Kyochon Chicken – The Korean Fried Chicken that’s worth the wait

Kyochon Chicken (교촌치킨) Gangnam Branch

English Address: 1309-8 Seocho-dong (8 Gangnam-daero 69-gil)

Korean Address: 서울특별시 서초구 서초동 1309-8

Operating hours: 3.00pm to 2.00am

Delivery Option

Delivery Hours: 11:00am to 11:00pm

Delivery Hotline: 080-320-3000

Click here for my list of Seoul Food itinerary

Introduction

Kyochon Chicken is one of the largest restaurants that specialized in Korean Fried Chicken. They opened their first store in year 1991 and they managed to expand their business and opened 150 stores within 8 years in year 1999, and they opened branches in the USA and China in year 2007. It’s quite something isn’t it? This also gives a clue to the quality and taste of their chicken that was so widely accepted in the whole of South Korea.

Actually if you see Kyochon Chicken’s Instagram photos, you would have noticed that most of the wings are in a “takeaway” packaging.  That’s right, Kyochon Fried Chicken can be sent to your residential address with just a call. Initially i planned to get them delivered to our hostel’s reception but i changed my mind as i wanted to try the fried chicken when it’s freshly out from the kitchen.

Disposable plastic gloves are provided in Gangnam branch

Kychon Chicken has many branches in Seoul, including Dongdaemun and Hongdae. I visited their Gangnam branch as it’s quite on-the-way. So coincidentally, this restaurant is just beside Running Man Member Gary’s Restaurant – Paljamakchang. I read that Gangnam store is one of the few that actually offers plastic gloves for customers to enjoy their fried chicken.

The Gangnam branch sure knows what is the best way to enjoy fried wings – using your hands!

The Menu

Their fried chicken comes in five flavors – Original (Soy), Red (Spicy), Honey, Salsal and a Fried Series and comes in four variations – whole chicken, mixed wings and drumsticks, only drumsticks and only wings. For a spicy flavor, wings only cost W$16,000, mixed wings and drumsticks cost W$17,000, whole chicken cost W$17,000 and drumsticks only cost W$18,000.

Click to enlarge – Menu 1

Click to enlarge – Menu 2

However, there is a slight problem. Their chicken only comes in one size, which is rather big for just two people and i wanted to try out the various flavors. After checking with the waiter, we are allow to mix flavors, but only for Original and Red (not for honey, salsal and fried series).

The waiter also highlighted that the waiting time is at least 30 minutes for every order as their chicken is freshly fried.

Original and Red Kyochon Fried Chicken

I ordered the wings only version at W$17000 that comes with 12 pieces of Original (Soy) and 12 pieces of Red (Spicy) wings which adds up to about S$20.00 for 24 pieces of wings. Note that Kyochon chicken’s price is slightly higher compare to their competitors, but many said that it’s still worth the price.

For those who had tried 4 fingers fried chicken in Singapore. the taste of the sauce is in fact similar in a certain way, but the main difference is in the juiciness of the wings. The chicken wings of Kyochon chicken is able to retain it’s juiciness and freshness despite the double-fried crispy exterior. They are also rather generous with their sauce. As you can see from the photo, each and every chicken wings are evenly and generously coated that make every mouthful really enjoyable.

After finishing the 24 wings with just two of us, i felt that actually Kyochon Chicken is good, but not to the extend of exceptional. Mentally still unsatisfied, i decided to order another serving of their honey series. I waited for another 30 minutes for the honey wings, and it turned out that it’s the best decision ever!

Honey Series Fried Chicken

The honey series cost me another W$15000 that comes with mixed wings and chicken parts that adds up to another 24 pieces of chicken! Super burst my daily calorie intake! But then i had no regret because i had the best fried chicken that i’d even tasted in term of both texture and taste.

Some wings are crispy in a way that the breading is a little tough, that makes the wings’ exterior really crunchy, but it requires some small effort to munch into it. An example would be the fried Chicken Wing from Punggol Nasi Lemak, Singapore.

Kyochon Honey Wing’s breading is really crispy and the breading crumbles easily with minimum effort from the jaw as I heard the crackling sound from the edge of my jaw with every mouthful. It’s light, crispy and yet fluffy, and especially enjoyable when it’s served piping hot from the kitchen. The exterior is thinly coated with honey, which gives a faint sweet savoury taste.

Personally, this honey chicken actually indent an impression more than their Soy and Chilli flavour. Forgetting that I actually had 12 wings previously, I went on a fried chicken eating spree. I am really glad that I decided to try this flavor.

I left the restaurant happy and satisfied with no more stomach room aaaaannnnnd there lies Running Man member Gary’s shop – Paljamakchang. I would have visited Paljamakchang a second time if I just had a little stomach space. T_T

Conclusion

It’s a pity that Kyochon do not serves a smaller portion like a 6 pcs chicken wings meal else I would have ordered all 5 flavours to try.

Just judging on the 3 flavors that I had, Kyochon fried chicken had secured a place in my list of best fried chicken. If you ask me can I find a better Korean-style fried chicken currently in Singapore and my answer will be ‘probably not’.

For those who are shopping at the underground shopping mall at Gangnam station, why not pop by this Kyochon Gangnam branch to see what makes Kyochon Fried Chicken so successful and popular in South Korea.

Click here for full list of Seoul Food Itinerary

Visited this place at about 3.30pm. No crowd! But crowd started coming in at about 5.00pm.

Directions and Map

Kychon Chicken, Gangnam branch is situated in the middle of Gangnam (강남) Station  and Sinnonhyeon (신논현) Station. It takes about 5-7 minutes of walking from Gangnam station.

1. Exit from Gangnam station Exit 9

2. From exit 9, turn to your right and walk straight as show in this photo

3. Continue walking straight as shown in the map and cross two cross junctions.

4. You should be able to see Kychon Chicken on your left just before reaching the third cross junction.

Dongdaemun Branch

Here is the map for Kyochon Chicken Dongdaemun branch. This is a map that i did up but i visited the Gangnam branch instead. If you choose to use this map, better do some basic research as i did not personally navigate to this branch before.

Paljamakchang – Running Man’s Gary and Haha’s Shop

Paljamakchang Hongdae Branch  (팔자막창) Haha’s Restaurant

Korean Address (Naver Map): 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 395-17 

English Address (Google Map): 395-17 Seogyo-dong (23 Jandari-ro)

Operating hours: 5:00pm to 5:00am

Click here to see my list of Seoul Food Itinerary

*Important Update*

Apparently, as per this article, it seems like Haha’s shop is now going by the name “401” and had undergone some renovation. It’s still in the same location though so you can still refer to my map and directions.

According to one of my readers, he mentioned that the restaurant is still selling BBQ stuff but there’s no more Makchang (intestine) on the menu. Scroll to end of this article for direction to Gary’s Paljamakchang at Gangnam.

Introduction

Anyone who caught the recent Korean variety show craze would have heard of Running Man. And Paljamakchang was opened by one of the running man member Gary. Subsequently, another member Haha got the franchise from Gary and opened his franchised Paljamakchang at Hongdae area.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

I visited Haha’s restaurant and I walked past Gary’s shop at Gangnam, which I will indicate the direction to Gary’s shop as well. Though Paljamakchang offers BBQ pork belly, traditional Korean rice box, soup, they specialized in BBQ pig intestine. So don’t be surprise if GoogleTranslate translate Paljamakchang as something that is along the line of rectum.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

The table set up

Good thing i like about Paljamakchang is they offer big plastic bags for customers to store their jackets.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Pig intestine / Pork Belly

There are two kinds of intestines as per their menu – large intestine (150g – W$9,000,) and fresh large intestine (150g – W$10,000). The fresh version is slightly more expensive, smaller in quantity but apparently the better quality.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Click to enlarge. The waiter gave me a Chinese version menu so sorry to those who can’t read Chinese =\

I ordered the fresh version and this is the first time seeing a raw pinkish pig intestine getting cooked right in front of my eyes.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Doesn’t look very appetizing, yet.

It doesn’t look very appetizing during the grilling phrase but it’s another story after it’s fully grilled. To be frank, I am not a big fan of internal organs but this grilled intestine works for me and I think it’s worth a try. Anyway, how often do I get to eat grilled pork intestines in Singapore?

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Pig Intestines and Pork Belly

The intestines taste very very fresh and clean. The surface is grilled to crisp (by their waiters), texture is chewy but yet not to the extend of rubbery.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

I also ordered a portion of Pork Belly at W$8,000. It’s not out-of-this-world  but it’s still good, typically taste like how a typical Korean BBQ Pork Belly ought to be. The exterior is grilled to crisp with no marinate on the pork belly. As always, wrap it in the lettuce and sauce to enjoy!

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Grilled intestine wrapped in Perilla Leaf. Not exactly a fan of this leaf from the mint family that has a hairy texture. I still prefer the lettuce.

Remember to dip the intestines and pork belly into the unique blend of Korean BBQ chilli paste. Paljamakchang’s version is rather different from chill paste from a typical Korean BBQ restaurant. The most evident difference is the added crushed peanut and the salty sweet paste.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

I like Paljamakchang’s Dip and Paste very much.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Grilled pork belly wrapped in Red Leaf Lettuce, one of the most common vegetables used in Korean BBQ.

Korean Rice Box (Dosirak 도시락)

I also ordered the traditional Korean rice box at W$4000 that came with a portion of spicy tofu soybean paste soup (Dubu Doenjang JjiGae 두부 된장찌개). The Korean rice box is call dosirak (도시락) and don’t call it a bento.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

The lunch box, before shaking it. I took out the seasoned anchovies though.

The Korean rice box works like our Mcdonalds shaker fries. Hold the box and lid together and shakkkkeeeee it baby. Probably the shaking just add a little fun factor for a tourist like me. The portion is rather small but I guess the the rice cannot fill up the lunch box for this shaking thing to work.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

Rice Box after shaking. Well mixed and ready to fit into my stomach!

Among everything, I particularly like the mixed rice. I can finish the rice even without the rest of the ingredients. There’s slices of meat that looks like sausage/luncheon meat. It don’t exactly taste like one and it is not exactly to my liking. Still rather unsure what i’d eaten on that day.

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

The soy bean paste soup that comes as a set with lunch box

As for the spicy tofu soybean soup, to be honest, although it “comes with the rice box”, it’s one of the better one i had till date. Be warned that it’s rather spicy and that’s what i love about the soup and i love the crushed peanut that is mixed into the soup.

Conclusion

Probably a must-go for Running Man Fans out there. There’s a wall with a lot of signatures from various Korean celebrities including the members of Running Man but i can’t seem to be able to identify them.

Despite it being a restaurant opened by a Korean celebrity, i think that the BBQ pig intestine is good and unique enough to convince me to pay a visit again IF i have the chance to come back to Seoul. *pray pray*

Another table beside me was grilling some chilli-marinated pig intestines and looks GOOD. Can someone please try that and let me know whether is it nice? Hahaha~

Paljamakchang 팔자막창 Gary Runningman Haha Restaurant Seoul

The interior of Haha’s shop. We reached at about 5.30pm when it just open. No crowd! *Happy*

Directions and Maps

While doing research, i read from online that it’s not easy locating Haha’s shop and it’s even worst for Gary’s shop at  Gangnam. But it does not seems too difficult from the map and i am glad that i found Haha’s shop quite easily and i just happen to walk past Gary’s shop and seems rather easy to locate too.

Follow my directions and i promise you won’t be lost.

Click here for full list of Seoul Food Itinerary

Directions to Haha’s Restaurant

Actually the nearest station is not from Hongdae MRT station but from Hapjeong MRT station. But since i am staying in Hongdae, i took a short walk to Paljamakchang and it took about 7 to 10 minutes.

1. From Hongdae MRT, come out from Exit 9, turn to your left and walk straight and you will come to a T-Junction.

2. At this T-Junction,  turn right. As you can see from the map, after turning right, just follow the map direction and walk straight.

3. You will cross a couple (two major) of cross junctions and just continue walking.

4. After walking for about 5 – 7 minutes, you should be able to see this tall unique building at a cross junction as shown in my map which is known as the “KT&G Sangsang Madang”

5. You should be able to spot Haha’s shop Paljamachang at this junction by looking to your right. Tada, you are there.

Directions to Gary’s Restaurant (Gangnam Branch)

Korean Address: 서울특별시 서초구 서초동 1309-8

English Address: 1309-8 Seocho-dong (8 Gangnam-daero 69-gil)

Actually i think that Gary’s shop is even easier to find. Although it’s nearer to Sinnonhyeong station, i walked from Gangnam (강남) station as i was at that area anyway. It’s about about a 5 – 7 minutes walk. It’s actually just beside a very well known Korean Fried Chicken Restaurant, Kyochon Fried Chicken, which i will review on later.

1. Exit from Gangnam station’s exit 9. Turn to your right and walk straight all the way.

2. Walk for about 5-7 minutes. You should will cross two cross junctions along the way. And you should be able to see Gary’s shop Paljamakchang at the third cross junction.