Bonchon

I would’ve given Bonchon five stars…if it wasn’t for the incredibly slow service. We had just left the farmer’s market and decided to give Bonchon and their Korean fried wings a try. I thought it would just be a quick and easy meal, but it ended up taking practically the entire afternoon! There was a long wait to be seated…not because of a lot of people being there (there were maybe a couple people inside at most), but because no one was there to seat us for a good five minutes. Once we got seated, we just sort of sat there…..and waited…and waited…and waited. We eventually got our order taken and then had to wait another thirty-to-forty-ish minutes for it to show up…and then remind them of a few missing items. Well, once the food itself arrived, it tasted great! The wings had amazing seasoning and were super crunchy and delicious. Would I come here again and wait all afternoon for food though? Probably not. While I haven’t tried pick up or delivery from here, I question how fast that would be either based off of the pacing of things..

Food is delicious as with other Bonchon locations. However my coworkers and I ordered ahead through the website hoping to pick up and have time to eat on our lunch break but food was not ready when we arrived at the designated pickup time. We had to wait an additional 30 minutes to get our food. Though they offer curbside pickup online, there aren’t many parking spaces and no designated curbside pickup spot. Probably would not get again unless I had time to spare.

Being a little new to the Korean food scene, I cannot speak with much authority, having only eaten at all-you-can-eat's, and the occasional the BiBimbop spot, which I have come to love, since they bring out up to 16 different side dishes each with a unique flavor, just small bits here and there, which is kind of my favorite, and I have come to have a deep and abiding love for Bulgoki. So it was on this crowded Friday night, that I decided to treat myself to somewhere new since I had had a good week, and after navigating what I can only call the absolute civil engineering wreck that is Milvia street, (have a great idea! Let's build a bunch of things that protrude right out of the road to puncture tires and ruin cars! Let's make two one-way streets run right into one another and then provide no signs, or lights! Yeah that'll be great! Welcome to Berkeley civil engineering 101. If we can mess it up, we will) I looked up and happened upon Banchan, directly across from the central Berkeley firehouse. Sparsely decorated inside, it would look like more of a pub, or a microbrewery, or even a bar, if it were not for the fact that there is nothing on the walls except the occasional soggy bottle in their small selection of beer. But my curiosity won out as it always does, coming inside I was greeted by a nice lady who spoke Spanish to me, (NOTE: 90% of the Asian restaurants in the East Bay have Latinos working in the FOH or kitchen. Show some respect. Say hi to them once in a while. Tell them that they did good if they did. Don't let them be invisible) and sat me at a nearby table. I decided to not have what I normally had which would be the Bibimbap or hot pot, and decided to go with something called "Bull Dak", which when I said it aloud, made a couple behind me, who later turned out to be lesbian, laugh out loud. If you get the joke you get the joke. Anyway, they were not offended, and I was very amused. Bull Dak, is hot spicy chicken, (it comes on a hot metal plate making a crackling sizzling delicious sound that you can hear in the video I provided ) (with scallions, and a spicy sauce, and Korean rice cakes, which are more like a chewy large noodle, rather than what we would call a cake, but they have a nice texture, and go well with the chicken. A little white rice was served on the side I polished off the entire thing with gusto. I also gave a thumbs up and said hi to the kitchen staff and said thank you as always do when I go to a place I really like. I hope more people start complement in the kitchen staff in these restaurants and making them feel like they are appreciated. I'm just one person but I'm pretty sure I can start a movement. The Korean owners were very nice, explaining many things about how the food is prepared in Korea, the rice cakes, and some of the pictures on the walls. All in all I had a great time, I only ordered one dish but I will be back to try the other stuff, and what I really enjoyed was is that was really out of the way and the spot where I could eat in quiet on a busy Friday night. Thanks Bonchon!

We just arrived and shortly after got attended by a nice waitress, we asked to be seated at the booths they have available since we had a party of 5 in which two of them are (55+) and it's uncomfortable for them to be seated at the high chairs.. The waitress had no problem on our request and sat us down at a booth, she did in fact joined our table with another for all of us to fit and enjoy our dinner together and everything seemed great until her coworker came out and told her that she couldn't do that and belittled her right in front of us, shortly after that she told us that we couldn't do that and that we had been asked to be seated at the highchairs and that it won't be acceptable next time we go.. So we all decided to leave the establishment with a sour taste in our mouths. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. PLEASE TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Just went to Bonchon with a large group of 10 people. Their largest table only sits 8, so we had to add two extra seats at the ends of the table. 4 of us shared a small strips dish, and a large combo, both with only soy garlic flavor. The strips were thin pieces, but pretty good for white meat - not too dry, and fairly tender. The drumsticks were a nice large size, and the skin for everything was all tasty. Just overtime, will lose its crunchiness and warmth as expected. Some of the drum stick dark meat was a bit dry, but that was not a major issue. The service towards the end was kind of slow, as we waited a while after we were done eating for the check, and even after that for them to come retrieve it. It'll probably be upwards of $15 per person in groups!