Restaurant Review: Seoul Fried Chicken

SEOUL FRIED CHICKEN 10145 104th Street | seoulfried.com Instagram: @seoulfriedchicken Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew

It wasn't that long ago when many people had never tried Korean fried chicken before... Now it's a cravable food item that we can't get enough of. This dish has been around in South Korea since the 70s but it only became mainstream in North America within the last decade or two. Not the same as the fried chicken that we've come to know on this continent - I personally characterize Korean fried chicken as being saucy and spicy (despite there being a range of flavours available). The first time that I ever tried this style of chicken was at Lee House in Edmonton, in fact they were the first place where I ever tried Korean food at all! (It's still my favourite Korean restaurant, anywhere.) Their Sweet & Spicy Fried Chicken really changed the game for me and opened my eyes to a whole new level of untapped deliciousness. In 2016 Chef Jake Lee opened the first location of Seoul Fried Chicken, a restaurant specializing exclusively in this amazing dish. I don't think that there was anything else like it in Edmonton at the time. Did you catch his name? Jake Lee is the son of the owner of the aforementioned Lee House. His pedigree in Korean fried chicken was already guaranteed! (In fact, the first SFC location opened in Lee House's old location.) Seoul Fried has now expanded to a second, larger restaurant Downtown which allows for plenty of dine-in seating. (They've also got a spot in Calgary now too!) Featured on the Edmonton Food Faves We Crave 2022 list for Favourite Take-Out and named Favourite Chicken Restaurant in the Edmonton Journal, SFC has solidified itself as the first and last name in Korean fried chicken in this city. Originally, Seoul Fried Chicken was conceived more as a take-out place. I don't even think that the original location has any seats in it at all. Their pizza boxes full of fried chicken became a solid grab & go staple, their mantra of "everyone loves fried chicken" ringing ever true. However, I loved the idea of a location with an actual dining room and the option to sit down and enjoy the food hot and fresh. I visited the Downtown location on a Saturday evening for this very experience. You'll find them on the 4th Street Promenade, one of the best parts of the city for awesome restaurants. The space is actually quite large, with a hip industrial warehouse type of vibe to it. The urban mural art on the walls (by various artists) are really amazing, especially the gorgeous wave piece by Alixandra Jade, who's work I love all around the city (please come paint my house). The beautiful concrete columns in the center of the room also caught my eye (also painted by Alixandra). It's a very cool space, very young and fresh. To begin, you place your order at the counter with a friendly and helpful staff member. Then you are free to take a seat anywhere that you like. Once your food is ready your name will appear on the screen, alerting you that it's time to get your chicken on. Have I mentioned that Korean fried chicken is messy? Because it really is. The chicken is typically very saucy and everything in the vicinity gets sauced. SFC is aware of this and they have adorned each table with a roll of paper towel. Beyond this, there is a sink area at the back of the room (outside of the washrooms) where you can go to actually wash your hands. This will be necessary. For something to drink, I started my meal with a Jasmine Peach Housemade Beverage ($4.25). This drink, along with the citron blast flavour, are churning away in one of those beverage dispenser machines. You know the ones.

Served in a tall cup, I enjoyed this refreshing drink. I thought that the flavour was really unique and I could really taste both the jasmine and peach flavours. A great combination! Perfectly matched to the food as well. Speaking of the food, it's still served in pizza boxes, even if you're dining in. Everything will come packed into the boxes and you kinda just slap them down onto the table and start digging in. There are no plates. It's all very quick and dirty. There are an array of salads and sides to choose from but of course the seven flavours of fried chicken are what you have walked in the door to get. There are also two "Seoul Chicken Sets" available which are a good way to combo a bunch of different items together. We ordered a whole lot of stuff to create a well-rounded SFC feast.

I definitely need to branch out and try new things when it comes to the chicken flavours. I've heard that the garlic soy is very good. However, my heart belongs to the SFC BBQ because it's the family recipe, passed down from the patriarch over at Lee House. There's no wrong choice though because each flavour profile is perfection. We ordered the Big Seoul ($16.75) as one of our combos.

Honestly, this is amazing value. The amount of stuff that you get for the price is excellent. We chose the SFC OG chicken for this one (crispy, juicy, and seasoned to the bone). You can't go wrong with this flavour because it's such a classic. Breaded to a crunchy perfection, each bite is satisfying in taste and texture. Why eat any other kind of fried chicken when you can have this? The OG is also likely the least messy of the flavours because it's not saucy like most of the rest. We had the Kale Caesar (lettuce kale mix, beet chip, oven-dried tomato sauce, truffle oil) with this combo and it's a nice way to add greens to the meal. You'll feel much better about the fried-everything-else if you've got some kale in front of you. I like this salad because it's chopped and easy to eat. Well-dressed, the caesar flavour is large and in change. I didn't get much of the truffle oil but I didn't really miss it either. As our side we picked the Corn Fritter (buttermilk corn batter + sweet milk) and also added two extra ones for $2.50 each. I highly recommend them! They're a bit like a savoury dessert. Fried to a golden perfection, these crispy orbs are served sitting in a milky bath and it's not weird at all. You're going to be going back for dips into that sweet milk sauce, bite after bite. Totally unlike any corn fritter that you've ever had and also a neat way to bring in a bit of that southern feeling. We also ordered the Lil' Seoul ($12.75) as our other combo... To get the rest.

This is where the SFC BBQ (dad's famous Korean spicy BBQ sauce) comes into the mix. It's saucy, it's messy, it's full of spicy heat. For me, this is the one. The dangerous red sauce reminds me of everything that I love about Korean food in the first place. It's big and it's bold. The BBQ sauce is most certainly made with gochujang. If I could only choose one flavour, it would be this one, every time. The chicken underneath the crispy exterior is always very tender and juicy. I've noticed that I will often be given a few extra pieces of chicken beyond what was ordered. While awesome, I typically find the "extras" to be a bit gnarly - usually boney pieces with sparse meat. I sometimes have to remind myself that these are just "bonus" pieces and don't speak to the overall quality. For the salad with this one we chose the Mac n' Cheese Pesto (creamy asiago sunflower pesto) which is another really unique option. Served cold like a macaroni salad, the green colour reminds me of the toxic KFC coleslaw that they used to serve in the 90s. (Let's be real: I wish they still did!) However, this salad is anything but toxic nor is it coleslaw. The nutty pesto flavour really shines in a beautiful way, flipping everything that you thought you knew about macaroni upside down. One last thing that I needed to include in the order was the Kimchi (made by mom, fermented for 30 days - $6.00) because the Lee family knows kimchi. Actually, their kimchi is very likely the first kimchi I'd ever tried. Spicy, fermented deliciousness, I love their preparation of cabbage very much. An ideal way to try a simply authentic and wonderful version of kimchi! I tend to use it as a palate cleanser throughout the meal. I had also meant to order dessert (they have two) but I was so full that I completely forgot!! I'll need to remember to try a dessert on my next visit. Seoul Fried Chicken is the kind of food that you're always craving at least a little bit. When you don't know what to have for dinner, you just get SFC because you'll never be disappointed. The Lee family brought Korean food into my life and their cuisine has been on a pedestal ever since (and not many others have come close). At value this good and flavours this big, you won't need to consider any other fried chicken.