With its mounting popularity, the double-frying technique which traces its roots from chicken joints in South Korea has set the chicken radar up and alarming as it proved true to its promise of delivering crackly, flavorful, extra-crispy chicken skin to the expectant taste buds of Filipinos. Today we pit “the best chicken in America”, BonChon Chicken and its local contender, Chicken Charlie—two restaurants who’ve had their customers going loco over their double-fried chicken. Let the face off begin!
Flavor Double-frying, employed by both restaurants, renders their chicken less greasy compared to the ones served by other fast food joints as the technique drains the chicken of its natural fat. Without making use of breading, the chicken skin stays paper-thin and crisp, yet flavorful. In offering both soy garlic and spicy flavors, their respective chicken recipes are quite similar in taste but have notable differences all the same. BonChon’s glazed chicken skin is quite tastier than that of Chicken Charlie’s but the latter proves to be crispier. Quite noticeable though, is that the flavor only stays on the skin for BonChon while that of Chicken Charlie’s not only stays on the skin but seeps into the meat as well.
Price Though both reasonably priced, Chicken Charlie costs much less than BonChon. As compared by Sharlyne Ang in her article, it would cost around PHP 365 in ordering a combination of six wings and three drumsticks in BonChon, whereas four drumsticks and four wings would only cost PHP 288 in Chicken Charlie. Cheaper prices make Chicken Charlie appeal to a wider customer base. However, it is good to note that when it comes to size and parts, BonChon offers bigger cuts compared to its contender and a choice of chicken thigh, as Chicken Charlie only offers legs and wings.
Pricing as well as a list of their products could be found here, for BonChon, and here, for Chicken Charlie.
Accessibility BonChon is an international company, while Chicken Charlie is homegrown. That already says a lot in terms of accessibility. BonChon branches are strategically located over leading shopping malls as well as in other areas, while Chicken Charlie stalls are significantly fewer in number and require one’s familiarity in their situated areas in order for them to be located. Chicken Charlie can be found in Katipunan, N.S. Amoranto St. and Banawe St. in Quezon City, Little Baguio, San Juan, and Adriatico, Manila.
Suffice to say, both restaurants commendably executed the double-frying technique in their respective means, each delivering chicken goodness that’s worth your every centavo. But in a battle of the best double-fried chicken, only one can reign supreme. BonChon Chicken or Chicken Charlie? The choice is yours.
The Ultimate Smackdown 