery gelatinized chicken in the shape of a dinosaur kinda chicken. But my fiance said it's rated well so I checked it out on yelp, and decided to go. The building is lookin' a little sketch...ok I'll admit it. But oh was I wrong about this place. The chicken is real. The friedness is awesome. They fry it in olive oil, and you can taste the olive oil freshness. It's fried so perfectly. The water kim chi is a great accompaniment for the greasy goodness. It's a nice palate cleanser. The chef really thought about the paring. The soju was mmmmmm....and the spicy noodle dish very good. I highly recommend especially after a long night of salacious behavior.
Sometimes on a Friday night there is nothing better than drinking with friends while eating something delicious and plentiful like fried chicken. On nights like those, you will find us at O.B. Chicken.
"Korean bar food" is probably the best phrase for describing O.B. It's different than a standard Korean restaurant or Korean BBQ and from what I am told, they serve what Koreans like to eat when they get drunk.
The interior is small and the tables tend to fill up. By 9 pm on a Friday, you will have to wait. Funny enough, the hostess will have no compunction about having parties switch to other tables if it means squeezing more people in. Also of note, the tables have thin bamboo blinds between them to give a little privacy to each table.
My favorite dish is the Yang Nyeom chicken (#2 on their menu). It is a very mildly spiced marinated fried chicken. This is always the staple of our meals at O.B. Also worth trying is the cheese dduckpoki. The small rice cakes in red sauce make for an interesting flavor I have not had anywhere else (not that I am an expert of Korean cuisine.) I have also tried the Soondae, but it is not my thing. I tend not to like blood sausage, maybe I am just a wuss.
Of course, you will want to order beer and soju. They have a good selection, but we usually get OB beer or Hite, which they sell by the 1.6 liter bottle. Awesome.
Service can be spotty, but only because they usually only have one person covering the tables. However, they have always been very friendly and competent and they seem to have a good time along with the customers. In fact, one of the servers calling himself "michael" asked us if we wanted to meet Korean girls and then was generous enough to offer to introduce us to any cute Korean customers. You don't get that level of service at most places.
I always look forward to coming here with a group of friends and I recommend you do the same, but only if your group of friends likes drinking, chicken, and a good time.
This place was sooooo good. We got #2, 3, and 32 - sweet and spicy chicken, soy and garlic chicken, and spicy rice cakes, and all were home runs. If you haven't had it before, you have to get a yogurt soju, too. Soju is kinda nasty by itself, this stuff was delicious. Careful though. It doesn't taste strong, but you'll feel it soon enough.
The service was excellent, and in addition to what we ordered the waitress brought out two dishes on the house - a grilled mushroom asparagus platter and a house soup.
It might seem a little expensive for students, but the portions are pretty big. We had a party of 4, ordered three dishes, and were stuffed afterward.
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