BHC Chicken Toronto
BHC Chicken is boisterous and busy, its signature dishes scenting the air with spice and grease, its employees shuttling frenetically between tables, and an endless cycle of K-Pop innocently pulling cheerful diners under its addictive spell.
To say that the team at BHC knows chicken is like saying that Ray Kroc had a passing interest in burgers.
Owned by Dining Brands Group, BHC Chicken locations number in the thousands worldwide, with the company holding the title of Korea's leading fried chicken franchise, in terms of store count and sales.
So, yes. The team here knows chicken as well as anyone can. It knows how to cook it, to sauce and season it, to market it and to make it the better, happier choice we're all clamouring to get our hands on.
At its inaugural Canadian location — a 90-seat restaurant that opened in The Well's Wellington Market Food Hall in October — chicken is the star of a lengthy menu that jumps from comfort foods to sandwiches, sides and a token number of K-Foods.
Jump in, with BHC Cheese Balls ($8.00), a signature dish that's as great for the gram as it is fun to eat.
Stuffed with stretchy, mild, milky cheese, these crunchy orbs are also available dusted with BHC's proprietary bburinkle seasoning.
Puzzlingly charming, bburinkle is an aromatic-enhanced cheese dust with a flicker of sweetness that, according to the company, "remains the top-selling item," since its introduction to the menu in 2014.
New for Toronto, introduced, no doubt, to appeal to the Canadian appetite for rich foods designed to sustain us through winter, comfort foods include Classic Chicken Lasagna ($17) and BHC Poutine ($10.00).
Hidden under a heavy blanket of bechamel and cheese, spiced chicken is layered with pasta into a solid brick of sustenance.
Poutine, meanwhile, is made from golden fries and a smattering of pleasurably chewy tteokbokki, beef gravy and curds for a Canada-meets-Korea twist on a national culinary treasure.
For chicken-haters, a Bulgogi Sandwich ($13.00) is an inoffensive, if not very memorable, choice heaped with smoky, seasoned meat, crisp veg and sauce.
There's also a satiating vat of Rosé Tteokbokki ($17.00) that's fragrant and deeply spiced, savoury and wholly warming.
Despite attempts to pad the menu with dishes that flaunt the team's range, poultry remains the hero of the BHC show. And with good reason.
The team starts with top-quality birds, which it marinates for 15 hours, to tenderize the meat and lock in its juices. Individual pieces are then double-dipped in the chain's signature breading, made of seasoned wheat and rice flours. Fried in sunflower oil, each piece emerges golden and audibly crunchy.
"Fried chicken, with its juicy and tender meat, rich flavors and crispy coating, creates an ideal balance of taste that is loved not only in Korea but worldwide," affirms David Song, CEO of BHC Group.
At the new location, BHC's famed chicken is available as tenders, wings or boneless thighs, in four, eight or ten pieces, depending on which cut you select.
Dry-rubbed or saucy, the golden fried nuggets can be ordered unadorned, as in the Classic Fried, mildly spiced, wildly fiery, or coated in seasoning that pulls sweet, zesty and peppery together in every bite.
Sporting a thick dusting of powder, Bburinkle Boneless Thighs (10 pieces for $20.00) are distinctive, with the unmistakable tang of cheese, yogurt, onion, and garlic.
A spicier selection, Matcho King Boneless Thighs (10 pieces for $20.00) are glazed with aged and concentrated soy, for umami, and fresh chili peppers, for lingering heat that's more pleasurable than punishing.
Slicked with honey, Korean soy sauce and garlic, Gold King Wings (8 pieces for $14.00) will have you mimicking behaviour adopted from that other fried chicken chain, and licking every drip of sauce from each one of your sticky little fingers.
While the restaurant awaits its liquor license — which will see the menu welcome Korean-style cocktails, beer and soju — you'll have to settle for non-alcoholic options, like soda and water, to pair with your meal.
BHC Chicken is located at 486 Front Street West, inside Wellington Market Food Hall at The Well.
Fareen Karim
