Bonchon Korean fried chicken chain opens first Long Island location

Bonchon is arguably the most well-known Korean fried chicken chain restaurant in the United States. And you could tell by the line around the building when the restaurant opened its first Long Island location this week. 

The Centereach spot sold out of all its chicken on the first day in business Wednesday, so they had to delay opening the next day until 4 p.m. Patrons were lined up out front by 3:50 p.m. on Thursday, as men in a truck drove by asking what all the fuss was about. When the doors opened, franchise owner Russell Golam was handing out menus and asking the crowd to be patient. His son Eitan was back in the kitchen working the line. The two were inspired to open the restaurant together after Eitan's military service in South Korea made him fall in love with Korean food, Russell said while expediting food orders.

Bonchon has 150 locations across the U.S. and a plan to get up to 500 in the next five years. Once recommended by Anthony Bourdain, the South Korean chain is known for double frying its chicken, which results in a bigger crunch than some competitors. The chain is much younger than Pelicana, which has a spot in Plainview, and bb.q Chicken, which opened a location in Levittown this February. While those two originally opened in South Korea in the '80s and '90s, Bonchon got its start in 2002 before moving to the United States in 2006. The Centereach spot is tucked into a Walmart shopping center, directly across the street from a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Buffalo Wild Wings. Another Long Island location is expected to open at the Samanea Mall in Westbury this summer.

The menu here is streamlined compared to Pelicana, with four varieties of signature "hand-brushed" sauce: soy garlic, Korean BBQ, spicy and yangnyeom, which is the signature sweet and spicy sauce that Korean fried chicken is known for. If you're there with a friend, your best bet is to get a "mixed" box with eight wings and four drumsticks for $24.98. This comes with a side of pickled white radishes, called mu in Korean, which balance the savory chicken with a crisp fresh flavor.

You can mix and match the sauces, but in all honesty, it is difficult to tell the difference between the soy garlic and the yangnyeom, which isn't as sweet as it can often be. The joy of this chicken is almost entirely in the crunch. Like advertised, the batter is thicker and more crackly than competitors. The texture is even more pronounced in the wings, which are smaller and thus have more of their surface area devoted to crunch. 

Bonchon also serves a variety of Korean dishes like bibimbap, bulgogi beef, tteokbokki rice cakes in a spicy sauce and even Korean corn dogs. It also may be the only place on Long Island where you can get corn cheese, a Korean bar snack that goes by the name Korean street corn on the menu ($4.98 for a small). Although the corn cheese and the other dishes are not as memorable as we hoped. Skip them and focus on that crunchy, funky chicken.

Bonchon, 141 Centereach Mall, Unit #13, Centereach, 631-389-3688, bonchon.com. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Opening hours have been varying, so check online before you go. 

By Andi Berlin

andi.berlin@newsday.comAndiBerlin

Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.