A New Kind of Fried Chicken - Bon Chon Chicken

When I moved to the Falls Church area a little over 3 years ago, I was introduced to the concept of Korean Fried Chicken! It first started with a place in Annandale called Cheogajip Chicken (or I like to refer to it as Pizza and Chicken Love Letter) and then we eventually stumbled onto Bon Chon Chicken on Little River Turnpike. And man, we have been hooked ever since. This is not your typical southern fried chicken. Instead, the double fried process and the spicy coating brings this chicken to a whole new level. The cooking process creates the most crispy shell -- a very savory and spicy coating -- and a super moist interior. There is no real batter for the chicken, so when you bite into it, all your get are the delicious spices and incredibly crispy skin. And since it's deep fried in olive oil, you can feel good about eating a "semi-healthy" dinner. And instead of being served with sides of biscuits and gravy, you get pickled radishes and a coleslaw with a sweet ginger sauce. And trust me, after eating a few pieces of the spicy flavored chicken, your taste buds will want some relief and cool down with the radishes and coleslaw.

So for dinner tonight, we were craving some Bon Chon. We normally go to the location in Annandale, but had heard of a new one opening in Fairfax, so we went to check it out. For those of you who have never been to Bon Chon, here are a few best practices to follow:
- If dining at the restaurant, call in your order before hand since it takes the chicken 30-45 minutes to cook.
- There are only two flavors offered -- soy garlic and spicy -- and the spicy is very spicy, so I'd recommend getting an order of each so you can switch between the sweet and savory and spicy flavors.

So back to the subject at hand, the chicken from the Fairfax location. With the first few bites, it tasted like the same Bon Chon we were obsessed with, but not quite. We got two orders of the large spicy chicken. And I must say, on first impression, I felt that that chicken was spicy, but also had a really good soy garlic undertone as well. The spiciness wasn't overpowering, so I could eat a few pieces of chicken without taking a pickled radish break. But it dawned on me that the chicken wasn't completely the same as the location in Annandale. I kept noticing that the meat was a little bit drier and the skin was a tad overcooked. But I wasn't completely disappointed. It still had the same crispiness that I've come to enjoy with Korean fried chicken and the spicy and savory flavors were on point. But I don't think I'll order the chicken from the Fairfax location again, especially since the Annandale location is only 10 minutes from me. However, looking over the menu, the Fairfax location had some really delicious looking tacos, so I definitely want to go back and give those a try. After what feels like a long hiatus from Korean Fried Chicken, I was satisfied with dinner, and even have some left over for a snack tomorrow!