"In a Utopian world, Fried Chicken is all I'll ever need."
I said that to myself (and used it as my foodstagram's caption) after my experience at NaruOne.
It was the second day of the year and some catching-up was due between my Sydneysider friends and I. However unsuspecting, we found ourselves there for dinner after coming to our senses that queuing for Mamak in Chinatown was going to be unpleasant. Sidebar: I had never imagined a line to be that long, at least not in Sydney, where people don't exactly seem patient. I must admit, there was a moment of emptiness in my heart (and my stomach) when we canceled Mamak out because I thought I'd never get the chance to eat there before my holidaze would end.
Long story short: PLAN B's EXIST FOR A REASON. And Korean Fried Chicken is a very good reason.
Just a quick history behind my chicken-affiliation. I've always loved chicken, I mean, who doesn't? I love it grilled, steamed, boiled, roasted, baked, FRIED. I've had it many different ways with many different sides (though a goal in life is to have it fried plus some waffles). My parents always tell that one embarrassing story of me crying and sitting on the floor of a shopping mall because I didn't want to have anything but Jollibee ChickenJoy for lunch. I was all class even from early childhood, I tell you.
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| One of my more memorable KFC experiences: "It's not just chicken. It's BonChon Chicken." |
So bless the day our Korean cousins came to create some magic with poultry and bespoke spices. I've never tried frying chicken yangnyeom style but from what I've read, it's fried as a whole chicken, hacked into pieces and then seasoned before serving.
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| I loved the sliced egg omelette! Just the right palate-opener for the greatness that was about to grace our table! |
BANCHAN! What I love about having Korean when eating out is that you're guaranteed to not pass out no matter how famished you are while waiting for your mains. These stretched throughout the entire meal though as we thought to be smart enough to save some room.
Well played.
Well played.
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| Hot stone bibimbap |
From that dinner, I learned that greed indeed has a place well-deserved in the 7 Deadly Sins.
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| Plain Korean Fried Chicken (?) |
Just for variety and maybe a bit of Jollibee-envy, we decided to order the plain KFC. My memory is failing me but I think it came with some sauce. Or maybe that was chili for the bibimbap. My eating instinct always drives me to dip anything fried into chili sauce. But it was good! It was very crispy and well-seasoned however this paled in comparison to:
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| Dreams do come true. |
HOLY SHIT. I HAVE TO SAY IT WITH THIS MUCH ENTHUSIASM WHAT WHY HOW ARE WE NOT LIVING FOR THIS. We all loooooved this one! Everyone forgot whatever social graces they had and contributed to the alternating tunes of crunches from the bites and slurps from the finger-licking. It was awesome! The sweetness and spice of the chicken was very spot-on for me. On top of that, the chicken meat retained a lot of its moisture. In contrast to previous KFC experiences, NaruOne kicks it traditionally unlike other places that serve only wings or legs (though in my opinion, nobody really wants fried chicken breasts). Our Korean friends at NaruOne know how its done.
I was really glad that my friends and I enjoyed dinner so much that night that one of them had to bring the untouched chicken home! Great value for food as well. I think our bill, for five hungry people came up to about $25 each. All that food and drinks, too! The atmosphere was also very accommodating to girls who live for endless banter and LOLsssss. Class.
It's funny how they were surprised that I knew about this place given that it's located quite discreetly (and also because of the tiny little fact that I don't live in Sydney haha). So be on the lookout, blink and you'll miss it! Also. What's even more funny is that I have no idea if there's a restaurant here in my neck of woods that serves KFC.
Now that I think about it, that's not funny at all. Some research is due then!
