The New KFC

Korean fried chicken is apparently the new thing in fried chicken (Southern fried chicken? so early 2000s). What is new -- or Korean, for that matter -- about it? At Bonbon Chicken, which I called for delivery one lazy Saturday evening, this means, aside from the requisite nonsensical-but-cutesy name, that the chicken have been dredged in vaguely Asian seasonings before taking a dip in the fryer.

With a menu appreciably simpler than Starbucks, Bonbon's is akin to fried chicken for dummies. You choose the size (small/medium/large), the composition (wings/combo wings and drumsticks/strips), and the flavor (soy garlic/spicy -- possibly some form of sriracha). You get buns and coleslaw with your order (except I didn't get coleslaw, even after waiting over an hour, and despite the fact that I only ordered two items!).

So while this sounds like I'm headed somewhere bitter, I actually liked the thin crisp crust of my new KFC. But I had to first get over the disappointment of paying $20 for a large order, only to get two boxes barely the size of the plastic Sanrio boxes I used in junior high to carry pens (see Ex. A ). And did I mention there was no coleslaw?