GOL TONG CHICKEN
ADDRESS: 361 S Western Avenue #101, Los Angeles, CA 90020
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/goltongchicken/
I remember a video popping up on my Instagram feed one night of a person saying they potentially found the best Korean fried chicken in LA. It was at a spot called Gol Tong Chicken, located near Koreatown, with close-up shots of the crispy chicken tenders and the three different flavor options available. I’ve had that spot on my list for months and recently, it came up in conversation with my friend Yuji while at work. We ended up making plans to go down to Koreatown to check the spot out last week.
I’d definitely describe this place as a hole-in-the-wall, as it’s located in a small strip mall that housed an assortment of other businesses. Street parking is rather tough, as you might imagine in the area, but there are some places you can park nearby and walk a couple of blocks to the restaurant. Inside, the dining area is really brightly lit, although the space itself isn’t too large. There are only seven or eight tables to sit at, so if it was a popular time at the restaurant, you could end up waiting.
We ended up arriving a little on the early side for Friday dinner service, a little before 6PM. There was only one other table occupied when we got there, so we were able to take a seat immediately. We came to find that the place is run by only one person: director Gol Tong himself. (According to the menu, he had directed three Korean movies over 20 years ago.) We saw him taking orders, cooking the food, bringing it out, and cleaning up the tables as well. It definitely seemed like a lot of work, but he had a very friendly demeanor and looked like he was enjoying himself through it all.
The menu is pretty straightforward, with only Korean fried chicken on it, nothing else. The variation came in whether you wanted one of the three different flavor options, or you could go with the “Director’s Cut,” which functioned as a sampler platter of all the flavors. You could choose from the regular fried chicken, chili chicken, or soy garlic chicken. Yuji and I could both hold our own when it came to food, so we knew that the Director’s Cut was what we wanted, with the menu saying that it had enough for two to three servings.
Given that we were the only other table seated at that moment (and the other people already had their food), director Gol Tong started working on our order almost immediately, since we told him what we wanted as we were sitting down. Not more than 15 minutes later, he comes out of the kitchen with this heaping plate of fried chicken that also looked visually stunning. The chili chicken and soy garlic chicken were also accompanied by pieces of fruits and vegetables, so it added more pops of color to stand out from the golden-brown of the chicken.
The smell of the chicken really drew you in, and I was certainly excited to get started with sampling some. I decided to start off with the regular fried chicken, mostly to see how was the texture of the breading. Let me tell you, it was a really nice balance between the crispiness of the breading, the moderate thickness of the breading, and the juiciness of the chicken itself. The regular flavor also came with two dipping sauces, one being a tangy barbecue type sauce and the other sauce a blend of garlic butter and honey mustard. What a great way to start off.
For the other two, the fruit and vegetable mix that complemented those pieces consisted of avocados, jalapeños, tomatoes, red peppers, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, and raspberries. I’ll be honest that I’ve never had fried chicken that was also mixed in with all of those other ingredients, so it was definitely a different experience. For me, those items almost served as palate cleansers between bites of the chicken, so you could consistently get a full taste of either the chili or the soy garlic.
The chili chicken ended up not being too spicy for me, almost more on the sweet side than spicy. It also had the heavier sauce than the soy garlic that clung to the piece of chicken on the outside, which also muted some of the crispiness. The flavor was still good, but it would be my last choice of the three options. The soy garlic would be my #1 overall pick of the three. I liked the savory and umami flavor of the sauce, which also complemented the fruit / vegetables the best. Because the sauce wasn’t as thick, the crispiness of each chicken piece also got the chance to shine as well.
The hype is real for Gol Tong Chicken, and I can see why this place has 4.8 / 5 stars on Yelp with over 2,100 reviews (which is a remarkable feat in itself). The crispiness of the chicken is absolutely on point, all three of the flavor types were really enjoyable to eat, and director Gol Tong seems like a very nice man who is enjoying what he does. This spot is absolutely not to be missed if you are in the area. Is it the best Korean fried chicken in LA? I haven’t tried other spots yet, but the bar is set ridiculously high, that is for sure.
Let’s now take a look at the Gol Tong Chicken Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Soy Garlic Chicken (pictured left) **
Crispy boneless chicken with a soy garlic sauce. Served with a mixture of avocados, jalapeños, tomatoes, red peppers, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, and raspberries.
** Chili Chicken (pictured top) **
Crispy boneless chicken coated in a sweet chili sauce. Served with a mixture of avocados, jalapeños, tomatoes, red peppers, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, and raspberries.
** Regular Fried Chicken (pictured right) **
Crispy boneless chicken, served with dipping sauces of tangy barbecue and a garlic butter / honey mustard mixture.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Gol Tong Chicken:
Food: 5 / 5
Even though it’s only fried chicken on the menu, it’s done really well, with the plate looking like a work of art when it’s first set down in front of you. The balance of flavor was there, and the crispiness of the chicken was really on point.
Atmosphere: 4 / 5
The dining area features a brightly lit space, with a number of flat-screen TVs on the walls showing either the news or K-pop music videos. Even though the seating is limited, the tables felt spaced out enough to be comfortable while eating.
Service: 4.5 / 5
For a one-man show with director Gol Tong doing it all, the chicken came out of the kitchen with great speed while also looking visually stunning at the same time. The director was also really friendly to all of the guests in the restaurant in general.
Price: 5 / 5
While a $44 plate of fried chicken might initially cause you to raise an eyebrow, it was absolutely worth every penny, in my opinion. The quality of the food was just fantastic, and there was plenty of chicken between the two of us that we both felt pretty satisfied at the end of the meal as well.
Overall:
18.5 / 20
(93%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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