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
The fries were nice and crisp, the type that was dusted to add to the texture. It was decently seasoned.
There were four shrimp which used the same batter, quite crisp. The rather larger shrimp were on the tougher side; like it had been cooked too long. The flavor was quite assertive, not overly sweet, but savory, I believe this was farmed shrimp as it lacked the oceany sweetness. Still, pretty big shrimp if you're into these things.
Which meant that when I bit into it, flakey croissant shrapnel flew everywhere! Also, the ham had attained almost a bacon like texture during the heating process. The ham gave the croissant a good bit of saltness; though I would have enjoyed a straonger butter flavor. The interior was light and not overly doughy. This was not bad.
The dan bing, the pancakes to wrap the duck in was really good, great texture, nice and warm.
And when the gyeran jjim (steamed egg) hit the table, I thought that this would be the interesting test of the service. You see, the Missus enjoys some sesame oil on Her steamed egg. I think it's kind of a Northern Chinese thing. On our 
Which She enjoyed with a nice refreshing cup of Horchata! Good smoky flavors, nice maize tones. Would it make us forget 
It was a wonderful stay, if a bit on the "atsui" side of things.
