Pelicana Chicken

"This Korean chain, which calls itself the King of Chicken, offers the usual assortment of bone-in and boneless chicken pieces, and batters that vary in crispiness and spiciness. It specializes in unusual dipping sauces, which come in flavors like camembert, honey garlic, and scallion that enliven the poultry considerably. There are other locations in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn." - Robert Sietsema

"Pelicana is a well-regarded Korean fried chicken chain, with a branch on 8th Street clearly aimed at NYU students. It specializes in drumsticks and wings, though whole chickens are also available, in a variety of heat levels and sauces. The outer coating is sweet and crackly, and a number of other dishes are highlighted, including onion rings, fried mac and cheese on skewers, and kimchi-strewn fries." - Robert Sietsema

"Although a small chicken chain, don’t let franchise hesitancy keep you from their amazingly crunchy, well-seasoned fried chicken. You’ve gotta come correct in the South, and this twice-fried Korean technique, which includes rice flour, is like perfection—light and crispy outside and juicy and tender on the inside. Using gochujang as its base, it’s already balanced with spice, but we always get it with the hot honey sauce. We keep Pelicana’s fried chicken on our delivery rotation since it arrives at our doorstep as crunchy as when we eat it in the West Midtown restaurant. Once paired with cubed daikon radish and a delicious sweet KFC-esque coleslaw with corn, even your inner food snob that avoids franchises will have to cave on this one." - LaMara Davidson

"At Korean chicken chain Pelicana, the gooey cheese, dubiously identified here as cheddar, is bolstered with lots of crumbled bacon. The result is a salty, smoky, and creamy basket of joy." - Robert Sietsema