Korean Fried Chicken at BHC Chicken, Jongno-gu, Seoul

After checking in at hotel venue-G, we left our luggage at our hotel rooms and headed out for dinner. We walked around and somehow stumbled on streets filled with restaurants with blinking street signs in the west from the hotel. One of the first restaurants we saw was BHC Chicken - Beer - Plate (Big Hit Chicken - Better and Healthier Choice) with large posters of the Korean actress, Jun Ji Hyun, from the famous Korean drama, My Love from the Star, on the outside of the restaurant. If anyone knows where you can get good chimaek (short for fried chicken and beer in Korean), it is her. So, I didn't hesitate one bit.

bhc chicken fried chicken restaurant jongno seoul korea open terrace


The BHC Chicken restaurant in the Jongno-gu area is surprisingly spacious and comfortable to dine in, compared to the smaller restaurants, which I later found in the crowded Myeong-dong area. When we entered the restaurant, we were immediately taken to a table by a kind waiter and handed menus in English and with clear pictures of the food. There was also a red electronic bell on the side of the table to call the waiter to the table, when you are ready to order, when you want to order more drinks and food, and to get the bill.     

bhc fried chicken restaurant interior pub feeling wooden elements

While we waited for the fried chicken, we got a bowl with crispy snacks and a small plate with pickled radish cubes. The waiter also brought 4 individual plates with forks and plastic gloves to eat our fried chicken and a bin to place the bones can be found on the table. Make sure to bring your own pack of wet wipes, because it can get messy.

bhc fried chicken complimentary snacks crisps pickled cubes radish

After waiting for a while (the chicken are fried to order), two metal plates with freshly fried chicken was brought to our table. I was surprised by the large portions. 

bhc fried chicken half seasoned half fried mild chili pepper soy sauce metal plates
      

bhc fried chicken mild chili pepper soy pepper soy sauce jongno seoul korea   

Mild Chili pepper & Soy sauce fried chicken (20,000 won)

We wanted to try one of the spicy fried chicken and we got the one with 1 chili pepper next to it on the menu. After eating a chicken wing, I already knew that I don't want to try how hot the one with three chili pepper is. The heat was not normal, as it was practically burning my tongue for ten minutes straight, after one bite. I think I accidentally also ate a slice of green pepper with the chicken, which looked like spring onion to me. After the initial burn, you do taste an interesting mix of herbs and garlic. The chicken meat was juicy and the thin crunchy crust was almost unaffected by the sauce, still very crunchy.  

bhc half sauce half fried ban ban fried chicken crust jongno seoul korea

Half sauce & Half fried chicken (17,000 won)

Basically, this is fried chicken with a slightly thicker, fried chicken from KFC like, crust and half the plate is without sauce and half the plate is covered by a glossy and sticky, gochujang-based, sweet and spicy sauce. The fried chicken without sauce was crunchy and delicious, but it was slightly under-seasoned. It could use a bit of salt and pepper. The fried chicken covered in sauce was mostly sweet with a tiny hint of spiciness, like gochujang mixed with a lot of honey or sugar. This is what I view as mildly spicy, not like the previous fried chicken. But out of the two, I prefer the mild chili pepper & soy sauce fried chicken, as it has a nice savory flavor and I like savory food more than sweet. The spiciness just needed to be toned down a little bit for me.    

bhc half sauce half fried ban ban fried chicken crust glossy sauce jongno seoul korea
This picture was taken by the person sitting opposite to me


As drinks, we ordered a bottle of Kloud beer (4,500 won) and cans of coke (2,000 won). The Coca Cola was served in ice cold beer mugs with ice cubes in it. It was great to wash the spiciness of the fried chicken away.

bhc fried chicken drinks coca cola beer jugs kloud beer jongno seoul Korea

About BHC

BHC uses carefully selected domestic chicken, season them with a mix of 30 natural ingredients, and fry them in Hi-Oleic Sunflower Seed Oil. On the menu, there is only fried chicken made in many different ways (and the rare grilled chicken) and sides like fries and a salad. The bestsellers are 뿌링클 (fried chicken covered by Emmental cheese powder and with a cheese-yogurt dip on the side), 맛초킹 (Macho king fried chicken - fried chicken with a soy sauce-honey sauce blended with oriental herbs), 치바고 (fried chicken with a crunchy grains crust made from black beans, brown rice, almonds, and corn), and 맵스터 (the fried chicken with chili pepper & soy sauce that I ordered). There are also new flavors every once in a while. 
   

BHC fried chicken restaurant (official website)
서울 종로구 관철동 13-8 
(13-8 Kwanchol-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul)

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