Since 2004, BHC Chicken has been frying and serving up tasty and crispy birds here in South Korea. As one of the most popular and wide-spread chains, they have been very successful for a long time. However, I had never actually had any BHC until now, so I guess it was finally time to see what all the fuss is about.
The meaning of “BHC” has changed over the years. In the early days many of the signs on the shops said “Big Hit Chicken”. Years later, in an effort to promote a healthier image, the initials were changed to “Better Healthier Chicken”. These days, the company is branding itself as “Better and Happier Choice”, but for most locals, it’s just BHC.
Much like the other chicken franchises here in South Korea, BHC is no stranger to experimentation when it comes to different ways to fry up a chicken. That’s my when I saw an advertisement for their new Pota-king Chicken, where the chicken is covered in little tiny pieces of fried potato, I was very intrigued.
Walking to the local branch of BHC, it was a lovely day, and I was getting very hungry to try some of this fascinating new chicken.
The location itself is actually quite large, and they even have some seating in the rear, although I was getting my order to go.
The restaurant was actually quite busy, and the kitchen staff was working very hard. The number of orders they were preparing made me quite happy, as it meant that they must be doing something right to be getting all that business.
I placed my order, and then got to waiting for the 20 minutes by looking around the shop.
The menu was clearly visible on the wall, and there certainly are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to eating at BHC.
After waiting and enjoying all the wonderful smells of the frying chicken, my order was ready. A quick walk home, and I was ready to enjoy what I hoped would be delicious chicken.
BHC includes a number of pretty standard items when it comes to their chicken orders. There was the flavored salt, a small package of Korean-style Yang-nyum sauce, a package of honey-mustard sauce, and some pickled radish. There was also some Coke, and I was impressed because usually most places only include a small bottle, but BHC gives a 1.25 litre sized bottle.
I had also ordered some sweet habanero sauce to go with the Pota-king chicken, because I really like that sort of spicy flavor.
One thing I noticed immediately upon opening the box of chicken was just how large the order was. These days I have been greatly disappointed by the amount of chicken that is in an order from many of the local franchises. BHC however give a good-sized portion for the price, and the pieces are also individually quite big as well.
Of course, as with any meal, the taste is the most important, and after admiring the glorious chicken, it was time to dig in.
Well, I finally now know what all the BHC fuss is about. The chicken was absolutely fabulous! Along with the good size of the chicken pieces, the coating was so wonderfully crispy! The potato coating really amped up the crunch factor, and added a little heft to each piece.
The meat inside was very juicy, and the chicken was very well cooked so that no piece was burned or over-done.
I also tried the chicken with all the different additions that the company provided.
My favorite was the honey-mustard sauce. It had a nice blend of the two items, so that it wasn’t too sweet and had a nice mustard kick to it.
Second for me was the yang-nyum sauce. Even though it is everywhere in Korea, it still always tastes good!
Third was the flavored salt. This one is tricky, because if you get too much on the chicken it is overwhelming, but when you get it just right it’s wonderful.
The worst of the sauces, ironically, was the one I paid for, the Sweet Habanero sauce. It actually tasted like an Indian curry sauce. Actually, the flavor was quite nice, but I had expected a completely different taste, and so that ended up making this sauce a disappointment.
Overall, BHC Chicken really impressed me. The flavor of the chicken was great, the meat was moist and tender, and the crispy, crunchy coating of the fried potatoes was amazing texturally. I think that BHC might just become my go-to spot for fried chicken from now on!
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