14 Of The Best Korean Fried Chicken Restaurants To Try
Getting ready to chow down in Korea and want to try the best Korean fried chicken? Want to have a chimaek experience and see what all of the fuss is about? There are some super popular Korean fried chicken chains and, trust me, they are different. Whether you want the original and good fried chicken or the yangnyeong chicken or maybe banana chicken, there’s a Korean fried chicken restaurant for you.
There are so many great things to eat in Korea and fried chicken is one of them and with a glass of light beer, it can’t be beat. Get ready to eat fried chicken, baked chicken, just delicious chicken.
Want to have the Korean chicken and beer experience? Here is what you should know about Korean fried chicken:
- The History of Korean Fried Chicken
- Korean Fried Chicken Tours In Seoul
- Popular Korean Fried Chicken Brands
- Korean fried chicken FAQ
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The History of Korean Fried Chicken
Korean style fried chicken started cropping up around 1970 when cooking oil became more affordable to the masses. In the 1980s and 1990s, chicken restaurants, or chicken hofs that served the super popular chicken and beer started popping up everywhere. Like everywhere. In 2015, The Korea Herald wrote an article that detailed the statistics showing that fried chicken restaurants in Korea outnumbered both McDonald’s and Starbucks chains.
In the 1980s, there were radio commercials promoting this new ‘seasoned’ chicken, or yangnyeom chicken, a spicy exterior with a crispy and juicy interior. This became immediately popular and is one reason that today, you’ll often see ‘half and half’ “반반” on menus, an item that comes with half original fried chicken and half with a saucy seasoned fried chicken. Perfection on a plate.
Korean Fried Chicken Tours In Seoul
Authentic Chicken & Beer Experience: You can join this tour on Viator
- Sample Menu
- ’90s style Korean Fried Chicken: The classic is what you won’t find outside Korea. Enjoy different styles that will make your journey back in time.
- Country-style Barbecue Chicken: Smoky barbecued chicken in a sticky sauce. Served in a romantic restaurant made to evoke an old Joseon Dynasty country inn.
- Sizzling Boneless Thigh Meat Smothered in Sauce & Cheese: Guests really dig this unique modern interpretation of Korean chicken and beer. It’s a secret place that shows off the owner’s WWII collection.
Korean Fried Chicken Cooking Class with 10 Types of Korean Traditional Wine and Market Tour: You can join this experience on Klook
- Learn how to make fried chicken the Korean way in this immersive cooking class!
- Follow the directions of an expert Korean chef and you’ll be able to make a delicious fried chicken dish in no time
- Go and shop at a traditional Korean market and get to pick out the freshest food to cook on your own
- Educate yourself about the Korean traditional market culture as well as local cuisine
Popular Korean Fried Chicken Brands
This is a list of the major Korean fried chicken franchises in Korea, which means you’ll be able to find them all over. Read the description and see which one you might like to try… not all fried chicken is the same but these are the best Korean fried chicken restaurants.
To find the nearest one to you, copy the Korean name below and then input it into your favorite GPS app to see what is close. (Naver maps and Kakao maps works best for navigation in Korea.)
bb.q (비비큐)
BBQ stands for “Best of the Best Quality” and they are probably the most popular Korean fried chicken chain in Korea which means many would consider them the best Korean fried chicken restaurants in the country. They seem to have a stellar marketing team because they were in the Korean drama Goblin: The Lonely and Great God and it didn’t hurt that BTS repped their brand for a bit, too. This is also the chicken brand you see at most Korean baseball stadiums. BBQ is the largest fried chicken chain in Korea so you’ll spot it everywhere.
Established in 1995, the brand is famous for using “golden olive oil” when frying chickens and their most famous menu item is the very fitting “Golden Olive Chicken” (황금 올리브 치킨). Their Golden Olive Chicken is often picked as many Koreans’ favorite classic fried chicken. I agree with them. It’s super crispy and what we opt for when we just want that good crunch.
Kyochon Chicken (교촌치킨)
Their name “Kyochon” symbolizes all rural areas of Korea. Established in 1991, the biggest difference from Kyochon and other chicken brands is the base sauce of their signature chicken (교촌오리지날) is soy sauce. The breading is crunchy on this one but manages to seal in the oils and spicy really well so when you bite into it, it will still be boiling when you get it. Be prepared for that first hot hot bite.
Korean language tip: This is a good kind of chicken to describe as gut-ba-sok-chok “겉바속촉” which means crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. You don’t have to use this with only fried chicken, but this chicken looks a bit dry but is totally a juicy surprise when you bite into it.
Norang Tongdak (노랑통닭)
One of my personal favorites from the first time I tried it. This franchise which was started in Busan, Korea, uses unsalted chicken and is cooked in a cast-iron cauldron. The cooking method was one reason it gained popularity. My favorite thing about this brand is their ‘Boneless 3 Chicken Set’ which comes with the regular fried chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and spicy chicken. It’s a great option when you just don’t know what kind you want.
Ddobagi Chicken (또바기치킨)
Established in 1986, this is a classic style chicken place that brines their chicken for 24 hours before coating it in a spicy powder and then frying it. Try both their mild version and spicy version and see what you can handle.
BHC
BHC stands for ‘Byeol Hana Chicken’ or ‘Better & Happier Choice’ or sometimes said to be ‘Big Hit Chicken’… the acronym that goes with the letters seems to change from time to time. Established in 1997, they are well known for their commitment to high-quality ingredients and using freshly prepped, hand-cut chicken.
Their most famous chicken is “Bburinkle Chicken” (뿌링클 치킨), which is coated with this magic seasoning also with that silly name “Bburinkle” (뿌링클), a seasoning made with cheese, onion, and garlic. It’s sweet, savory, and many say addictive. It has a relatively sweet taste compared to other chickens.
Of course they have more standard and original flavors still with that great crunch so if you’re not ready for something adventurous, still a great choice.
Two Two Fried Chicken (둘둘치킨)
One of the older franchises in Korea, their chicken has a unique taste thanks to their secret sauce which is sort of cinnamony(?). Two Two Fried Chicken is well known for not having factory raised chickens so their birds are a bit bonier and not as plump as other places, but that’s one reason people choose them. This franchise isn’t as easy to find as they have much fewer locations in Seoul compared to other places, but this is a great spot to really savor that authentic chimaek experience.
Goobne Chicken (굽네치킨)
굽네 comes from the verb “굽다”, which means “to roast” in Korean. Established in 2005, Goobne Chicken brought ‘chickens roasted in an oven’ to Korea. Instead of fried, as you have probably now guessed from the name, these chickens are baked and what I go for when I want chicken but I want to pretend I’m healthy.
The ‘Goobne Original’ is the most popular menu option, but they also have a ‘Goobne Pepper Crunch’ that was a very successful release. The spicy option is a favorite by many who don’t want the grease but want the spice. Their chicken comes with French fries, and my favorite, an egg!
60 Gye Chicken (60계치킨)
A relatively new Korean chicken brand compared to the others on the list having been established in 2015, 60 Gye tells customers that only 60 chickens are fried for every 18 liters of oil, stressing their cleanness. Their signature menu “Ganji Chicken” (간지치킨) is made with a special soy sauce and nurungji. Their popular chicken is a play on the words soy sauce (간장) and nurungji, or scorched rice (누룽지) which comes together to make Ganji Chicken (간지치킨). It’s excellent in sweet and savory taste.
NeNe Chicken (네네치킨)
Established in 1995, NeNe Chicken was the company that revolutionized chicken packaging in Korea. They introduced a box that could hold the chicken, radish side dish, and a drink all in one pizzy box style container. Now, they all do something fairly similar. NeNe Chicken is easy to spot if you’re a fan of Korean gag shows because their spokesperson is the always popular and funny Yoo Jae Seok.
NeNe’s most popular menu item is ‘Oriental Padak’ or green onion chicken. The chicken is served with thinly sliced green onions and is sprinkled with soy sauce. We went through a a few years of this being our most favorite chicken option in the area. If it’s not your jam though, they have plenty of other flavors and have limited edition flavors that are rotated regularly so there’s always something new to try.
Puradak Chicken (푸라닭)
Founded in 2014, it’s one of the newest franchises on the list but has grown in popularity. Using an oven-baking technique in which it’s slow-cooked and then it’s dipped in hot oil to give it a golden exterior. This is also the brand that you may have heard about with packaging to look like a luxury PRADA bag.
Not my favorite, but they do have a lot of flavors if you want to try some really random options like chili mayonnaise or toowoomba, or even corn on the cob…
Pelicana Chicken (페리카나)
The oldest Korean fried chicken franchises in Korea having been introduced in 1982. Pelicana is the brand you can thank for the yangnyeom sauce. They really revolutionized the crispy chicken recipe by adding gochujang, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and other spices to the batter.
They release new menu items from time to time but their original and sweet and sour sauce chicken are still their most popular menu items today. Pelicana is old but tried and true and a great way to be introduced to the original Korean fried chicken.
Cheogajib Chicken (처갓집)
The name of this chicken chain translates to mean ‘mother-in-law’s house’ to give off the impression of their chicken as more of a home-cooked meal. They have been in business for over 30 years and is well known about fried chicken lovers, us included. Their signature menu item is their supreme yangnyeom chicken which has their fried chicken slathered in a sweet, spicy, and tangy sauce you’ll love.
Chicken Baengi (치킨뱅이)
When adding this to the list, I was conversing with my husband about all of the fried chicken places we’ve been, loved, remembered, don’t remember and Chicken Baengi came up. He said, oh but that’s just an old chicken hof and I said yeah, one we went to again and again back in the day with our friends. I don’t think we’ve ever ordered chicken from Chicken Baengi to our house, but when it came to finding a chicken hof, this was our go-to in Hongdae. They seem to have done some rebranding though because the hof I know and love has definitely been redecorated for a younger appeal. Not so old ajjusshi anymore.
We love their chicken with garlic. They also have easy to eat boneless chicken that is served with a peanut sauce that we got a lot. This is a great option if you want that chicken hof experience in my experience.
Mexicana Chicken (멕시카나치킨)
A stand out for all of the wrong reasons for some and all of the fun reasons for others, they seem to release the strangest of flavor options. From Cheetos flavored fried chicken to banana. They have some really odd flavors. If you’re looking to do a mukbang (먹방), a show watching someone eat which is very popular in Korea, then go for a Mexicana oddity. You’ll be sure to get some viewers. Mexicana chicken is bad per se, but just weird and some people really enjoy that.
Korean fried chicken FAQ
How is Korean fried chicken different from American fried chicken?
Korean fried chicken is double fried which gives it a crispy texture that is different from its American fried chicken counterpart. The double frying process seals in juices meaning it’s a crispy bite with a very succulent and flavorful meat in the middle.
What does chimaek mean?
Chicken and beer is so popular that Koreans have taken to shortening and combining the chicken (치킨) and beer (맥주) resulting in the word chimaek (치맥) becoming an official word in the Korean dictionary. Koreans think the combination of crispy chicken and a cold light beer is a perfect match.
Chimaek is a popular meal to be enjoyed both at home and at restaurants or “chicken hofs”. You can even get it delivered to you while you picnic at a park on the Han River.
What is the white diced side dish that comes with Korean fried chicken?
Referred to as “chicken moo” (치킨무), meaning chicken radish, this diced white side dish always accompanies Korean fried chicken. It’s a very refreshing bite between oily chicken legs and while it might seem odd at first, you’ll likely come to love this little radish side dish.
What does KFC stand for?
It’s a running joke that instead of Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC actually means Korean Fried Chicken.
If you’re looking for Korean fried chicken while you visit or live in Korea, you’ll have no problem finding a spot to chow down. This list covers the most popular and best Korean fried chicken restaurants around so have your pick and have some delicious fun.
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