Bon Chon Chicken

Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Cuisine type: Korean chicken wings/drumsticks/tenders
Atmosphere: casual, cafe style seating
Meal: late lunch
Overall score: 8.1

Nina

Couldn’t think of anything better for a quick weekend (late) lunch than chicken wings. After coming across Bon Chon online, we knew we absolutely had to try it, adding a Korean flair to an American classic sounded like a cool idea. Their restaurant is small, very simply decorated, with plain laminated tables and cafeteria style chairs. More interestingly, their menu was very simple and to the point, with relatively few choices, but a satisfying diversity for this kind of joint. Essentially, there were three types of chicken (wings, drumsticks and tenders) with two types of sauce (mild or hot) and a few different order sizes. Additionally, there were a few classic sides (cole slaw, fries, sweet potato fries) and a couple of Korean inspired ones (kimchi, pickled daikon).
We got both wings and drumsticks, with both types of sauce, and a side of both Korean and classic slaw and finally sweet potato fries. Everything was quite delicious, good flavors, a great amount of spice and the chicken was incredibly tender and juicy. If I had to pick on something, it would be the breading on the chicken which was a tad bit thicker than I would prefer, but the perfect crispiness on it made up for the thickness.
I will definitely keep this place in mind for next time we’re in search for wings, though since the atmosphere doesn’t add much to the experience I would probably just order take-out next time and enjoy the food from home.

Food	8
Drinks	7
Atmosphere	7
Service	8
Value	8

Ben

We stumbled on this place before having heard or read anything about it. I found it simply awesome. They offer only fried chicken (in “small,” “medium,” or “large” portions), which consist of varying numbers of wings and drumsticks. There are two sauces: soy garlic and spicy garlic, which are lightly applied to the breaded and fried chicken. The chicken is simply fantastic - the perfected combination of very juicy but not too greasy. We also got a generous portion of sweet potato fries which were great as well. This is maybe my favorite type of place - very simple menu that does one thing but executes it flawlessly - and after eating there I had to wonder why this model is not more common. The prices are really good: an $11 medium is enough to split between two people, sides are $3-4 and beer is ~$3-5. If you don’t want fried chicken ... don’t go. But if you do … it’s fantastic. The atmosphere is upbeat and relaxed, overall a pleasant place. After we ate there, we googled reviews and were not surprised to find that it seems to have almost a cult following.. a cult which I have now joined.

Food	9
Drinks	8
Atmosphere	8
Service	8
Value	9

Beque Korean BBQ

Location: Santa Clara, CA

Cuisine type: Korean

Atmosphere: classic, cook at table

Meal: dinner

Price range: $20 all-you-can-eat

Overall grade: 8

Ben

Table full of appetizers (more than 10), $20 all you can eat including well seasoned chicken and pork, and spicy and unspiced beef. The entire service was efficient and filling, the service was prompt and helpful. The all-you-can-eat is a great way to fully experience Korean BBQ, where they serve such a large amount of meats, soup, and appetizers that it is expected to leave large amounts uneaten. The soup was much better than a standard miso soup, with mussels and mushrooms in addition to scallions and tofu. The appetizers included kimchi that I enjoyed much more than that which I’ve had in the past. Overall the appetizers were pretty standard, but an impressive sight when all arranged around the grill at the center of the table. The bulgogi was all great – particularly the chicken (very flavorful dark meat) and spicy beef. The only drawback was the pork was served frozen and was a little bland. There was a great bargain for a rice wine bottle for $8, which we also thoroughly enjoyed.

Food          8

Drinks        8

Atmosphere 7

Service      7

Value         8

Nina

The weekend came and it was time to take a break from cooking dinner and treat ourselves to a new and interesting restaurant. I had never been to a Korean Barbecue, and Ben really talked up this cooking style since his trip to DC last November, so I had to try it. I found a restaurant with great reviews across the board, which on top of that had a nice all-you-can eat deal which was very tempting.

The restaurant had a familiar, somewhat austere atmosphere, with nothing to set it apart from dozens of other Asian restaurants I have seen before - a simple table-with-four-chairs setting with vague representations of Korean culture along the wall. There was one key difference, however: the center of every table was occupied by a gas grill plate, characteristic for the Korean Barbecue at-the-table meat preparation.

The meal started with a long array of appetizers, which we soon realized also would serve as sides, since the all-you-can-eat component of the meal consisted exclusively of meat and more meat. The small plates lining the edges of the grill included pickled daikon, kimchi cabbage, kimchi spiced daikon, glazed potatoes, bean sprouts and seaweed. We were also served warm tea and a miso soup containing mussels and mushrooms, which definitely made it richer and more exciting than the usual bland miso options. This all went pretty well with the array of protein we cooked on our table grill: pork belly, spicy beef, marinated beef and marinated chicken, and the lettuce leaves which served as light and fresh carb-free wraps. Last but not least, we washed it all down with a few rounds of sake, which definitely rounded off our meal delightfully.

At some point it became difficult to manage the meat on the grill (especially due to the variation form the very thinly sliced beef which could be eaten somewhat rare to the thicker chicken which needed to be cooked through), especially since it was not entirely clear how we could separately handle the raw meat and the cooked meat with the same pair of tongs and pair of scissors for cutting it up (chopsticks are not the most useful in eating large strips of meat whole). We managed in the end, and were not abel to even finish the first round of meat that was brought to our table (though the server did offer to bring us more if we wanted it).

Finally, I was personally disappointed that the restaurant did not have *any* dessert on their menu. It was particularly more disappointing after one of their positive reviews praised their amazing green tea ice cream, which is definitely one of my favorite flavors - I guess the comment was out-dated. However, I was able to rectify this situation pretty quickly since there was a fro-yo place on the way to the car in the same parking lot, so I left happy :)

This place is definitely very exciting, and we may go back sometime. However, I would like to try other similar restaurants before returning just to be able to compare and learn if the sparse sides and abundance of pure meat with little to complement it are something usual or just an oversight in planning on their part.

Food           9
Drinks        8
Atmosphere 7
Service       9
Value         8