Kyochon: Korean Fried Chicken

Whenever I come back from a trip overseas, I try not to drive for the first few days becauseof jetlag. And recently I discovered that taking public transportation around LA is actually not so inconvenient. Buses and subways come about once every ten minutes, and the fare is only $1.25 per leg (at least that's cheap for me since you can pay up to $4 for a 5 minute trip on a bus in Eindhoven).

Getting from Westwood to downtown LA required a change from bus to subway in Koreatown, so I used this as an excuse to try out Kyochon Chicken, a chain of fried chicken restaurants from Korea. I had tried Bon Chon Chicken a while back in NY. What sets Korean fried chicken apart is a very thin, crackling shell lightly impregnated with sauce. The Kyochon experience started with an iceberg lettuce with Thousand Island dressing (this was unexpected, since I didn't see on the menu that this came with the chicken).

A funny thing happened when I ordered my meal. There are two flavors, garlic-soy and spicy. When I asked for my order "half-and-half," the server asked which two flavors I wanted.

My order was for 10 wings, but I actually got 13. I think they probably realized that to pay $10 for 10 of these tiny wings would be too much to ask. The garlic-soy wings were nice but a bit sweet, while the spicy wings were so spicy I couldn't taste any flavor. My eyes actually watered when I ate them (thank goodness for the creamy salad dressing and lettuce to cool down).

With the check came a mini cup of chocolate frozen yogurt, another surprise.

Overall, between the $10 price, the small portion size, and for me, not a crave-worthy taste, Kyochon is not a place I would return to again.