Bonchon Berkeley

The hot wings are fire in every way. I love hot wings but the next time I will ask for 1 step down from hot so that it can be more enjoyable. After eating the first one I had to go all the way non stop to the last one. The edamame, coleslaw and potstickers were delicious.

Just went to Bonchon with a large group of 10 people. Their largest table only sits 8, so we had to add two extra seats at the ends of the table. 4 of us shared a small strips dish, and a large combo, both with only soy garlic flavor. The strips were thin pieces, but pretty good for white meat - not too dry, and fairly tender. The drumsticks were a nice large size, and the skin for everything was all tasty. Just overtime, will lose its crunchiness and warmth as expected. Some of the drum stick dark meat was a bit dry, but that was not a major issue. The service towards the end was kind of slow, as we waited a while after we were done eating for the check, and even after that for them to come retrieve it. It'll probably be upwards of $15 per person in groups!

The chicken wings were very delicious, we ordered the half and half. We also shared some fried rice, and some noodles that we're also very tasty. The chicken wrap was my least favorite, the mayo and soggy lettuce was not my cup of tea. We will be going back to try more items

I would’ve given Bonchon five stars…if it wasn’t for the incredibly slow service. We had just left the farmer’s market and decided to give Bonchon and their Korean fried wings a try. I thought it would just be a quick and easy meal, but it ended up taking practically the entire afternoon! There was a long wait to be seated…not because of a lot of people being there (there were maybe a couple people inside at most), but because no one was there to seat us for a good five minutes. Once we got seated, we just sort of sat there…..and waited…and waited…and waited. We eventually got our order taken and then had to wait another thirty-to-forty-ish minutes for it to show up…and then remind them of a few missing items. Well, once the food itself arrived, it tasted great! The wings had amazing seasoning and were super crunchy and delicious. Would I come here again and wait all afternoon for food though? Probably not. While I haven’t tried pick up or delivery from here, I question how fast that would be either based off of the pacing of things..

Being a little new to the Korean food scene, I cannot speak with much authority, having only eaten at all-you-can-eat's, and the occasional the BiBimbop spot, which I have come to love, since they bring out up to 16 different side dishes each with a unique flavor, just small bits here and there, which is kind of my favorite, and I have come to have a deep and abiding love for Bulgoki. So it was on this crowded Friday night, that I decided to treat myself to somewhere new since I had had a good week, and after navigating what I can only call the absolute civil engineering wreck that is Milvia street, (have a great idea! Let's build a bunch of things that protrude right out of the road to puncture tires and ruin cars! Let's make two one-way streets run right into one another and then provide no signs, or lights! Yeah that'll be great! Welcome to Berkeley civil engineering 101. If we can mess it up, we will) I looked up and happened upon Banchan, directly across from the central Berkeley firehouse. Sparsely decorated inside, it would look like more of a pub, or a microbrewery, or even a bar, if it were not for the fact that there is nothing on the walls except the occasional soggy bottle in their small selection of beer. But my curiosity won out as it always does, coming inside I was greeted by a nice lady who spoke Spanish to me, (NOTE: 90% of the Asian restaurants in the East Bay have Latinos working in the FOH or kitchen. Show some respect. Say hi to them once in a while. Tell them that they did good if they did. Don't let them be invisible) and sat me at a nearby table. I decided to not have what I normally had which would be the Bibimbap or hot pot, and decided to go with something called "Bull Dak", which when I said it aloud, made a couple behind me, who later turned out to be lesbian, laugh out loud. If you get the joke you get the joke. Anyway, they were not offended, and I was very amused. Bull Dak, is hot spicy chicken, (it comes on a hot metal plate making a crackling sizzling delicious sound that you can hear in the video I provided ) (with scallions, and a spicy sauce, and Korean rice cakes, which are more like a chewy large noodle, rather than what we would call a cake, but they have a nice texture, and go well with the chicken. A little white rice was served on the side I polished off the entire thing with gusto. I also gave a thumbs up and said hi to the kitchen staff and said thank you as always do when I go to a place I really like. I hope more people start complement in the kitchen staff in these restaurants and making them feel like they are appreciated. I'm just one person but I'm pretty sure I can start a movement. The Korean owners were very nice, explaining many things about how the food is prepared in Korea, the rice cakes, and some of the pictures on the walls. All in all I had a great time, I only ordered one dish but I will be back to try the other stuff, and what I really enjoyed was is that was really out of the way and the spot where I could eat in quiet on a busy Friday night. Thanks Bonchon!

The service was really good. I tried the chicken wings and drumstick I would recommend sticking to the wings. I tried the spicy and soy garlic sauce I would recommend spicy if you want eat spicy. The pork buns was just ok I'll stick to the wings.

When they say spicy here they mean it. I ordered Spicy Rice Cakes with Chicken which was delicious and super hot. As in I had to finish it the next day hot. I couldn't take a picture of it because I couldn't see through my tears. Of course I'll go back!

I finally made it to this location of Bonchon. I came at a non-busy time. I was able to order and leave within 15 minutes. I had been going to get my Korean fried chicken fix from the South San Francisco location. I am hooked on the kimchi coleslaw and spicy drums with spicy mayonnaise. I almost had a beer as I waited at the bar but I'll save that for some other time.