Tasty travel (part 6). Soy Garlic Chicken: The new KFC

I still enjoy BBQ sauce, but simple breading will no longer suffice. The soy garlic sauce is nothing short of addictive… if you love garlic. It may not help me when it comes to dating. However, it does help to ward off vampires. The preparation has also been perfected so the wings and drumsticks always come out to just the right amount of crispiness, and they are rarely as fatty as other fried chicken.

While some carrots might help cleanse the palate, there is no need for blue cheese with this dish. Thankfully there is no celery either.

My first encounter with this new style of poultry came from the poorly titled Mono+Mono, which before being named the slightly less revoltingly named Mad for Chicken was then an official outpost of BonChon in Midtown. Finding the establishment is an adventure in and of itself. Enter a shady looking building on 5th Avenue with no sign and head up a flight of dirty, creaky stairs to a dimly lit lounge. 축하합니다! You have found the bucket of soy garlic gold at the end of the rainbow.

Why all of the name changes, though? My guess is that the owners chose not to renew their franchise agreement. It was quite a risk given that some review sites were forced to label the restaurant as having closed. They could have lost much of their clientele. The fact that they renamed it a second time takes real cajoñes or a misunderstanding of good business practices because it teters on corporate suicide.

No one seems to like either of the new names, but most of my friends and I agree it is still better than any of the growing list of competitors. That crop includes but is not limited to KyoChon and a reborn BonChon, both on 5th Avenue in Koreatown, as well as Boka on St. Marks Place. The three are listed in order of both quality and ambiance from fast food BBQ to the original bar feel, with Mono+Mono retaining its charm. The last time I went was in the late afternoon and the music selection was quite different than before: jazz instead of a dance mix. I am not sure if that was because of the second name change, the time of day, or the customers there, but I liked either playlist. Some friends took exception to the earlier dance music, especially when it became too loud for regular conversation… but that was one of the few times I didn’t care because I was so transfixed on the soy garlic chicken.

Sadly I cannot even remember the year of my first experience with the new KFC, but with any luck, it will be a long time before my last.