Orange County Register

I didn’t think I’d hit this so early – I think I’ve found fried chicken that’s more delicious than Popeyes’.

Kat clued me in last week to the trend of “Korean Fried Chicken” and found a restaurant in Buena Park where I could try some called BBQ Chicken. BBQ stands for “Best of the Best Quality Chicken,” and the chain has 3,500 locations in more than 37 countries.

BBQ’s shtick is it deep fries its chicken in extra virgin olive oil. I was skeptical about this – an investigation by Tom Mueller in the New Yorker published August 2007 showed olive oil fraud is rampant. One olive oil importer estimates 90 percent of olive oil sold in Italy as extra-virgin isn’t of premium grade. In America, there’s hardly any government regulation. And even if the restaurant used 100 percent virgin oil, I’m not sure it’s good to consume so MUCH oil on a regular basis.

BBQ Chicken is in a strip mall with many other Korean businesses on Beach Boulevard, the Wilshire of O.C. (Sample businesses: boba shop, Korean pub, gourmet Korean meat market, kumdo studio. A frogurt store is opening soon, natch.)

The restaurant opened a month ago, and is decorated like an casual urban bistro with a fuschia wall, recessed lighting, and purple plastic bowls for ceiling lamps. It was air-conditioned and well ventilated – no heavy fried chicken smell lingered in the air, a big plus for people who like to eat their fried chicken at its best, just seconds out of the fryer, instead of getting it to go. Bonus: The restaurant opens until midnight daily.

Each table has paper place mats that, surprisingly, excerpt Ed Levine’s blog declaring BBQ Chicken to be better than KFC and Popeyes. The menus feature photos of one white woman and one black man. What, no pictures and promo quotes from Asians?

BBQ Chicken has many chicken dishes, including several types of fried chicken, barbecued chicken, and chicken sandwiches, plus a mix of Korean and American sides such as fries. So, depending on your mood, you could have an Korean-American or “All-American” chicken experience.

We picked three types of fried chicken that we thought are closest to Popeyes’ chicken. Our order took 25 minutes.

The BB Wings (10 for $7.99) were wonderfully crunchy and savory, with nice chili powder kick. This gives Popeyes’ spicy mix a run for its money.

The first thing I noticed biting into the Olive Original Chicken ($9.25 for 5) was a sweet aroma I couldn’t place. The skin was perfectly crisp, the flesh pleasantly juicy and fragrant, without the weird stickiness and globs of congealed fat you often get with KFC Chicken. It looks like the restaurant cut the chicken such that every piece comes with bone, including the breast, and this allows the breast meat to be fried without drying out.

After the great experiences with the first two chickens, I chomped on the Red Hot Drumsticks (5 for $8.99) with great enthusiasm. Good thing I had this last because the red sauce was ruinously hot. I didn’t like it much. It wasn’t a savory, complex hotness, just a sadistic, Tapatio kind of heat you use to drown out so-so food.

Our meal was completed with a Korean lager named Hite ($6 for big bottle) and royal dduk bokki, or pan-broiled rice sticks in a mild, sweet sauce. (soy and mushroom?) I liked how the sweetness of the dduk bokki complemented the fried chicken to create a slightly sweet meal, instead of the salty palette you get at Popeyes and KFC.

I was convinced of the genius of BBQ Chicken when I ate the leftovers the next day after heating it in a toaster oven. While not 100 percent the same as the day before, the crunch was admirable, and this time, I really appreciated how much less greasy both the BB Wings and Olive Original Chicken are than most fried chicken recipes.

The biggest drawback of this restaurant is the price. At $9.25 for 5 pieces, you’re paying nearly $2 per piece of chicken. The servings here are large too, so unless you’re having the lunch special, you should avoid eating alone.

BBQ Chicken
5260 Beach Blvd., #B, Buena Park, CA, 90621
(714) 994-1111

Previous fried chicken posts:
• Grandma’s Chicken House in Cypress
• Memphis in Santa Ana

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