Bonchon
“You have a choice of spicy (made with fiery and spicy red chili peppers) or soy garlic or a half and half combo.”
“We went with the small Bonchon Chicken wings/drum set with half spicy and half garlic sauce.”
“They also have coloring books and colored pencils to occupy your kids (or yourself!)”
Bonchon
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
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BonChon…a Korean Chicken/Restaurant chain that is all over the world. I'm a big fan of chicken, and I could eat their wings for days. However, in terms of my experience today at the restaurant, I would have to give it an "A-OK."
The greeters are very nice and generous (shout out to them!), however, I feel that the kitchen staff need to be organized in giving times to the front in regards to how long the food will take. Korean chicken is an art, such it will take about 45 minutes to properly cook the chicken. However, when communication between the back and front are misaligned, this does create an environment for pretty frustrated customers who come up and complain about how long their wait is. However, they're still new, kinks are to be expected, I'm sure their process will get much better as they learn!
With my experience, I decided to order the Bulgogi Fried Rice, and I added a little bibimbap sauce to the mix. That made it for a pretty decent dish. It was definitely not the best I have had though in my life, but still pretty damn good. I'm just glad that this BonChon has a more extensive menu than other BonChons in the North Jersey area.
Overall, I would come back for their wings, only if I am not in a rush, haha. Though, there are better BonChon locations in North Jersey, but, hey, they just opened. I'd say give it a few months to figure out a more efficient workflow and process to their ordering, and I'd say you got an awesome Korean chicken place in an Italian town! Makes for a nice mix right? I seriously wonder what Korean Italian babies would be like, maybe this is it?
I've been a longtime fan of Bonchon so when I heard it was opening in Nutley I couldn't believe it. This town does not exactly fit Bonchon's demographic. However, since KFC is becoming more mainstream I suppose people will travel from afar for their wings.
Unlike others, my wait time was exactly what was told to me, 30 minutes. The wings are made to order which is why there is such a wait. This was on a Sat night at 5:45pm. I called ahead for a 10 pack of half & half wings and they offered to call back when it was ready. 30 minutes later i received a call and it was ready when I got there. No issues. Perhaps they improved their process due to customer complaints. I'll have to order again to find out for sure.
The wings themselves are what I remember, extra crispy with the yummy salty/sweet soy garlic flavor. The spicy wings are delicious too. Their menu offers other Korean style apps and main dishes as well, which sets them apart from Boom Boom in Rutherford.
As long as the wait time is kept to 30m, they will be my regular spot for KFC.
I have been watching this place being built and based on the Yelp reviews on other locations I was really looking forward to trying their food. I stopped by this afternoon since their website said they were open at 11:30. A young lady opened the door toATE tell me they were closed but would be doing a soft opening later and would be open for business at 5:00. She gave me a menu which specified they needed up to 30 minutes for pick up since the food was made to order. I called starting at 7:45 to place my order and every 5 minutes after (I was never told they were closing at 8) only to get an answering machine each time . We decided to take a chance and drive by and sure enough they were open with people eating inside. My husband went inside and the young lady behind the register told him they closed at 8 o'clock (it was about 8:15 by now) my husband explained that I tried calling before 8 o'clock and she very curtly told him they were too busy to answer the phone. This is not a good start for a new business and certainly not a good indication of future customer service. Hubby said they won't ever see him again but I really like their kind of food and might give them a try. But an apology or some sort of better customer service (free appetizer?) sure would have gone a long way. For now one star only for the way we were treated and will have to see how the food measures up.
****UPDATE****
We just couldn't resist not giving this place another try and we are glad we did. First they are definitely suffering from Beginners Blues. I am hoping all the confusion and disorganization is because they didn't anticipate the crush they are experiencing and still working the kinks out . I stopped by around 2 o'clock to avoid the problems we faced last night. Two very sweet young ladies informed me they were still doing a soft opening and the hours were from 5 to 8, but I could place my order now. I did and told them I would back between 6:15 -6:30. When I returned at 6:20 the place was busy, not completely full but those there were waiting for take out, no one was dining in although there were enough cute white tables and chairs to accommodate about 20-25 people. The place is clean and bright but spartan and small. Anyway, despite placing my order hours before it still was not ready and I overhead them tell the walk-ins the wait was an hour to an hour and a half. Wow. This time however the kids behind the register apologized profusely for the wait. My order was finally ready at 7, and they threw in 2 free drinks, steamed white rice, kimchi coleslaw, regular coleslaw and pickled Daikon radish which is included with the wings. Hubby got the combo, 10 wings and 5 drum sticks ($20.95) that come pre-marinated, they do not offer sauce on the side. You have a choice of spicy (made with fiery and spicy red chili peppers) or soy garlic or a half and half combo. Hubby got his wings and drums with soy garlic, which he said was delicious. The wings were crispy on the outside and nice and juicy on the inside, nice portions and the soy garlic flavor was great. I got the pot stickers with the soy garlic flavor. Even though they forgot the dipping sauce they were very good and full of flavor. Now the sides: The pickled Daikon radish was great, crunchy and cool and a little sweet that they recommend as a cool down for the spicy wings. It was great even with the soy garlic. The Kimchi coleslaw was way too hot even for my hubby and he loves anything spicy. The regular coleslaw was delicious and the white rice was good. It was fun to sample the sides along with the chicken and the pot stickers. All in all the food was very good, presented well for take out, generous portions but although not cheap it has good value. They seem to have a loyal following as some of the people waiting for take-out mentioned they frequented their other locations. I don't know if the "newness" will wear off and the lines and the waits will subside when the hours increase. But I can see the attraction. Bon Chon is a welcome respite from the usual Pizza, Italian, Sushi and Chinese found throughout Nutley. I hope they succeed and I wish them luck and upgrade them to four stars.
3.5 round up to a 4-star experience if you follow my tip and ORDER AHEAD!
I have to say that I am very happy that a BonChon opened up in my town! I went over to BonChon for their initial soft opening, so I knew things would not be perfect, but they managed to do the best they can with the massive amount of orders they had.
As I ALWAYS say with places like BonChon that have Korean Fried Chicken, ORDER AHEAD! Check out their menu online and do this please. The chicken takes at minimum 20 to 30 minutes to prepare, so if you do decide to just walk-in and order, be prepared for a long wait. The place itself has only a few tables (around 4 to 5) that you can sit at, along with some seats against the wall so I would expect to order for take-out and once you pick it up, you can decide if you want to eat there.
The chicken here is prepared just how I expected it, with the soy garlic and spicy flavors being very satisfying. I was able to try a few of their other offerings as well which included the Japchae, Fried Rice with Bulgogi, and Bibimbap. My favorite out of the three was the Fried Rice with Bulgogi as the overall flavor was on point. I had no complaints about the other dishes but at the same time they were not anything that tasted way over the top.
With how local this place is, I will be definitely coming back, trying other food, and updating my experience. The wait-time for me here ended up being over an hour. However, since I lived so close, I did come here to place my order and then went back home, as they took my phone number down to call me once my order was finished. I would definitely recommended this for now until they are able to handle the initial peaked interest of people around the area ordering from here as the wait time can vary depending on how many orders they have pending.
I still would like to say, good luck BonChon of Nutley!
I'm happy to say that since its disastrous opening, BonChon Nutley significantly improved its service. I've tried it 3 times since my last review and the food has consistently been ready within 15 minutes, phone calls made all 3 times to tell me the food was ready to be picked up, and I was asked how many radish side dishes I needed. "Most Improved" Award definitely goes to BonChon here.
The only downside is that the wings are still on the smaller side, and dryer than I'm used to for Korean fried chicken. It doesn't stop me from devouring them, though.