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Boongs Korean Fried Chicken recently opened its doors at 1405 Second Avenue (between 73rd and 74th streets), which was previously home to ChickQueen. This is Boongs second location in the area, with an outpost at 1057 First Avenue (between East 58th and 59th streets) opening earlier this year.
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Aesthetically, it does not disappoint, with a futuristic façade and an interior reminiscent of fried chicken spots in Seoul. A bright wall of ramen promises much, offering a serve-yourself approach to dozens of different types of packaged noodles, ranging from ultra-hot to a slightly offbeat carbonara flavor.
But it’s the Korean-style fried chicken that draws people here, and just days after opening it did just that. The venue was busy and bustling when I ventured in to try it out for myself. Although there are no tables, the walls are lined with chairs and a counter. Most customers, however, were waiting for takeout orders rather than eating in.
The menu took a little deciphering. The choices were tough to distinguish between, and I had a few minutes of discussion with the clerk to settle on my choices. And at $16 per portion of chicken, with no options to mix and match flavors, it certainly didn’t come out cheap to get two types of chicken and a side of fries.
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It is also by no means fast food. Warranted this may have been a teething issue with a new location, but my order took around thirty minutes to be fulfilled, and others around me were visibly irritated at how long the food was taking. Compare this to the pasta joint two doors along, which will often have your ragu out in what feels seconds, and it’s a bit of an issue.
When the food did come it made up for the wait, to an extent. Both the wings and the boneless pieces of fried chicken were crisp and well flavored, and the portions were healthy despite the price tag. I definitely forgot about the wait and the cost while wolfing it down, but did feel somewhat over fed quite quickly into the meal (not necessarily a bad thing). The fries were solid and nicely seasoned.
On the side front, the coleslaw that came with the chicken portions was tasty, and a welcome compliment to the dryness that sometimes comes with the territory of fried chicken. The soy bases dips that I tried were tasty and somewhat different to the spicy mayonnaise so prevalent in this sort of establishment these days. Free kimchi was available, although it didn’t feel like it had been homemade. But it was good nonetheless.
The fried chicken sandwich, a lunch option, looked appealing elsewhere on the menu. And the bulgogi bowl, while hidden and clearly not a specialty, seems worth trying.
Overall, Boongs is a decent option if sharing with friends, but probably not the best solution for a solo weeknight meal if you’re trying to keep costs down or stay healthy. But that isn’t what Korean fried chicken is about, is it?
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