Back in June, the huge KFC chain BHC opened in what I believe is called the "Mercato Food Hall" off of Scranton Road. I made up my mind to hold out for a while before visiting and in a show of ultimate willpower actually managed to wait 9 days! Well, so much for that, right? One of the good things is that BHC opens at 1030 during the week, so I'd (hopefully) manage to avoid the anticipated crowds. I drove on over to the mall where the restaurant is located. It's kind of an interesting place as it seems that there are a good number of vacancies there….or maybe it's just that every time I've visited, most of the businesses, minus the McDonald's is closed?
I arrived just at opening time and as I walked up to the door, the open sign came on. Perfect timing right?
Well, maybe not, as when I arrived at the counter, the really nice young man working told me they were out of wings. Sigh…..
So, I had to work out a plan B. They really nice fellow gave me a little container with a chip with the Bburing seasoning, which had some cheesy-garlicky-sweet tones to it.
I asked for a recommendation and was told that the Signature Sandwich ($10) was a good deal and I thought I'd try some Cheeseballs with the Bburing Seasoning ($8). I went and had a seat.
When my cheeseballs were ready, one of the nice young folks brought it to my table along with a cup of water. Very nice service.
In keeping with the popular Bburinkle seasoning, the powder was cheesy-sweet-salty with hints of garlic and possibly oregano. It was a bit too sweet for my taste. The exterior was crisp, the filling was nicely molten and gooey, but somewhat lacking in flavor, perhaps that was due to the Bburinkle powder which basically got everywhere.
This was interesting, though I don't think I'll have it again.
As for my sandwich; well, it was huge.
In fact, I could barely finish half the sandwich. The ratio of bread to filling was off and there was way too much mayo on this.
As you can see, the chicken took up only two-thirds of the sandwich surface area, so there were "fowl-less" bites and with all that bread and mayo, it was hard making heads or tails of the flavors. So even though that label said "please enjoy it as soon as served" there was no way I could finish this. I put half in the fridge at work and took it home. During dinner that evening, I brought out the remainder of the sandwich and the Missus and I took out the piece of chicken. Even though the batter had sloughed off, it seemed like the chicken thigh meat was nicely seasoned and fairly tender.
Which meant that I needed to try out those wings. I returned at opening time a couple of days later and guess what? Still no wings. So, I waited a bit, like two weeks before revisiting. Even though I had items for a small lunch; I thought an order of 4 wings, which came in at $8.99……man, it's like two bucks a wing here, would be a good addition to my rather healthy lunch.
And they did have wings available on this day. Of course, since this was the first time I'd be having the wings I went with the 4 piece "Classic Fried", having that Bburinkle powder on the chicken would just overpower things in my opinion. I did also get a side of the sweet and spicy sauce ($1). When my wings were ready, I took that quick ten minute drive back to the office where I opened things up.
The wings were on the larger end of the spectrum and were lightly seasoned. The sauce was much too sweet for me.
While there was some discoloration with the flesh, there were no off flavors and the meat was moist and tender.
The batter rode the crisp-crunchy line nicely and kind of reminded me of the cornflake-corn starch fried chicken my mom used to make.
This was quite good, though one of the pieces; an unwieldy drumette was way over-battered.
Still, the wings were tender, though in need for a bit more seasoning, perhaps I need to find the right "sauce". The wings had a nice crispy-crunchy coating, which I don't think would hold up to when sauced, so if anything, I'd get that on the side.
I liked the friendly service and BHC seems to be a nice addition to the "KFC" scene here in San Diego; though I'm wondering, like hot pot and ramen, when we'll be hitting critical mass here.
You can read Soo's post on BHC here.
BHC Chicken
9450 Scranton Rd. #112
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Tues 1030am – 1030pm
Wed – Sat 1030am – 11pm
Sundays 11am – 930pm
So yes, this was scalding hot. Did I notice a difference? Well, 6 wings were now $9.99 and it seemed to have much more black pepper and was even saltier than I recalled. Also, the coating got soggy quite quickly. Not sure if it was just my imagination, but it seemed that way. The wings were of decent quality, it was moist, but again really high on the sodium scale for me.
It was loaded with meat. The beef rib, their version of Xí Quách Suon Bò had also been seared a bit before service. The sliced "short rib" (as defined in the menu) was cut too thick, super tough, and lacked flavor. Strangely, what is usually not my favorite item in a bowl of pho, the squeaky meatballs was the item I enjoyed the most. Of course, there was no option for tendon or tripe. The rib meat came off the bone cleanly, was decently tender, but seemed to have had all the beefiness cooked out of it. Yes, it was a large portion of meat.
The huge clump of noodles were mushy and over cooked. The broth was super bland….I do complain a bit about how pho broth in San Diego seems to be on the sweeter side of the scale….well, you know what, I would have gladly accepted that here! Much like the Niu Rou Mian broth at 
Since I arrived before 11, I took a stroll around the strip mall. It was quite interesting. Back in 
Geez who'd have thought we would see prices at 2 bucks per chicken wings all those year ago! The wings were nicely battered, more crunchy than crisp, the texture was not bad at all. There was a sticky glaze, which was more toward the sweet than savory, though you could make out the fish sauce. The wings were on the larger side and was decently cared for with a minimum of bitter black portions around the bones. This was not bad at all and had me wishing I had ordered the salt and pepper version.
I was able to try the rib bone. The meat was on the chewier side but came off the bone nicely and was actually the beefiest cut provided. Because the broth was super hot, the rare steak was over cooked by the time of consumption. The rest of meats were bland and tasteless as well. 
But at least I didn't have to worry about my rare steak being overcooked. Based on my last visit, I decided to time how long it took before I could safely partake of my pho. Cautiously taking sips things timed out at twelve minutes and seventeen seconds. As you can see; the soup was very clear, though it wasn't as sweet-salty this time around. It did have a nice beefy "nose" with hints of star anise. 
Man, I forgot how much mul kimchi is provided. These weren't as sweet as I recalled and provided and was a good foil for the sweetness in the wings.
As for the wings; well it's a personal preference; I prefer crisp over highly battered and too crunchy. I enjoy smaller wings with a good skin to meat ratio, rather than jumbo, meaty, and often dry wings. This is why I had enjoyed getting the wings from Bonchon. So, how did these fare? Well, it seemed to be more "sauced" than I recall, though it was evenly coated. The sauce seemed a bit sweeter as well, I would have enjoyed a bit more pungency. The coating was crisp, but I'm glad I had this onsite since I don't think it would have stood up as takeout. The wings were moist, the meat tender, though I did see some black spotting, which can lead to off flavors, but this was fine. And for some reason, it brought back memories of our "KFC" visits to places like 
Yes, that's what the plate looked like. Man, those…in very loose quotes "won ton" were like a cardboard gau gee, time didn't do the wrapper any favors as it was quite chewy.
The chicken wings were still a crisp-crunchy when I got back to the office, but had way too much MSG and had me gulping down water in no time at all.
It seems that I had a "shift" in the tomatoes on the drive back to the office. I was just happy to have tomatoes on my dog which were MIA on my last visit. The fries, which were crisp on my last two visits, were soggy and dry this time around; though I kinda liked the pieces that had celery salt on them.
All the chicken, both the karaage and the wings were nice and crisp and very moist; nicely seasoned, a hint of soy, but not overly salty. The best I've had from Tenkatori thus far.
