Originally we were supposed to go to Mexican Chicken Hof, as it was the only thing that I knew about Korean Chicken Wings thanks to Foodosophy. After calling up a few friends, we made our way there. It was dark, rainy and we went up and down North Rd. many times trying to find the damn place. Best I can describe is that it’s south of the Santorini Greek restaurant at Lougheed and North Rd. Zoom in all the way on the map to the end..it’s there.

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We walked inside and it was veeeery dark and dim, definite signs of a drinking-forward establishment. There was also only another table of two inside, so was this a bad sign? Who knows, it was nearly 7pm..maybe the drinking and chicken wing eating occurs later on around 9? We were quickly seated all the way in the back, given two menus and a small tray of what seemed to be, old stale popcorn. I tried one and yep, it was. Our little corner was dark, only one light above the table. Definitely felt sketch, but apparently that’s what most of these hof’s are like in Korea.

Ellie quickly glanced at the menu and suggested that we go to Honey’s bistro, as both Pete & her had thought I meant that place when I told them I wanted yangnyeom chicken. They both said that the place was quite pricey and the other was better..so we should just go.  They reasoned that we had just sat down and hadn’t even ordered nor received water so it should be okay. It seems so rude and all..but that’s exactly what we did. The guy didn’t even come by to check on us once nor did I see any sign of him when we left.. haha.

So, a short drive north along North Rd. to Honey’s Bistro.  If there wasn’t Korean shows playing on the TVs or any signs around, you’d think you walked into a Western restaurant. The interior resembled a cottage or a lodge restaurant you would find up in the mountains where snow bunnies would unwind after a long day on the slopes. Oh how I want to go snowboarding.. oops, getting off topic here.

Like at Mexican Chicken, we were also given popcorn with the menus. At least these weren’t stale. So does anyone have an answer for why popcorn is given, and is this the norm in Korea?

Prices were cheaper here, but not by much as they’ve upped their prices which you can see by the stickers. Since I was about blind as a bat with what to order, knowing only that I wanted chicken wings and I wanted them pretty damn soon, Ellie ordered for us and Pete ordered for their half of the table. Of course, we had to get the yangnyeom chicken.

We ordered the 12 piece mixed ($13.85) + sauce for $1 to share between Ellie, Ty and myself. At first glance, the chicken didn’t look impressive. It just looked like a big blob of sweet & sour pork..but with chicken instead. A quick lick taste test and it confirmed we hadn’t been duped. The flavor of the sauce acts slow, but once it grabs hold of your tongue, it doesn’t let go. First it starts off slowly, with a tinge of sweetness but then the spice sneaks in from the back and clobbers your tongue numb and useless.

Enough bout the flavor, you can tell I liked it a lot. On the plate was an assortment of drumsticks, wings, and thighs. All were quite generous sizes. Something about the exterior coating of the wings (sans sauce) seemed better than the regular pub grub style of wings. Not sure why, I’ll have to order them without sauce next time to find out why. Oh yes, you get a side dish of pickled daikon, which you can keep getting refills of. Just an accompaniment and something to cleanse your palate I suppose.

Pork and vegetables fried with kimchi.. decent, couldn’t really taste if it was spicy or not by the time I got to this because my tongue had given up on tasting by then.

anddd .some other stuff that Pete ordered. I only know that the one on the right is Kimchi Fried Rice.

With some googling, I found some recipes that I will keep in mind to try out one day. Or perhaps, you can try it and bring me a sample.

Take Thou Food – Chicken Wings w/ Korean Marinade && Viet World Kitchen – Yangnyeom Dak

For reference, this is what a hof in Korea is like. Pretty much similar in terms of what we got..except the price of course.

The Daily Kimchi – Korean Fried Chicken Hof (as a bonus, this blogger is based in Vancouver!!)

This won’t be the last of Korean posts…stay tuned.